Dr Anastasios Papaioannou1, Dr Jianzhou Zhao1, Mr Aidan Wilson1,2, Dr Sam Ryan1,3, Ms Marium Afzal Khan1,4, Dr Ghulam Murtaza1, Dr Jonathan Arthur1
1Intersect Australia, Sydney, Australia, 2Australian Catholic University, Sydney, Australia, 3La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia, 4University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Background / Method
Data Science skills are, increasingly, an integral part of research and required to build a deeper understanding of research data. However, many researchers face a growing knowledge gap in these skills. 2021 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap mentions: “Rapid advances in computing techniques and analysis, and management of large and complex datasets, have resulted in researchers no longer having sufficient expertise in data management, computational and analysis techniques.” Hence, there is a pressing unmet need/demand for training in digital tools/technologies. As a leading provider of digital skills training in Australia, Intersect has trained 30,000+ researchers in 2,000+ workshops. To investigate the long-term behavioural change and impact on researchers’ workflows, and whether there is a link between digital tools/technologies and research outputs, Intersect surveyed 1,160 researchers across 13 Australian universities who attended Intersect training one-year prior.
Results
Using Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Evaluation Model, our results show that the confidence, adaptation, and integration of the tools/technologies have significantly improved for most researchers. Interestingly, 76% of researchers responded that the knowledge acquired in training contributed to their ability to produce materials that led to research outputs. Furthermore, peer support was the most popular method of post-training support, reported by 33% of participants.
Conclusion
The results of our study show that Intersect’s digital research training program helps researchers to close their knowledge gap in data science and digital research skills. Furthermore, this has a resulting impact on their research workflows and ability to conduct research leading to research outputs.
Biography:
Dr Anastasios Papaioannou is the eResearch Training Manager & Lead Research Data Scientist at Intersect. Anastasios holds a Ph.D. in Computational Biophysics with his research focus being on Data Science, Machine Learning and computational methods in applied medicine and biology. With over 9 years of experience as an Academic Tutor and eResearch Instructor and over 10 years of research experience, Anastasios works collaboratively with universities to help researchers enhance their skills and find solutions to their research challenges and problems.
Dr Jianzhou Zhao is an eResearch Analyst (Training Specialist) at Intersect Australia. He coordinates this NCI/Intersect training partnership and delivers training on digital tools/technologies to researchers and professionals from various Australian universities and institutions. He also collaborates with universities to guide the development and deployment of relevant eResearch services. Jianzhou holds a PhD in Photovoltaics and Renewable Energy Engineering.