NEWS
campusreview.com.au
Public archives from scientific
studies are often unusable
due to errors or omissions.
H
Data down
the drain
alf of public datasets provided with
scientific papers are incomplete,
making plenty of data useless.
A study by Australian National University
of 100 leading journals in ecology and
evolution found more than 50 per cent of
their studies’ datasets were incomplete,
due to missing data or lack of essential
information needed for interpretation.
In some cases, the data is compromised
because it’s in the wrong file format.
Public datasets are used to replicate
results, which is essential to ensuring
research is reliable.
Professor Loeske Kruuk, co-author of the
study, said this problem has arisen because
requiring researchers to publicly archive
their data is a relatively new practice. Giving
scientists basic data entry training would help.
“What we’ve done in this paper is
Locals love the MOOCs
Students from Australia are
developing a ravenous appetite
for homegrown online courses.
D
omestic students’ demand for
Open Universities Australia’s
MOOCs is soaring.
Open2Study, OUA’s MOOC provider,
has reported 36 per cent of its students
are Australian – doubling since September
2014. India and the US are Open2Study’s
leading international markets but trail
domestic demand. The provider has
recently celebrated 1 million enrolments.
Jose Herrera Perea, OUA’s executive
general manager of education programs,
said domestic students gravitate to MOOCs
because they help them understand what
they want to pursue in higher education.
A strong social aspect is also important.
“We break the content into diffe