Abstract
Data drives nearly every aspect of research today, from the earliest stages of problem definition to the final dissemination of results. Undergraduate students—often at the beginning of their research journeys—are increasingly working with complex, data-intensive projects. Yet many enter these environments without sufficient training in how to manage, share, and use data responsibly. They may know how to run code or analyze a dataset, but questions of ethics, reproducibility, preservation, and stewardship are rarely an explicit part of this preparation. To address this gap, our interdisciplinary research team at Purdue University launched a multi-year, NSF-funded project entitled Prioritizing Data Life Cycle Ethical Management for Shaping Next Generation Researchers (NSF IUSE Award #2236241). The project’s focus is on educating undergraduate researchers and supporting their research mentors in engineering and broadly in STEM. As a result, undergraduate researchers will be equipped to become competent and ethical consumers and producers of data.
Keywords
Data stewardship, data management, engineering education
Date of this Version
2025
Recommended Citation
Zakharov, W., Purzer, S., & Zoltowski, C. B. (2025). Cultivating ethical data stewardship for undergraduate research: A framework and toolkit duo. Information Outlook, 2025 Fall Issue: 17-20.