Collaborative Lesson Development FAQ

Who teaches Collaborative Lesson Development Training?

Our Lesson Developer Trainers are experts in curriculum development drawn from The Carpentries community. They have a wealth of experience in design, development, and maintenance of lessons gathered from activities both within and outside The Carpentries. The majority of Lesson Developer Trainers are volunteers and all have been certified through a multi-week program of Lesson Developer Trainer Training coordinated by the Curriculum Team.

How do Collaborative Lesson Development Training events run?

Collaborative Lesson Development Training is taught virtually, over the Zoom video conferencing platform. Trainers make extensive use of screen sharing and breakout rooms during the training, enhanced by live demonstration and a shared notes document. The training is highly interactive, with participants engaging frequently in discussion and hands-on activities, designing and beginning to create their new lessons as they progress through the training.

Participants join Collaborative Lesson Development Training in teams of two to five people, collaborating together on a single lesson.

Is Instructor Training a prerequisite for Collaborative Lesson Development Training?

At least one person in the lesson team must have attended The Carpentries Instructor Training before the group can participate in Collaborative Lesson Development Training.

How important is it for multiple people to join Collaborative Lesson Development Training as a team?

Efforts have been made to make the Collaborative Lesson Development Training curriculum suitable for individuals who want to develop a lesson alone. However, we believe that the lesson development process is likely to be more successful (and more enjoyable!) when it is a collaborative effort among multiple contributors. We encourage those interested in joining the training to find at least one other person to join the training with them. This is reflected in the pricing of the training.

What options exist for a lesson after the training?

Participants will leave the training with the foundations of a lesson and a plan for how to continue developing it. The Carpentries Incubator provides a platform for collaborative curriculum development supported by the community and the Curriculum Team. Mature lessons from the Incubator can be submitted for open peer review in The Carpentries Lab, with the option of publication in The Journal of Open Source Education upon acceptance. Lessons from the Incubator can also be submitted for adoption into one of The Carpentries existing lesson programs, or, more rarely for consideration as a new lesson program.