Instructor Notes
These notes draw on the first community pilot of this lesson, taught by Jennifer Stubbs at Bradley University on May 19, 2026, to grants and research administration staff. See issue #19 for the full pilot notes.
Timing
The teaching and exercises estimates in the
episode metadata add up to about 140 minutes. In practice, plan for
more.
| Episode | Rehearsal | Pilot |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Data Management Plan (DMP) Overview | 25 min | 45 min |
| 2. DMP Resources | 20-25 min | 20 min (rushed) |
| 3. Supporting Researchers | 15-20 min | not taught |
| 4. DMPTool and Common DMP Issues | 15 min | not taught |
| 5. Data Management Plan Services | 5 min | not taught |
Episode 1 ran long because of extended discussion driven by learner questions. Some of the material from episodes 3-5 came up during that discussion. In a two- or three-hour slot, decide in advance which episodes you will cover, or split the lesson across two sessions.
Teaching tips from the pilot
- Hand out example DMPs at the start. The pilot distributed printed, discipline-specific DMPs from the DMPTool public plans at the end of episode 2, with stronger and weaker phrases highlighted. Handing them out at the beginning lets learners see each DMP section as it is introduced in episode 1.
- Make a jargon list. Ask learners to circle or list every term in the example DMPs they are unsure of. The list can become an agenda for a follow-up meeting with their local data services office, IT, or librarian.
-
Analogies that helped explain metadata and formats:
- Citation styles (APA, Chicago, MLA) label the same information differently. A person can translate between them, but a machine can confuse title, author, and journal unless each is clearly tagged. That tagging is metadata.
- Date formats (month-day-year vs. YYYYMMDD, 12- vs. 24-hour time) show why a DMP should document file formats and conventions explicitly.
- Name one metadata or standards system per major discipline your learners work in (for example, IEEE, ANSI, or ISO for engineering; coordinate systems and the collection device or software for anything with locations).
Known gaps
These came up in the pilot and are not yet covered in the lesson. Check issue #19 for status.
- NSF DMSP webform. NSF now requires its Data Management and Sharing Plan webform on research.gov (NSF 26-202, required as of April 27, 2026). The pilot instructor found the form unstable, with some dropdown menus empty, so check its current state before teaching.
- NIH DMS plan format. NIH has published an updated blank format page for DMS plans. See the NIH guidance on writing a DMS plan.
- Non-US examples. The lesson centers US funders. If your learners are outside the US, bring in local funder requirements and guides (see issues #1 and #2).