Applying a reproducible research approach to distance education

Objectives. Emerging as a response to the global threats presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the changing nature of problem-solving in the field of information technology associated with economic globalization, including possibilities of remote working, imposes new requirements on the competencies and skills of future professionals. This, in turn, requires adjustments to the higher education process. Agile project management methodologies such as Scrum, along with Infrastructure-as-Code approaches in information and telecommunication infrastructure management, and Documentation-as-Code approaches in documentation development, aim to present design, development, testing, and documentation as short cycle iterative processes to permit the rapid and transparent addition of new product value in discrete portions. Applied to the education sphere, this approach implies new knowledge and practical skills of students that can be easily and transparently measured in the process of mastering a discipline. The present paper aims to develop methods of applying modern software development techniques to training students of technical specialties.

Methods. The use of reproducible research methods and agile design practices while organizing and managing practical tasks for students is proposed.

Results. Contemporary tools used in software development based on Git hosting services (GitLab and GitHub) are presented alongside reproducible research paradigms in distance education using the R Markdown format by RStudio.

Conclusions. In addition to increasing the involvement of students in the process of practical tasks, the proposed approach can be used to reduce the workload of teachers when checking and evaluating student working results.

1. Altukhov A.I., Bagretsov S.A., Karpinchuk N.A., Cheburkov M.A. Methodology of assessment of time spending on learning a course in the academic discipline with the use of automated training systems. Izvestiya SPbSTU LETI = Proceedings of Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University. 2016;7:32-37 (in Russ.).

2. Vasil'eva N.V., Kunturova N.B., Prokof'eva A.L. Educational tools of information and communication technologies in the educational process of the military institution. Trudy Voenno-kosmicheskoi akademii im. A.F. Mozhaiskogo = Proceedings of the Mozhaisky Military Aerospace Academy. 2018;661:207-214 (in Russ.).

3. Kalinin V.N. The main directions of formation and criteria for assessing general cultural and professional competencies in the cycle of mathematical and natural science disciplines. Informatsionnyi byulleten' Voenno-kosmicheskoi akademii im. A.F. Mozhaiskogo = Information Bulletin of the Mozhaisky Military Aerospace Academy. 2014;121:19-27 (in Russ.).

4. Altukhov A.I., Golovina V.V., Kalinin V.N. Forming and criterions of competence estimation in subjects of mathematical and naturally scientific cycle. Trudy Voenno-kosmicheskoi akademii im. A.F. Mozhaiskogo = Proceedings of the Mozhaisky Military Aerospace Academy. 2014;642:210-215 (in Russ.).

5. Kuzhekin N.S., Chikurov V.A., Zinov'ev S.V. The assessment tools fund as a component of the basic professional educational program. Trudy Voenno-kosmicheskoi akademii im. A.F. Mozhaiskogo = Proceedings of the Mozhaisky Military Aerospace Academy. 2015;648:202-209 (in Russ.).

6. Altukhov A.I., Kalinin V.N., Cheburkov M.A. The experience of formation and assessment of competencies in the disciplines of the professional cycle in the system of military education. Trudy Voenno-kosmicheskoi akademii im. A.F. Mozhaiskogo = Proceedings of the Mozhaisky Military Aerospace Academy. 2016;650:204-210 (in Russ.).

7. Xie Y., Dervieux C., Riederer E. R Markdown Cookbook. Chapman and Hall & CRC Press; 2020. 360 р.

8. Rogova V.A., Shamin R.V. Optimization procedures in the problem of marketing educational services at the stage of forming a policy for recruiting applicants to universities. Russian Technological Journal. 2020;8(5):91-102 (in Russ.). https://doi.org/10.32362/2500-316X-2020-8-5-91-102

9. Panchenko L.F., et al. PhD student training: principles and implementation. J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 2021;1840(1):12056. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1840/1/012056

10. Estrellado R.A., Freer E.A., Motsipak J., Rosenberg J.M., Velasquez I.C. Data Science in Education Using R. London: Routledge; 2020. 304 р. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367822842

11. Ellerbrock C.R., Abbas B., Dicicco M., Denmon J.M., Sabella L., Hart J. Relationships: The fundamental R in education. Phi Delta Kappan. 2015;96(8):48-51. https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721715583963

12. Nguyen S. Scholarly Git Experiences Part II: Git for Education. IASGE; 2019. Available from URL: https://investigating-archiving-git.gitlab.io/updates/git-for-education/

13. Kelleher J. Employing Git in the classroom. In: World Congress on Computer Applications and Information Systems (WCCAIS). 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/2.1.4202.0801

14. Wilson G. Teaching Tech Together: How to Make Your Lessons Work and Build a Teaching Community around them. Routledge & CRC Press; 2019. 260 p.