Empowering African Researchers: Building Data and Coding Skills with The Carpentries

In this webinar, Angelique Trusler from The Carpentries spoke on the topic:

Empowering African Researchers: Building Data and Coding Skills with The Carpentries.

She shared insights on how African researchers can start their data and coding skills journey.

Key Areas Discussed:

• Fundamental coding techniques to streamline your research workflow
• Effective data management strategies to organize and analyze your data and 
• Practical tips on using open-source tools to enhance your research capabilities

This webinar series is co-organized by: UbuntuNet Alliance: https://ubuntunet.net/ and Access 2 Perspectives: https://access2perspectives.org/  as part of the ORCID Global Participation Program: https://info.orcid.org/global-participation-program/

Watch the recording:

The slides are available here: https://africarxiv.ubuntunet.net/handle/1/1683

Questions discussed during the session 

1. How do The Carpentries’ training programs support researchers in building essential coding  and data skills?

Carpentries Instructor Training has the following goals:

• Introduce you to evidence-based teaching practices.
• Teach you how to create a positive environment for learners at your workshops.
• Provide opportunities for you to practice and build your teaching skills.
• Help you become integrated into the Carpentries community.
• Prepare you to use these teaching skills in teaching Carpentries workshops.

Workshops: The Carpentries teaches workshops around the world on the foundational skills to work effectively and reproducibly with data and code. Our certified volunteer Instructors are trained in pedagogy and focus on creating a motivating and engaging environment for learners. Our workshops are inclusive and hands-on, empowering students to learn new skills and build confidence in using them in their work.

• The Carpentries lessons are collaboratively developed – anyone can contribute and we receive contributions daily.
• See What you might learn at a workshop (Slide 6)

2. What are some of the most common challenges researchers face when learning coding and data science, and how does The Carpentries address these challenges?

• Contextual and content challenges:
  • https://carpentries.org/blog/2023/05/Wins-and-Challenges-of-Running-a-Carpentry-Workshop-in-South-Africa-during-Load-shedding/
  • https://carpentries.org/blog/2020/10/reflections-on-my-first-Data-Carpentry-workshop/
  • https://carpentries.org/blog/2020/10/Lessons-Learned-DCW-for-SADiLaR-August/
  • https://carpentries.org/blog/2020/05/south-africa-online-workshop/ 

3. Can you provide examples of how The Carpentries’ workshops have positively impacted research practices in Africa?

• Our blog posts about Africa – https://carpentries.org/blog/posts-by-tags/#blog-tag-africa 

4. How does The Carpentries incorporate open-source tools into its training, and why are these 

    tools important for researchers?

• See Carpentries Core Curricula (Slide 13) of the slide above.

5. What strategies does The Carpentries use to ensure its training programs are accessible and effective for diverse research communities, including those in Africa?

• The Toolkit of IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Strategies) is a practical resource for Carpentries’ Instructors, helpers, and workshop hosts. We know that many people care about inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility but are not sure how it connects to teaching foundational coding and data science skills. This toolkit aims to bridge this gap. This is version 2, and the hope is that the Core Team and community members will continue to update and extend this resource over time.

Speaker’s profile

Dr. Angelique Trusler, with a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, is the Community Manager at The Carpentries in Africa and a Researcher at North-West University in South Africa. She leads efforts to enhance researchers’ data science skills across Africa, organizing workshops and training programs. Under her leadership, The Carpentries in Africa has grown significantly, hosting over 200 workshops and certifying more than 160 instructors.

Dr. Trusler also spearheaded translating a computing glossary into seven African languages, including Afrikaans, Setswana, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Amharic, Kiswahili, and Southern Sotho, and hosted a major virtual event, CarpentryConnect South Africa 2021, with participants from 28 countries. Passionate about open science, she collaborates with researchers to improve data science education and research, aiming for universal access to these crucial skills.