Pedagogy and public-funded research: an exploratory study of skills in digital humanities projects

What is it about?

Purpose: Public-funded research in Digital Humanities (DH) enhances institutional and individual research missions and contributes open data to a growing base of globally-networked knowledge. This case study on the Digging into Data 3 challenge (DID3) (2014-2016), an international, interdisciplinary, and collaborative grant initiative, explores skills that faculty and students brought to projects and others they acquired and shared on collaborative teams. Design/methodology/approach: Rooted in the naturalistic paradigm, this qualitative case study centers on semi-structured interviews with 53 participants on 11 of the 14 DID3 projects. Documentary evidence complements empirical evidence; analysis is constructivist and grounded. Findings: Hailing from diverse academic research institutions, centers, and repositories, participants brought 20 types of discipline-based or interdisciplinary expertise to DID3 projects. But they reported acquiring or refining 27 other skills during their project work. While most are data-related, complementary programming, management, and analytical skills push disciplinary and interdisciplinary expertise toward new frontiers. Project-based learning and pedagogy function symbiotically; participants therefore advocate for aligning problem-solving skills with pedagogical objectives at home institutions to prepare for public-funded DH projects. A modified content analysis juxtaposes DID3 skills with those advanced in 23 recent DH syllabi to identify commonalities and gaps. Originality/value: Pedagogy has an important yet under-researched and underdeveloped role in public-funded digital humanities.

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