The assignment is designed to demonstrate your understanding and knowledge of the principles of
curation and management of data. This is demonstrated by your ability to apply those principles in
the specific context of a case study and your critical reflections on the process of constructing a data
management plan for the case study.
Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this assignment you should be able to:
• analyse the case study to determine an appropriate data management strategy (ULO 1);
• develop a data management plan (ULO 3);
• incorporate ethical, legal, social and organisational issues in the plan (ULO 4)
• evaluate and critique the process of developing the plan (ULO 2)
FIT5146 - 2019s2 2
YOUR TASK:
This assignment is based on a case study described in a separate document. Each tutorial class will
be divided into groups and each group will address a different case study. Each case deals with a
contemporary issue that confronts society. Your task as a group is to develop a Data Management
Plan then individually critically reflect on the process your group followed in developing this plan,
as well as your contributions to developing this plan. In addition, you will be asked to peer evaluate
the work of your group in developing the plan.
- Development of a Data Management Plan (DMP)
The development of the DMP is a group activity. In your tutorial, you will be assigned to a group of
3-4 members. Your group will be responsible collectively for the DMP and there will be a single
submission for the group. Remember to include the FIT Group Assignment Cover Sheet with your
submitted plan. Your submission should demonstrate that your group has investigated your case
study in detail and are able to present and support the DMP in a way that is relevant to the case
study.
The submission will receive a group mark. However, your tutor has the authority to vary the group
mark for each group member. As a group, you will need to organise and design the DMP in a way
that is appropriate for the case study and the group. Each group member will need to take
responsibility and contribute to the development of the DMP. Your contribution will need to be
clearly identified in the documentation and this will be used to help assess any individual variation
to the group mark. There are further details and guidance about working in groups at:
https://www.monash.edu/it/current-students/resources-and-support/style-guide/working-in-a-team
Your group will use the Research Data Planning Template (a copy will be provided on Moodle) and
the plan will be based on the information provided in the case study description.
• Do not just tick the checkboxes. You also need to provide additional details for some
choices. The Template has a number of prompts and questions where you will need to
justify your decisions. Please enter your answers in the sections provided.
• The case study description might not provide sufficient information to answer or to make a
decision on a specific question. Your task is to make informed decisions and your group is
expected to use other sources to collect additional information that can inform your decision
making. If you are not able to collect sufficient information to make a decision, you should
identify possible options and say what information would be need to decide between those
options.
• With regard to the archiving of the data for future re-use, do not assume that the only data
associated with the project is listed in the case study description. Think about what defines
the ‘data collection’ for the case and identify what other data related to the case should be
identified and retained.
• When completing the data management plan, if you think a question or an item on the
template is not applicable, then DO NOT leave it blank. You must explicitly mark it as not
applicable (N/A) and justify this decision.
• There is no need to alter the template or its formatting. If you require extra room to write,
you may enter this by adding new lines or rows.
• Remember that not all data is treated the same in all sections of the DMP.
FIT5146 – 2019s2 3
Students Enrolled Online - DMP
You will work on the DMP in pairs. You can either organise your own partner through the Online
Student Discussion Forum on Moodle or the Teaching Associate will facilitate the pairing. - Reflective Essay
The reflective essay is an individual task. You must prepare a 3,000 word essay to discuss the
issues you and your group faced in developing the DMP and the reasoning behind the decisions you
have taken. Your reasons should reflect the principles of curation and data management, current
scholarly literature and relevant specialist organisations such as ANDS, DCC and DataOne (or
universities). Your essay needs to demonstrate what you have learnt about data management plans,
the use of such plans in specific contexts (such as your case study) and the role of various
frameworks and specialist organisations.
The essay should
• provide an overview of DMP
• explain the need for such plans
• examine the situations in which DMP are applicable
• identify the types of issues that need to be considered when preparing a plan
• discuss how and why intellectual property, ethical and legal issues are addressed in plans
• explain the assignment of metadata and issues relating to long term preservation and access.
• critically analyse the process your group used to development your DMP and your
contribution to this plan
These points need to be related to the DMP for your case study. Please follow the guidance on
critical reflective writing and ensure that you use and cite appropriate references in your essay.
References and Sources
Some useful resources for completing the Data Management Plan are listed at the start of the DMP
Template. Some additional references are listed below. These are intended as a starting point only.
You may refer to these or not, but you are also expected to find 5 additional relevant references,
including 2 academic articles, yourself.
Crowston, K. & Qin, J. (2011) A Capability Maturity Model for Scientific Data Management: Evidence from the
Literature. Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science & Technology V48
Curry, E., Freitas, A & O’Riain, S. (2007) The role of community-driven data curriculum for enterprises.
http://andrefreitas.org/papers/Community_Curated_Enterprise_preprint.pdf
Groenewegen, D. and Treloar, A. (2013) Adding Value by taking a National and Institutional Approach to Research
Data: The ANDS Experience. International Journal of Digital Curation, 8(2): 89-98.
http://ijdc.net/index.php/ijdc/article/view/8.2.89/319
Swauger, S. & Vision, J. (2015) What Factors Influence Where Researchers Deposit their Data? A Survey of
Researchers Submitting to Data Repositories. The International Journal ofDigital Curation. 10(1): 68-81
http://www.ijdc.net/index.php/ijdc/article/view/10.1.68
ANDS http://www.ands.org.au
ANDS – RIF-CS http://services.ands.org.au/documentation/rifcs/1.6.1/guidelines/rif-cs.html.
Digital Curation Centre (UK). Data Management Plans
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/data-management-plans
DataOne (USA). Data Management Plans
https://www.dataone.org/data-management-planning
FIT5146 – 2019s2 4
Submission Requirement:
You are required to submit all assessment items online through Moodle. You may only submit one
file for each task, preferably in pdf format but a Word file (.doc/.docx) is also acceptable.
The originality of your work may be evaluated using software like Turnitin but this evaluation will
not be provided to you unless the academic integrity of your work needs further investigation. If
you are still not sure what plagiarism is, seek further help from the Research and Learning team of
the Monash University Library. - Data Management Plan
This is a group assessment and only ONE Data Management Plan is submitted for each group/pair.
The DMP must be submitted with a Group Assignment Cover Sheet. The cover sheet must be the
first page of the assignment. No assignment will be accepted without a completed and signed cover
sheet. The DMP template also includes a page for you to indicate the roles/responsibility of each
group member to the design of the DMP. This must be completed within your submission.
In addition, each student must individually complete an online Peer Review Form. This is a
mandatory requirement of all students. This form will be used to help moderate the group mark.
Instructions on using the peer review online system will be posted on Moodle. This is due the same
time that the DMP is submitted. - Reflective Essay
This is an individual assessment. You may upload your draft versions of your essay on Moodle.
You can review your essay and revise it to address any issues you need to address to improve your
essay, especially in light of the feedback you may receive to your group’s DMP submission.
Once you are happy with your essay, you should upload it and then press the SUBMIT button.
Moodle will then require you to agree to an online statement that is the equivalent of the coversheet.
Once you have submitted your essay, you will not be able to make any further revisions. Your essay
will only be graded once it has been submitted.
Please note the difference between Upload and Submit. Ensure you submit your essay.
Due Dates: Data Management Plan 5pm, Friday 27th September (Week 9)
Reflective Essay 5pm, Friday 25th October (Week 12)
Extensions:
Applications for extensions must be submitted and approved by your tutor at least 3 days prior to
the due date (except in extreme circumstances). All applications for extensions must be made in
writing using the appropriate form (sending it via email is acceptable) and provide convincing
reasons for the extension. Where appropriate, supporting material should also be provided. Your
tutor could request a draft of your work when they consider your application. You must negotiate
any extensions formally via the in-semester special consideration process:
http://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/277152/in-semester.pdf
Please Note: requests for extension on or after the due date will only be considered in exceptional
circumstances
FIT5146 – 2019s2 5
Assessments
The assignment has two components: - Data Management Plan 20% of unit marks
- Reflective Essay 20% of unit marks
Detailed marking guides for both components of the assignment (Data Management Plan and
Reflective Essay) will be available on the Moodle site.
DMP - Assessment criteria will be based on:
• Understanding of the case
• Understanding of the DMP
• Ability to justify decisions and choice options
• Understanding the future needs to use data
• Ability to specify any requirements for collecting and storing data
• Ability to identify related data sources
• Individual contribution to the DMP
As a group assignment, the assumption is that each group member will receive the same group
mark. However, each member’s individual marks will be moderated by their contribution. This will
be at your tutor’s discretion and their judgement will be based on the quality of your contribution as
specified in the roles/responsibilities statement in the DMP header. Additionally, your tutor will
assess the peer review forms for your group to moderate your individual mark for this assessment
item.
Reflective essay – Assessment criteria will be based on:
• Clarity of the argument and its development
• Ability to synthesise and reflect on issues relevant to data curation
• Depth and breadth of reflections
• Understanding of the DMP process
• Identification of the broader socio-legal aspects of data curation
• Use of current literature
• Layout, structure, spelling, etc. and adherence to style guides
• Adherence to citation and reference standards
Sample Solution