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Competency-Based Approach for Curriculum Development

in Digital Curation

ALISE 2014 Conference

Jeonghyun Kim & William E. MoenUniversity of North Texas

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Two Initiatives

Mozilla Open Badges edX

Knight, E. (2013). Web literacy badge. Retrieved from http://openbadges.tumblr.com/post/42434670053/erin-knight-webmaker-badges-roadmap

edX. (n.d.) A sample certificate. Retrieved from https://www.edx.org/verified-certificate

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Competency-Based Education (CBE)

• Based on the broader concept of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE)

• To best prepare students to be competitive for employment

• A common approach used by professional disciplines, such as business, psychology, engineering, health-related, and tourism programs

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CBE Approach

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2002). Defining and assessing learning: Exploring competency-based initiatives. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002159.pdf

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Competencies in LIS

• Competencies necessary for library professionals• Professional organizations have put effort into

developing competency statements – e.g., ALA’s Core Competences of Librarianship

• Discussed competency-based approach in LIS education (e.g., Stoffle & Pryor, 1980; Thomas & Patel, 2008)

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iCAMP Project

• Funded by IMLS’s Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program

• Three-year project (September 2011–August 2014) • “To build capacity in UNT’s Library and Information Sciences (LIS)

curriculum to increase the number of appropriately trained information professionals and disciplinary researchers and scholars for digital curation and data management responsibilities”

• Objectives• Develop a Graduate Academic Certificate with four courses in digital

curation and data management

• Deploy a robust technical infrastructure to support student learning, practical engagement, and training

6

iCAMP Courses

• Course 1: Digital Curation Fundamentals• Introduces concepts, principles, standards, and practices for

digital curation

• Course 2: Digital Curation Tools and Applications • Focuses on techniques, tools, and applications for curating

digital data

• Course 3: Preservation Planning and Implementation for Digital Curation• Develops and implements a plan for curating digital data

• Course 4: Advanced Topics in Digital Curation• Unifies and provides a broader context for digital curation

competencies throughout the previous courses

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iCAMP Competencies

• Competencies• “The knowledge, skills,

and abilities to carry out a wide range of professional functions in support of digital curation responsibilities”

• Derived from existing statements of competencies, job announcements, training materials, reports, etc.

• Competency Groups1. Communication &

Interpersonal Competency

2. Environmental Scanning Competency

3. Management, Planning, and Evaluation Competency

4. Systems, Models, and Modeling Competency

5. Curating and Preserving Content Competency

6. Curation Technologies Competency

7. Services Competency

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iCAMP Competencies

• Curation Technology Competency • Definition: This competency addresses the knowledge,

skills, and abilities required to identify, use, and develop tools and applications to support digital curation activities

• Specific competencies: • Knowledge of IT infrastructure including operating system

services, network services, and security services• Work in a variety of computing environments: Unix, Linux,

Windows• Identify and utilize software, tools, applications, and systems

that support digital curation activities• Implement, configure, and maintain digital content

management systems and repositories

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iCAMP Competencies

• Curation Technologies Competency• Course 1: Discussing technical frameworks and practices• Course 2: Using and practicing tools and various Linux

command lines

• Curating and Preserving Content Competency• Course 2: Evaluating the functionality of a digital content

management system • Course 3: Implementing a digital curation plan

• Systems, Models, and Modeling Competency• Course 1: Discussing the conceptual models and their

applications• Course 3: Developing a digital curation plan

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iCAMP Competencies

• Management, Planning, and Evaluation Competency• Course 1: Evaluating a data management plan

• Services Competency • Course 1: Assessing various service models and

examples• Course 3: Exploring different aspects of designed

researcher communities

• Environmental Scanning Competency• Course 4: Exploring a particular topic of current interest

• Communication & Interpersonal Competency

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Portfolio as CBE Assessment

• Asked students to reflect on each competency group in the context of all modules/lectures/assignments/activities in the courses and their work placement• Students addressed all four

courses in their portfolio documents

• Students were able to ‘join up’ all aspects of the course and reflect on how the competencies come together in order to carry out the work of a digital curation practitioner

• Portfolio reinforced their learning across courses and identified further training needs

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Student Comments

• “I would definitely recommend this course to other students! It is applicable to a wide range of interests and areas. It covers a topic that is really missing from DLIS curriculum.”

• “The course covers a lot of technical topics related to digital data that is not explained or covered in other courses. This has been the best digitally focused class I've taken at UNT, by far.”

• “The chance to work with these tools, systems, and resources is absolutely invaluable. I think that this class carries great promise within the four-course plan.”

• “The range of theory and practical exercise work was also a great aspect of this course.”

• “I gained a lot of technical skills and experiences with the logistical operation of a digital repository through the courses.”

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Introduction to UNIX/Linux

• A non-credit course designed to introduce basic UNIX/Linux commands

• Covers a variety of introductory topics that teach students the basics of how to work in a console-based environment and on a server that supports multiple simultaneous users

• Upon successful completion of the course (a score of 80% or higher), students receive a Mozilla Digital Badge

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Challenges and Future Directions

• Target audience

• Four courses that comprises a Graduate Academic Certificate

• An ordered sequence of courses

• A need for continuous course improvement

Acknowledgements

The iCAMP project (http://icamp.unt.edu) is supported by a generous grant from the U.S. Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, Librarians for the 21st Century Program, RE-05-11-0073-11, with additional support from the University of North Texas, College of Information and UNT Libraries.

Dr. William Moen

Dr. Jeonghyun (Annie) Kim

Dr. Martin Harbert

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