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Optimizing Short-format Training: an International Consensus on Effective, Inclusive, and Career-spanning Professional Development in the Life Sciences and Beyond

View ORCID ProfileJason J. Williams, View ORCID ProfileRochelle E. Tractenberg, View ORCID ProfileBérénice Batut, View ORCID ProfileErin A. Becker, View ORCID ProfileAnne M. Brown, View ORCID ProfileMelissa L. Burke, View ORCID ProfileBen Busby, Nisha K. Cooch, View ORCID ProfileAllissa A. Dillman, View ORCID ProfileSamuel S. Donovan, View ORCID ProfileMaria A. Doyle, View ORCID ProfileCelia W.G. van Gelder, View ORCID ProfileChristina R. Hall, View ORCID ProfileKate L. Hertweck, View ORCID ProfileKari L. Jordan, View ORCID ProfileJohn R. Jungck, Ainsley R. Latour, View ORCID ProfileJessica M. Lindvall, View ORCID ProfileMarta Lloret-Llinares, View ORCID ProfileGary S. McDowell, Rana Morris, View ORCID ProfileTeresa Mourad, View ORCID ProfileAmy Nisselle, View ORCID ProfilePatricia Ordóñez, View ORCID ProfileLisanna Paladin, View ORCID ProfilePatricia M. Palagi, View ORCID ProfileMahadeo A. Sukhai, View ORCID ProfileTracy K. Teal, View ORCID ProfileLouise Woodley
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.03.10.531570
Jason J. Williams
1Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, DNA Learning Center
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  • For correspondence: williams@cshl.edu rochelle.tractenberg@georgetown.edu
Rochelle E. Tractenberg
2Georgetown University, Collaborative for Research on Outcomes and Metrics
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  • For correspondence: williams@cshl.edu rochelle.tractenberg@georgetown.edu
Bérénice Batut
3Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg
4Open Life Science
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Erin A. Becker
5The Carpentries
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Anne M. Brown
6Virginia Tech
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Melissa L. Burke
7Australian BioCommons
8Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation, Research Computing Centre
9The University of Queensland
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Ben Busby
10DNAnexus
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Nisha K. Cooch
11CureComms Advisors, LLC
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Allissa A. Dillman
12BioData Sage
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Samuel S. Donovan
13BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium
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Maria A. Doyle
14Bioconductor
15University of Limerick
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Celia W.G. van Gelder
16Dutch Techcentre for Life Sciences
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Christina R. Hall
17Australian BioCommons
18University of Melbourne
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Kate L. Hertweck
19Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
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Kari L. Jordan
5The Carpentries
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John R. Jungck
20University of Delaware
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Ainsley R. Latour
21IDEA-STEM
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Jessica M. Lindvall
22ELIXIR-SE/NBIS
23Science for Life Laboratory Training Hub
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Marta Lloret-Llinares
24European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute
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Gary S. McDowell
25Lightoller LLC
26The Ronin Institute
27Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research and Education
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Rana Morris
28National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health
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Teresa Mourad
29Ecological Society of America
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Amy Nisselle
30Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
31Melbourne Genomics, The University of Melbourne
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Patricia Ordóñez
32University of Maryland Baltimore County
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Lisanna Paladin
33European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology Unit
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Patricia M. Palagi
34Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
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Mahadeo A. Sukhai
35Canadian National Institute for the Blind
36Queen’s University School of Medicine
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Tracy K. Teal
37Posit, PBC
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Louise Woodley
38Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement
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ABSTRACT

Science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) fields change rapidly and are increasingly interdisciplinary. Commonly, STEMM practitioners use short-format training (SFT) such as workshops and short courses for upskilling and reskilling, but unaddressed challenges limit SFT’s effectiveness and inclusiveness. Prior work, including the NSF 2026 Reinventing Scientific Talent proposal, called for addressing SFT challenges, and a diverse international group of experts in education, accessibility, and life sciences came together to do so. This paper describes the phenomenography and content analyses that produced a set of 14 actionable recommendations to systematically strengthen SFT. Recommendations were derived from findings in the educational sciences and the experiences of several of the largest life science SFT programs. Recommendations cover the breadth of SFT contexts and stakeholder groups and include actions for instructors (e.g., make equity and inclusion an ethical obligation), programs (e.g., centralize infrastructure for assessment and evaluation), as well as organizations and funders (e.g., professionalize training SFT instructors; deploy SFT to counter inequity). Recommendations are aligned into a purpose-built framework— “The Bicycle Principles”—that prioritizes evidenced-based teaching, inclusiveness, and equity, as well as the ability to scale, share, and sustain SFT. We also describe how the Bicycle Principles and recommendations are consistent with educational change theories and can overcome systemic barriers to delivering consistently effective, inclusive, and career-spanning SFT.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT STEMM practitioners need sustained and customized professional development to keep up with innovations. Short-format training (SFT) such as workshops and short-courses are relied upon widely but have unaddressed limitations. This project generated principles and recommendations to make SFT consistently effective, inclusive, and career-spanning. Optimizing SFT could broaden participation in STEMM by preparing practitioners more equitably with transformative skills. Better SFT would also serve members of the STEMM workforce who have several decades of productivity ahead, but who may not benefit from education reforms that predominantly focus on undergraduate STEMM. The Bicycle Principles and accompanying recommendations apply to any SFT instruction and may be especially useful in rapidly evolving and multidisciplinary fields such as artificial intelligence, genomics, and precision medicine.

Competing Interest Statement

B.B. is an employee of DNAnexus. G.S.M. works as an independent consultant who provides short-format training and professional development services. K.L.J. and E.A.B. are employees of The Carpentries. N.C. is the owner of CureComms Advisors LLC and was compensated for participating in the meeting and providing strategic content guidance. No other authors declare competing interests.

Footnotes

  • Competing Interest Statement: B.B. is an employee of DNAnexus. G.S.M. works as an independent consultant who provides short-format training and professional development services. K.L.J. and E.A.B. are employees of The Carpentries. N.C. is the owner of CureComms Advisors LLC and was compensated for participating in the meeting and providing strategic content guidance. No other authors declare competing interests.

  • Typo correction.

  • https://www.bikeprinciples.org/

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
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Optimizing Short-format Training: an International Consensus on Effective, Inclusive, and Career-spanning Professional Development in the Life Sciences and Beyond
Jason J. Williams, Rochelle E. Tractenberg, Bérénice Batut, Erin A. Becker, Anne M. Brown, Melissa L. Burke, Ben Busby, Nisha K. Cooch, Allissa A. Dillman, Samuel S. Donovan, Maria A. Doyle, Celia W.G. van Gelder, Christina R. Hall, Kate L. Hertweck, Kari L. Jordan, John R. Jungck, Ainsley R. Latour, Jessica M. Lindvall, Marta Lloret-Llinares, Gary S. McDowell, Rana Morris, Teresa Mourad, Amy Nisselle, Patricia Ordóñez, Lisanna Paladin, Patricia M. Palagi, Mahadeo A. Sukhai, Tracy K. Teal, Louise Woodley
bioRxiv 2023.03.10.531570; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.03.10.531570
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Optimizing Short-format Training: an International Consensus on Effective, Inclusive, and Career-spanning Professional Development in the Life Sciences and Beyond
Jason J. Williams, Rochelle E. Tractenberg, Bérénice Batut, Erin A. Becker, Anne M. Brown, Melissa L. Burke, Ben Busby, Nisha K. Cooch, Allissa A. Dillman, Samuel S. Donovan, Maria A. Doyle, Celia W.G. van Gelder, Christina R. Hall, Kate L. Hertweck, Kari L. Jordan, John R. Jungck, Ainsley R. Latour, Jessica M. Lindvall, Marta Lloret-Llinares, Gary S. McDowell, Rana Morris, Teresa Mourad, Amy Nisselle, Patricia Ordóñez, Lisanna Paladin, Patricia M. Palagi, Mahadeo A. Sukhai, Tracy K. Teal, Louise Woodley
bioRxiv 2023.03.10.531570; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.03.10.531570

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