Kelly Barnes on The Carpentries

Introducing The Carpentries Communications Manager, Oscar Masinyana

Tue, 09 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to welcome Abdul-Malik Sibabalwe Oscar Masinyana to The Carpentries Core Team! Oscar is our new Communications Manager and has extensive experience in academic and literary publishing, writing, translating and editing. We asked Oscar to share a bit about themself, read on to learn more!

My name is Abdul-Malik Sibabalwe Oscar Masinyana (he/him/they/them), and you are welcome to call me by any of these names. Most people call me Oscar. I am based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and it is such a pleasure to join The Carpentries community as a member of its Core Team.

Announcing our new Director of Assessment

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A Message from Erin Becker

It is with great pleasure that I announce that Dr. Kelly Barnes is advancing to a Senior Team Lead role and will now be serving as The Carpentries Director of Assessment. Over the past three years, Kelly has brought her expertise in assessment and evaluation to the Instructor Training team, improving and strengthening the Instructor Training and Trainer Training programs. In her new position, she will be able to expand her reach and bring high-quality assessment to all of The Carpentries core activities - including curriculum development and maintenance, workshops, and community development. Congratulations Kelly!

Tell Us What You Think of the Instructor Training Checkout Process

Wed, 28 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

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We are improving the Instructor Training Checkout process to remove accessibility barriers and make the process more worthwhile for trainees and the Carpentries community. But, we need your help to make sure we get this right!

The Core Team, in partnership with Trainers Leadership, is working on the first systematic review and improvements to the Checkout process since 2018.

The 2021 Instructor Training Report

Mon, 25 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The first virtual CarpentryConnect South Africa 2021 took place from 6 to 17 September. The event included 2 Carpentries workshops, 1 Carpentries instructor training event, 2 networking events, 1 learning session and 1 opening address.

The main goal of CarpentryConnect South Africa 2021 was to build capacity for workshops through instructor training and bring together newer and more experienced community members to share knowledge, network, develop new skills, and develop strategies for building strong local communities around digital and computational literacy in Africa.

Applications Now Open for Carpentries Trainer Training Starting January 2022

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Do you look back fondly on your Instructor Training and think, “I would love to teach that!”? Do you want to help people learn to be more effective teachers, while continuing to develop your own teaching skill through regular engagement with our Instructor Training curriculum? Maybe you are looking for another way to get involved and give back to The Carpentries community. If any of these describe you, consider joining our vibrant community of Instructor Trainers!

The 2021 Instructor Training Report

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The Carpentries Instructor Training Team is excited to release the 2021 Instructor Training Report. This report is an in-depth look at the Instructor Training program and provides an update on its successes, challenges, and growth.

Quick Facts

Instructor Training Outcomes

Trainees rate Carpentries Trainers very highly.
- The majority of trainees thought Trainers gave clear answers to questions (97%), were good communicators (97%), considerate (99%), and enthusiastic (98%).
Trainees report higher levels of ability and knowledge after Instructor Training.
98% of trainees agreed that the atmosphere during Instructor Training was welcoming.
92% of trainees agreed that Instructor Training was worth their time.
74% of trainees report an increase in motivation to learn about teaching after Instructor Training.
Trainees are very likely to recommend Instructor Training to a friend or colleague.
- Recommendation scores have averaged 8.43 - 9 out of 10 for the last five years.
81% of Trainees hear about Instructor Training through word of mouth.

Instructor Training Growth

Welcome to our New Instructor Trainers

Mon, 26 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

We want to introduce you to our 14 new Instructors Trainers! They have just completed Trainer Training, are badged, and ready to jump in. Many of them are already scheduled to teach their first Instructor Trainings in the next few months! This group is full of passion, excitement, and great ideas! They will be such an asset to our community!

Please Welcome our New Trainers:

Ben Chiewphasa

I am the Economics and Data Librarian with the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship at the University of Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Libraries. In my current role, I provide information literacy, data analysis, and data visualization support via consultations as well as workshops and library instruction. My research interests include critical data literacy, community engagement efforts in academic libraries, and government information dissemination. I initially sought Carpentries Instructor certification to meet the needs of University of Montana graduate students who were generally aware of available tools and approaches for wrangling data, but lacked the opportunities to actually learn these skills and consequently apply them to their own research. I think the skills I’ve learned from Carpentries Instructor Training have made me a better teacher overall—whether it’s leading Carpentries workshops or even teaching credit-bearing courses. My time with the Carpentries has motivated me in lowering learning barriers and empowering researchers to conduct efficient, reproducible, and open research.

Core Team 'Acc-athon' to Add Alt Text Across Carpentries Curricula

Thu, 22 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

At the end of March, the Core Team had an “Acc-athon”, or accessibility hackathon, led by Erin Becker, where we worked together to add and improve alt text across Carpentries curricula.

What is alt text?

Alternative text or alt text is an HTML element that describes the appearance and function of an image on a page. Alt text serves several functions. It appears in place of an image if the image is broken. It enhances the discoverability of content, because search engines can index alt text. But, perhaps most crucially, alt text makes web content more accessible. If someone uses a screen reader, when the screen reader gets to an image, it will dictate the alt text in place instead.

How We Use Feedback at The Carpentries

Fri, 04 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

As you were filling out yet another survey or feedback form, you might have found yourself wondering, “What does The Carpentries do with all of this feedback anyway? Do they even use it? Do they really need to hear from me?” And the answer is yes, we definitely do!

If you have hung around The Carpentries for any period of time, you know that community is core to all we do. Everything is co-created by the community with support from The Carpentries Core Team. But to be able to co-create, we have to have strong lines of communication in all directions. As Core Team members, our job is to listen to you and use your feedback to inform the work we do. It is just as important, however, that we close that feedback loop by sharing back to you, to facilitate your work and to showcase your accomplishments. Since some of us really love concept maps here at The Carpentries, here is a little diagram to illustrate the many ways that we listen and share through our assessment work:

Introducing our new Deputy Director of Instructor Training

Wed, 06 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

We are ecstatic to welcome Dr. Kelly Barnes to The Carpentries Team. Kelly’s role as Deputy Director of Instructor Training is supported by a three year grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for scaling and sustaining our Instructor Training and Trainer Training programs. Her work will focus on developing an assessment strategy for instructor and trainer training and working with the Trainer community to maintain and modernise our Instructor Training curriculum. She will also work with The Carpentries Instructor Training Team to scale up our capacity for instructor training by improving our workflows and documentation. Welcome to the team Kelly!