Dos and Don’ts for computational training
This is a collection of the material used in the workshop titled Dos and Don'ts forcomputational training which took place at the CarpentryConnect Manchester 2019 June 25-27 .
There is a growing demand in various research field for computational training and resources to work with open access data. It is understandable that the trainers need to design their training materials as per the need of their audience who might be located in developed or developing countries with different resources available/accessible to them. I would like to invite participants to create a comprehensive "Dos and Don'ts" checklist when preparing for training sessions for different countries and audiences.
In this session, I would like to discuss the different elements that need to be taken into consideration whilst preparing a training session. An increasing number of institutions in countries with limited resources opt to focus their efforts in bioinformatics "dry lab" research rather than the cost heavy of "wet lab" research. There is therefore a growing demand for providing training and access to computational and cloud-based resources which can enable scientists with restricted resources to work with open access '-omics' data to contribute to STEM research. In preparation for training sessions for different countries and audiences, there is much more to be taken into account besides the content of the training. It is imperative that the sessions are beneficial for the audiences as well as for the trainers since the impact of training and involving bioinformaticians from limited-resources institutes/countries will contribute to improvement of research quality by bringing new perspectives to scientific questions. Cross-cultural collaborations will stimulate innovation and expanding scientific research fields which can be addressed by a diverse and global scientific community.
I would like to invite those who join this session to create a Dos and Don’ts checklist for teaching events aimed at a diverse audience and explore ways of being mindful of factors that might contribute to the success of their sessions. The aim of the session is to raise awareness of diversity, equality and inclusion in training and workshops and to develop tools and practices.