Instructors Handbook

About This Handbook

The Instructor Handbook is designed to support members of The Carpentries community who are serving as an Instructor. It is maintained by The Carpentries Workshops and Instruction Team. If you believe anything needs to be added or updated here, or if you would like to provide feedback on the content, please email the Workshops and Instruction Team or open an issue on the source repository of this handbook. If you are unfamiliar with any of the terms used in this handbook, please refer to our Glossary of terms.

Introduction

Carpentries Instructors are volunteers who are certified through the Carpentries Instructor Training program to teach live-coding and data skills to learners through evidence based-teaching practices.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Organise and facilitate Self-Organised Workshops.

• Volunteer to facilitate Centrally-Organised Workshops.

Time Expectation: Flexible.

Instructors can decide when they would like to plan a Self-Organised Workshop or support a Centrally-Organised Workshop.

For a Self-Organised Workshop Instructors should expect to dedicate the duration of the workshop which is approximately 16 hours, in addition to at least five hours to organise a workshop.

For a Centrally-Organised Workshop Instructors should expect to dedicate the duration of the workshop which is approximately 16 hours, in addition to approximately one to three hours of pre-planning meetings.

Onboarding

Steps to becoming an Instructor.

1. Attend an Instructor Training event. The training runs over two full days or four half days and covers the basics of educational psychology, evidence-based classroom practices, and how to apply both to teaching workshops for The Carpentries. For more details, visit the Instructor training curriculum page.

2. Complete the checkout process. You must complete three short tasks after the training to complete certification as a Carpentries Instructor. See our Checkout Instructions page for more details.

Instructor Training Attendance Policy

No Shows

A ‘No Show’ is when a trainee does not cancel or contact the Instructor Training Team before an event, and does not attend training. In a ‘No Show’ event, the training seat will be considered used.

If extenuating circumstances have prevented a trainee from cancelling, contacting, or attending an event, they may request permission to register for an additional event using the same registration code by emailing instructor.training@carpentries.org.

IMPORTANT: Requests to re-register must be received within seven days of the training end date.

Trainees with multiple unexplained no-shows may be barred from future registration.

Partial Absence

Trainees who miss up to four hours (one-half day) of an event can schedule a 45-minute one-to-one makeup meeting to complete their training with The Carpentries Director of Workshops and Training. Makeup meetings can be scheduled via Calendly. To prepare for a makeup meeting, trainees should review all sections of the Instructor Training Curriculum they missed and come prepared to share thoughts and questions about those sections. Trainees who missed more than four hours of an event should not schedule a makeup meeting. (See Re-taking a Training Event, below.)

Trainees are not eligible for Instructor certification until their record indicates they have completed an entire Instructor Training event.

Re-taking a Training Event

Trainees who miss more than four hours (one-half day) of an event are not eligible for a makeup meeting but can ask to attend another event in full. To request permission to register for an additional training event, trainees should email instructor.training@carpentries.org within 30 days of a missed event.

When re-taking a training, trainees who miss more than two hours may be marked absent, even when they have attended part of a prior event. Multiple partial trainings may not be used to complete the training requirement.

Ineligibility for Makeup Opportunities

Trainees who miss an event in full without cancelling within seven days (no-show) or who miss part of an event but do not request a makeup opportunity within seven days are ineligible to register for a new training event using the same registration code. Trainees interested in completing training may contact instructor.training@carpentries.org to be advised on their options for re-admission.

Checkout Extensions Policy

Trainees are asked to complete checkout within 90 days of attending an Instructor Training event. Having a deadline is necessary to support busy people in prioritising a goal we all care about. However, it is sometimes necessary for trainees to postpone completing checkout.

Trainees who are unable to complete checkout within the 90-day deadline should contact us at instructor.training@carpentries.org to request an extension. Extensions may be granted up to one year after the checkout deadline. After one year, you may contact instructor.training@carpentries.org to explore opportunities to re-take the training.

Offboarding

At this time, we do not have a formal offboarding process for Instructors. Once you become an Instructor, your profile remains active in our database, and you can log in at any time to access it.

If you are no longer interested in receiving emails about upcoming teaching opportunities, please email us at Workshops and let us know you would like to unsubscribe from the Instructor Teaching Opportunities list.

Communication and Collaboration Spaces

Instructor Meetings

Join the Workshops and Instruction Team every other month on the second Tuesday at 15:00 and 21:00 UTC. During meetings, we will gather feedback from Instructors, share updates and tips, learn from community members, and enjoy networking opportunities. Please sign up on the Carpentries Instructor Meetings Etherpad.

Upcoming Workshops

If you are a Carpentries Certified Instructor and would like to view teaching opportunities that need Instructors, please log in to your AMY profile for a list of upcoming Centrally-Organised workshops that are open for recruitment.

Community Calendar

Once scheduled, all Community Sessions (i.e pre- and post workshop discussions, Themed Discussions and Carpentries Conversations) and Teaching Demonstrations are listed on our Community Calendar. You can add relevant events to your personal calendar from there by clicking on the event you would like to attend.

Etherpad

The Carpentries uses Etherpad as a collaborative note-taking tool during workshops, training, and other Carpentries-related events. Often, Etherpad is used as a method for signing up for events as well. Below is a list of Etherpads relevant to serving as an Instructor.

• Pad-of-pads: A list of our most commonly used Etherpads and other resources.

• Community Sessions: A list of our Community Discussions (including Welcome sessions) and how to sign up to attend.

• Teaching Demo: Information about Teaching Demonstrations, including upcoming dates and how to register.

• Instructor Meetings: A list our Instructor Meetings pads in descending order.

GitHub

• Glosario: A multilingual glossary for computing and data science terms

• Workshop Template: Step-by-step guide to creating the workshop website

Slack

Join The Carpentries Slack workspace To follow conversations relevant to the Instructor role, please consider joining the following channels:

• The Carpentries General Channel

• The Carpentries Instructor Channel

If you are new to Slack, please check out our Slack Guide.

TopicBox

You can access The Carpentries mailing lists from TopicBox. Below are the lists relevant to the activities and programs covered by the Instructor handbook. If you are new to Topicbox, please check out our Topicbox Guide.

• discuss | Topicbox

• instructors | Topicbox

To join one or more Carpentries listservs, you will need to create a login on the site. Once you have created your login, you can scroll through the list of groups and click “Join the Conversation” (for open mailing) or “Request to Join” (for the mailing lists that require administrator approval).

Step-by-Step Guides

Planning & Organising a workshop

1. Decide on the order of the lessons and who will teach which modules.

2. Set up the workshop website using the Carpentries template and send it to the Workshops and Instruction Team by submitting a Self-Organised workshop form. Detailed instructions are in the README of the workshop website template repo. Note: If you are teaching a Centrally-Organised workshop, you will share the website directly with the Workshops and Instruction Team through email

3. Create a collaborative document for the workshop (e.g. an Etherpad).

4. Assist the host in recruiting helpers if possible.

5. Assist the host in ensuring the workshop location is accessible.

6. Share emergency contact information with the host in case of last-minute changes.

7. Practice teaching the material.

8. Remind the host of the necessary equipment.

9. Join a community discussion.

10. Confirm criteria for reimbursement (per diem or save receipts).

Setting Up a Workshop Website

For instructions on setting up a website for a workshop, please visit the workshop template home page.

Self-Organised Workshops Checklist is a guide to help Instructors/Workshop Hosts teach Self-Organised workshops. The checklist provides a high-level overview of all the steps needed to successfully coordinate a Carpentries workshop from beginning to end.

Software Installation

Installing software on laptops has been made easier over the years, but it can still be a huge challenge at the start of a workshop. Below are suggestions for ensuring the process goes as smoothly as possible.

What you can do in advance:

• Plan for installation help at the start of both workshop days. Put it on the schedule and make sure it is clear that people can and should show up during that time.

• Email the participants a week in advance and the day before to remind them to install the needed software before the workshops.

• If possible, recruit helpers who use Linux, Mac, and Windows operating systems.

• If you/helpers/instructors have time, test the install instructions on a fresh user account on your computer.

• If you are teaching for an organisation where participants are bringing work laptops and they do not have administrative access (common in government organisations) – ask about it. Try to plan ahead either with their central IT organisation or with the “emergency exits” listed below.

• Will you have decent Wi-Fi? Many people installing software at once can hinder a poor internet connection. If this is the case, prep a few flash drives with the relevant installers.

• Attend a Community Discussion, where you can talk to other Instructors to ask questions and get feedback to help you prepare to teach.

On the day of:

• Refer to our Wiki page for solutions to common problems.

• If someone has come in early and the software still cannot be installed by the time the workshop starts, try one of the “emergency exits” below or keep working with them one-on-one until they are able to start.

• If someone comes in late or is having such trouble with an installation that they cannot start, have them watch (and maybe work with a neighbour) until the first break, when you can work on installation issues together.

“Emergency Exits”

If there is no way that you will be able to install the software locally on someone’s computer, consider using the following solutions:

Find solutions on our blog post, Scaffolding Installation for Online Workshops

• Pre-configured “scaffolds” for RStudio Cloud and My Binder (hosting Jupyter and OpenRefine).

• Microsoft Azure gives you a cloud based Jupyter notebook with many languages and platforms installed. It also includes a shell terminal with git.

• If your institution’s library does laptop rentals, rent one to two laptops and set them up with the software before the workshop and keep them on hand as loaners during the workshop.

About the Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct is a key tool for fostering and upholding an inclusive, respectful learning environment. But for people who are new to the idea of a Code of Conduct, it can be a little awkward to talk about. Here is a sample of how you might introduce the Code of Conduct – please do not use this verbatim, but adapt it to your own audience and style of introduction:

The Carpentries is a community-led project. We value the involvement of everyone in the community. We are committed to creating a friendly and respectful place for learning, teaching and contributing. All participants in our events and communications are expected to show respect and courtesy to others.

What kinds of behaviours are expected?

All interactions should be professional regardless of platform: either online or in-person. In order to foster a positive and professional learning environment we encourage the following kinds of behaviours in all Carpentries events and platforms:

• Use welcoming and inclusive language

• Be respectful of different viewpoints and experiences

• Gracefully accept constructive criticism

• Focus on what is best for the community

• Show courtesy and respect towards other community members

Examples of unacceptable behaviour by participants at any Carpentries event/platform can be found in the Code of Conduct. We Instructors take the Code of Conduct very seriously, and we have a process for dealing with violations and complaints. Read the Reporting Guidelines section for the details on how to handle Code of Conduct violations.

Using Exercises

When teaching a lesson, it is a very good idea to go through the lesson in advance and choose which exercises you want participants to try.

Once you have selected exercises, there are several ways to display them to the participants during the workshop. Choose from the options below, depending on the tool you are using or the exercise you selected.

• From the lesson website (zoomed in).

  • This is the least effort, but requires having the right lesson page open + finding the right exercise.

• Make slides.

  • More effort, but easy to flip forward to the next one.

  • Have a document of some kind with all the exercises in it.

  • More effort, but exercises are all in one place.

• Put exercises in the Etherpad.

  • If you do this in advance, pretty low-effort.

  • Can also use this with any of the other strategies so people can find the exercise in two places.

• Online tool, like Socrative.

  • Requires time to set up, but is great for multiple choice and T/F questions and promotes participation.

In all of the examples, you will have to switch from the tool you are using for live coding to however you are showing the exercises. For something like R or Python, one way to reduce the amount of switching is to put all the exercises in an R script / Python notebook and have that open alongside your main working script/notebook so that it is relatively easy to switch back and forth.

General Tips

Introductions

The introduction is one of the most important pieces of the workshop! It sets the tone for the day. The instructor training material has some suggestions of how to build a good workshop introduction.

Accessibility Check-In

The Carpentries Toolkit of IDEAS | Zenodo

Before you start, review our accessibility checklist.

Varying Skill Level

Carpentries workshops frequently include many people with widely varying skills and experiences. The end of The Carpentries Instructor Training on Carpentries teaching practices has some strategies when working with a diverse classroom.

FAQ

List of frequently asked questions relevant to the content in the handbook.

Pre-workshop

• Why isn’t my workshop listed on the carpentries.org webpage?

  • There are three things that must happen in order for a workshop to appear on The Carpentries webpage. You must complete the Workshop Request Form, the workshop website must include the venue, and at least one instructor must be identified. If the instructors change, we will get notified and will be able to make the update.

• If I am teaching a Data Carpentry Genomics workshop, how many AWS Instances will be provided and when will we receive the AWS Instances?

  • A member of the Workshop Administration Team will contact the hosts/instructors approximately two to three weeks prior to the workshop to find out how many instances are needed. You will be asked to provide the total number of instructors, helpers and learners. Approximately 1 week, prior to the workshop, the Workshop Administration Team will provide you with test instances for each instructor and helper for testing/practice. Approximately 3 days before the workshop, you will be asked for your final attendance so we can send you the AWS instances for the workshop. On the day prior to the workshop, the Workshop Administration Team will provide you with instances for each instructor, helper and attendee for the workshop. We will also send a few extras for backup. The AWS Instances will be terminated the day after the workshop. The AWS Instances will be terminated the day after the workshop. Please submit your workshop request/notification form at least 21 days in advance.

• What is a slug? And how should I use it to name my workshop website?

  • A slug is a unique identifier used by The Carpentries to connect a workshop with an organisation. Each workshop will have its own slug. The slug should use the following format YEAR-MM-DD-SITE-(online)

  • YEAR being replaced by the four-digit year (2020)

  • MM being replaced by the two-digit month (03)

  • DD being replaced by the two digits representing the first day of the workshop (23)

  • SITE being replaced by the organisation or location name (stanford)

  • If the workshop will take place online, please add online (online)

  • This slug format is a part of a validation check in our system, including the dashes separating these variables.

• Does the instructor need to be listed as the contact person on the workshop webpage or a member of the host institution?

  • The contact person for the workshop webpage can be designated by the workshop organiser. The person listed should be able to answer questions regarding the workshop, ie attendance policy, waitlist, location, installation, etc. You can have multiple persons listed as the contact person if needed. *It is optional for a member of the host organisation to be listed on the workshop webpage.

• Where do I find the pre/post survey for the learners to use?

  • The learner facing survey links are automatically generated on the workshop’s webpage. Generally, they will be located directly above and within the schedule. You are welcome to share the survey links (located on the workshop webpage) with your attendees whenever the time is right for your workshop.

• How do I access the survey results?

  • If you are planning a workshop please notify the Workshop Administration Team of your planned workshop using the workshop request form. The Workshop Administration Team will send the link to view results of the survey one to two weeks prior to the workshop. If there are more than 10 survey responses, you will have the option to download the survey data, using the ‘Download CSV’ link at the bottom right of the survey results page.

• Who can be a Helper and what do they contribute to the workshop?

  • Helpers are often recruited from the local community at the host site to support Carpentries workshops. Helpers support learners one-on-one if they are stuck installing software, understanding a certain line of code, or any other parts of the learning process.

• How do I sign up to teach a Centrally-Organised Workshop?

  • In order to sign-up to teach a Centrally-Organised Workshop you must login to AMY profile using your GitHub credentials. Refer to the AMY documentation for more information on how to sign up.

Curricula

• If I am only teaching portions of the Carpentries curricula, do I still need to register my workshop?

  • It is important that we know about workshops being publicised because people often contact us to report that they will be unable to attend a workshop or to ask questions and if we do not know about planned workshops we can not provide support or share information with instructors.

  • If you are teaching only a portion of The Carpentries curricula or if the workshop does not align with the Core Curricula of a lesson program, we ask that you still register your self-organised workshop and select the “Mix & Match” option for the question “Which Carpentries workshop are you teaching?”. This option is only available for Self-Organised workshops. Centrally-organised workshops are required to follow the Core Curricula.

• When a workshop is taught, how closely should it stick to the Carpentries lesson plans?

  • To be considered an official Carpentries workshop, you must follow the Core Curricula of a lesson program. If you teach something other than what is listed on our webpage we ask that you acknowledge that your workshop is “inspired by SWC/DC/LC” or “based on SWC/DC/LC”. You can still register your workshop and select the workshop you are teaching is “Mix & Match”, so that we can show others how you use The Carpentries resources.

• When will I be considered an Experienced Instructor?

  • Ater being an Instructor for three Carpentries workshops you will be able to take the role of Experienced Instructor in any Carpentries workshop.

Centrally-Organised

• Are Instructors paid a stipend?

  • The instructors selected to teach workshops are volunteers and are not paid for their service. To compensate for their time we require the Host to cover travel expenses. If you would like to support the instructors, you are encouraged to make a targeted donation to support instructor development

• As an instructor, will I still get credit for a workshop if the host canceled?

  • If you are scheduled to teach a Carpentries workshop and the host cancels, you will still receive credit for the workshop. If a workshop is scheduled and you have to resign from teaching, you will not receive credit for the workshop.

• Will I be notified if a workshop is canceled or postponed?

  • A Workshop Administrator will notify Instructors as soon as a workshop has been canceled or postponed by the Host. Confirmed Instructors for the original workshop dates will be given priority selection when the new dates are confirmed.

Online workshop

• Will I be provided with a Zoom room to teach my online workshop?

  • If your institution has a videoconferencing platform available, we recommend that you use that same platform for The Carpentries workshop. This will reduce the time needed for workshop organisers and learners to learn a new system. However, if you do not have access to a video conferencing system, we will be able to provide you with access to one of our Zoom rooms.

• I have never taught an online workshop, where should I begin?

  • All Instructors should be familiar with the Recommendations for Teaching Carpentries Workshops Online. This will give you the foundation for online Carpentries styled workshops.

• How do I indicate my workshop will be online in the workshop website template?

  • We updated the workshop website template to make it easier to indicate that a workshop will be taught online.

• How many instructors are needed to teach an online workshop?

  • Teaching online is a challenge. We recommend a minimum of two instructors and a maximum of four instructors with the assistance of helpers. Please review the recommended instruction roles for a workshop.

• How do I sign-up to teach a Centrally-Organised Workshops?

  • In order to sign-up to teach a Centrally-Organised Workshop you must login to AMY using your GitHub credentials. Refer to the AMY documentation on how to sign-up.

In-person workshop

• Do Instructors pay for travel?

  • As a volunteer Instructor who is not paid for their time teaching, we ask the host to cover travel and accommodation costs. We recommend that the host budgets approximately $1500 per Instructor for all travel expenses.

• What if I am no longer comfortable teaching an in-person workshop after the travel has been purchased?

  • We encourage the purchase of insurance where possible. This will help ensure that most funds will be recouped in the event of cancellation. In the event an Instructor is being reimbursed for expenses and cancels, the host will not be held responsible for insurance.

  • We would ask that the Instructor teaches virtually if they are no longer comfortable teaching in-person. Learners will participate either fully online or fully in-person

• What if the in-person event policy changes before the workshop takes place?

  • We understand that policies change regularly and sometimes unexpectedly. We ask that the host provide any changes immediately to all involved parties so that the coordination can align with those changes.

• What are The Carpentries’ in-person event procedures for in-person workshops?

  • We will follow the in-person event guidelines of the host institution. This will differ between organisations and we will ensure that all parties involved are aware of any policies that are in place.

General

• How do I get survey data/links for previous workshops?

  • The Workshop Administration Team can provide survey result links for past workshops (August 2018 - present) to workshop instructors/organizers or instructors affiliated with the hosting organisation. To request survey results links, please send an email to the Workshop Administration Team with your request and include a link to the workshop website(s) and/or slug(s).

• How many times a year do I have to teach to be eligible to vote?

  • Instructors are required to teach at least one time per year to be eligible for voting. Please find our Bylaws for more information.

• What happens if I need to make changes to my workshop website?

  • Please feel free to make changes to your website. You do not need to let us know, these changes are updated manually each week. However, if you change your workshop repo name (or link), please do let us know as we will not be able to pull information from your website without updating the link in our database.