Elements of a successful #openscience #rstats workshop | R-bloggers

"What makes an open science workshop effective or successful*?

Over the last 15 years, I have had the good fortune to participate in workshops as a student and sometimes as an instructor. Consistently, there were beneficial discovery experiences, and at times, some of the processes highlighted have been transformative. Last year, I had the good fortune to participate in Software Carpentry at UCSB and Software Carpentry at YorkU, and in the past, attend (in part) workshops such as Open Science for Synthesis. Several of us are now deciding what to attend as students in 2017. I have been wondering about the potential efficacy of the workshop model and why it seems that they are so relatively effective. I propose that the answer is expectations.  Here is a set of brief lists of observations from workshops that lead me to this conclusion.

*Note: I define a workshop as effective or successful when it provides me with something practical that I did not have before the workshop.  Practical outcomes can include tools, ideas, workflows, insights, or novel viewpoints from discussion. Anything that helps me do better open science. Efficacy for me is relative to learning by myself (i.e. through reading, watching webinars, or stuggling with code or data), asking for help from others, taking an online course (that I always give up on), or attending a scientific conference."