engleski

Responsible research and innovation training programs: implementation and evaluation

Objective: As defined by von Schomberg, Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is a transparent process in which society and innovators become mutually responsive, with a view on ethical acceptability, sustainability and societal desirability of the innovation process. Higher Education Institutions and Responsible Research and Innovation, or HEIRRI, is a Horizon 2020 project that aimed to integrate RRI into education of future scientists and other professionals. It developed training programs for different levels of education, from secondary schools to postgraduate levels. Our objective was to perform those pilot training programmes and evaluate the pilot experiences. Methods: Pilot matching and schedule implementation were developed considering characteristics and curricular possibilities of participating institutions. For evaluation, surveys were developed for participants and trainers. Surveys addressed participants’ reaction to the programs, their perceptions and attitudes towards and intentions for future use of RRI. Each survey had questions on demographic data, Likert type statements (1 to 7 range), and open ended questions. Results: In total, 37 pilots were organized in 15 higher education institutions, 5 project consortium and 10 nonconsortium institutions. 554 participants and 48 trainers completed the surveys. Satisfaction with the programs was high (M=6, 95% CI 5-6), as well as participants’ attitudes towards RRI (M=5, 95% CI 4-5) and intentions for future use of RRI (M=6, 95% CI 6-7). Non- consortium participants were more satisfied and expressed greater intention for future use of RRI principles (P<0.001, Mann Whitney test). Participants also found the courses to be a good introduction to RRI, with appropriate design and relation to their work. Their comments had a high rate of positive and cognitive words, which indicates a high level of involvement in the topic they were writing about. Suggested improvements were more real world examples and more allocated time and flexibility of the activities. Conclusion: HEIRRI training programs showed to be well accepted and easily integrated into curricula. They can be used to introduce RRI to different levels of education and general public, and are freely available at RRI Tools (https://www.rri- tools.eu/heirri-training- programmes ). This research was conducted as a part of the HEIRRI project.

research integrity ; responsible research ; training

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