3.2. FAIR competence profiles for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree levels
3.2.1. Method
The scope of competences covered by the Competence Framework and BoK is geared towards the Data Steward role, encompassing a very wide range of Knowledge Units. Only a fraction of these is needed by students of other disciplines. To identify relevant competences and formulate corresponding learning outcomes, eight book sprint participants collaborated during (and after) the book sprint sessions in a multi-level process.
First, each of the Knowledge Units in the Data Management area of the BoK was assessed in terms of their relevance for bachelor's, master's and PhD degrees by assigning them one of five ranges (irrelevant, basic, intermediate, advanced or professional)(4). These ranges are based on the European Qualification Framework (EQF, European Union n.d.) which encompasses eight levels. The aim of creating the ranges was to reduce the complexity somewhat. The 'basic' range comprises levels 1-3 of the EQF, 'intermediate' levels 4-5, 'advanced' levels 6-7, and 'professional' level 8.
This step also involved excluding or merging Knowledge Units considered irrelevant or redundant, e.g. a number of concepts closely related to the computer science and IT perspective on data management such as data warehouse architecture and processes, data models and query languages, or middleware for databases. On the other hand, a few topics seemed to be missing, e.g. ontologies and controlled vocabularies, or data discovery including data selection and use in research. Some of them are covered by Knowledge Units in other areas of the BoK. In such instances, the respective Knowledge Unit was added to the table. Topics not represented by any existing Knowledge Unit led to a new item being created and added (5).
In a second step, the group discussed and agreed upon which of the selected Knowledge Units could be considered entry-level content, i.e. compulsory topics. This was then performed again for each of the bachelor's, master's and PhD degree levels. The competence profiles defined using this method are presented in the table below.
(4) The procedure in detail was as follows: First, for each of the six Knowledge Unit Areas, one (sometimes two) of the involved book sprint participants, based on their expertise and experience, estimated the required level for bachelor's, master's and PhD degree students. These were reviewed by the other participants before the next session. During the subsequent session, the group discussed each individual item, and then approved or amended the classification. Knowledge Units deemed irrelevant or redundant were removed to consolidate the table collaboratively.
(5) In addition to bachelor's, master's and PhD degree students, we considered three other roles in this first step: Postdoc/Researcher, PI and support staff. These were later dropped due to capacity reasons and to focus on the most relevant target audiences of HEI teaching.
Last updated