Another CGIAR First
A blended learning event is breaking new ground in the CGIAR. A seven-week course entitled
Research Methods – Thinking Scientifically, which began on 13 August 2007, is introducing young scientists and graduate students to the principles, concepts, methods and approaches used to conduct high quality research and development in agriculture and natural resources management. The course, which has evolved from a series of face-to-face courses run in East Africa, has been designed to open the eyes and change the attitudes of postgraduate students to issues surrounding the design and implementation of effective research development.
The thirty-six participants, who conduct their research in partnership with nine CGIAR Centres, are presently (mid September) taking part in online exercises, debates and forums. This is the first time such an event has been organized for budding researchers from across the CGIAR. Such induction training is usually conducted at the individual level, but the online course is able to reach more people, thereby tackling deficiencies in knowledge, skills and, especially, attitudes more efficiently. Participants also have access to more resources and are able to share their experiences, materials, ideas and views with others in similar situations.
The online course will culminate in a one-week, face-to-face learning event focusing on problem solving, with participants presenting their individual problems to the group.
This event is the result of a collaborative effort involving CGIAR staff and external partners. Coordinated by ICRAF's Training Unit, which is spearheaded by Jan Beniest, the course brings together the talents and resources of IT specialists, facilitation experts and members of the ICRAF/ILRI Research Methods Group (RMG).
The University of Reading is providing IT support for the online sessions, while RMG Manager Ric Coe and his team, who developed the curriculum and content, are providing scientific and technical support to the various online debates and forums and will also facilitate the one-week, problem-solving workshop.
Since this is a first for the CGIAR, two external consultants, Cary Clark and Anouk Jannsen-Bevernage, were hired to design the on-line learning activities and co-facilitate the event. These facilitators constantly interact with the participants to ensure they carry out their assignments and contribute to debates and forums.
Although participants face time constraints trying to complete their assignments, their responses to the course content and facilitation methods have been positive:
"The research methods course continues to be an opportunity to learn more about being a great scientist. After the exercises in Topic 3, I appreciate that there is definitely more to science then just carrying out experiments and writing papers: it makes more sense when we link it to the bigger picture and relate our science to development and the improvement of livelihoods and the environment. The course is helping me think more like a scientist, as opposed to a student dependent on a supervisor, when I contemplate my work and how it will impact stakeholders." Jan Beniest has this to say about the success of the course to date: "I hope CGIAR training units will be encouraged to facilitate similar events in the future. We can reach more people these days using ICT-KM methods, and this first course will be documented so others can learn from the experience."
Jan also points out that the training course is a direct result of the work carried out by the CGIAR training community under the ICT-KM Program's Online Learning Resources (OLR) Project, which he led until its completion last year.
As he explains, "The OLR Project established a repository and a learning management system and developed some solutions. We are now applying these solutions to the problems faced by our students and junior researchers."
Look out for further updates on this event!
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