This unconference on Open Science in Education is a series of sessions within the ECER. It is organized by Network 12 in line with the network’s new direction of “Open Science”. The unconference consists of two workshops and a panel discussion which complement each other. The overarching goal is to foster an interactive discourse on potentials, concerns and Open Science practices in European educational research. Individuals can participate in either one of the workshops yet we encourage participation in both workshops and the panel discussion as they will give participants time for communication on projects and publications as well as networking in the European context.

Open Science practices and techniques proposed to improve scientific research through making research more transparent are new methods applied to increase the scientific enterprise. There has been a growing attention to the need for Open Science practices in all fields of research, including education, due to identified issues with transparency, access to data and findings, equitability, and overall quality of research (e.g., Cook et al., 2018; van der Zee & Reich, 2018; Hong & Moran, 2019; Adelson et al., 2019; Makel et al., 2019; van Dijk et al., 2020; Krammer & Svecnik, 2020). To address these issues, a number of Open Science practices are debated such as sharing and (re-)using data, opening up analysis and interpretation, or publishing Open Access books and manuscripts. Yet in the field of educational research, a variety has emerged in the adoption of Open Science practices. Discourses on the application of Open Science practices in certain subfields of education are not conclusive yet.

In this unconference workshop, we want to provide a platform to engage in discourses on Open Science. We want to shed light on potentials, concerns, and possible ways forward in aligning Open Science to educational research. The format will be interactive, open and designed as bottom -up. Therefore, participants can pose their own questions which serve as a starting point for discussion. Thereby, we want to build an inclusive and hybrid forum and welcome especially emerging researchers and newcomers but also experienced researchers as well as infrastructure practitioners like data librarians and open access publishers. We have chosen an interactive format to stimulate a high engagement and encourage ongoing collaborations at the three sessions of the Unconference and beyond.

To offer a low-threshold, inclusive, and participatory forum to grasp and adjust Open Science in educational research, we organize the session in the following way: 1. The first 10 minutes will serve as an introduction. We will introduce the general format and highlight that the unconference style is highly useful to tackle a specific question or task given a very limited time. Participants should focus on working on the most central issues. 2. In the next 20 minutes, topics for the session will be selected. All participants can suggest topics. Posing a question thereby often suffices. Interactions and discussions should be focused during the sessions instead of prepared presentations. Possible questions for workshop 1 include: - “Bring your own data”: Bring your own data and the group works on solutions to make the research more open. - “Find your relevant data”: We work together on finding available research data for your questions. - “How can I publish my data and preserve data protection at the same time?” In an unconference session, topics are discussed among participants. The discussion should result in a consensus or conclusion. In addition, the workshops could include the format of hackathons, where a tangible outcome is produced. Examples include a concrete plan of action, checklists, handouts, bibliographies, etc. The outcome does not need to be complete, but should include the most relevant features. Suggestions for topics can (but need not!) be entered ahead via this padlet: https://padlet.com/schindler23/33ta0k91wg0pxcez. 3. The major part of 50 minutes will be used to work on the topic or the topics as well as project ideas that are chosen. Depending on the participants, multiple parallel groups are formed. 4. The final 10 minutes will be used for summarizing the several outcomes and closing the session. Organizers will moderate the session and provide tools like shared text documents. Depending on technical possibilities, we will aim for a hybrid format where participants from outside the conference may contribute. Workshop 1 as well as 2 follow a similar pattern but with slightly different guiding questions, so that participants from the first workshop continue to receive new impulses. Participants who have already been to the first workshop can also spend the time in the second workshop to work on their ideas and make suggestions for further networking beyond the ECER 2022. Yet depending on participants’ interest, the workshops could have different foci.

Open Science is embedded in multiple discourses and it is realized in various practices. Identification of Open Science practices that can be applied productively requires ongoing and informed discussions involving several stakeholders and groups. Thereby, different conclusions and agreements might be reached in the various subfields of educational research. With this unconference session, we hope to provide a forum to foster these discussions from different perspectives. Network 12 will use the outcomes of the Unconference to provide a solid foundation for its new direction of “Open Science”. Given the openness of the format and the possibility to ask questions and suggest topics, especially emerging researchers are very welcome.

Adelson, J. L., Barton, E., Bradshaw, C., Bryant, B., Bryant, D., Cook, B. G., Coyne, M., DeBettencourt, L., DeHaven, A. C., Dymond, S., Esposito, J., Farmer, T., Flake, J. K., Gage, N. A., Kennedy, M., Kern, L., Lane, K. L., Lee, D., Lembke, E., … Troia, G. A. (2019). A Roadmap for Transparent Research in Special Education and Related Disciplines [Preprint]. Open Science Framework. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/sqfy3 Cook, B. G., Lloyd, J. W., Mellor, D., Nosek, B. A., & Therrien, W. J. (2018). Promoting Open Science to Increase the Trustworthiness of Evidence in Special Education. Exceptional Children, 85(1), 104–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402918793138 van Dijk, W., Schatschneider, C., & Hart, S. A. (2020). Open Science in Education Sciences. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 0022219420945267. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219420945267 Hong, M., & Moran, A. (2019). An introduction to open science. Psychological Science Agenda. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2019/02/open-science Krammer, G.; Svecnik, E. (2020) Open Science als Beitrag zur Qualität in der Bildungsforschung. Zeitschrift für Bildungsforschung 10, Nr. 3: 263–78. https://doi.org/10.1007/s35834-020-00286-z. Makel, M. C., Smith, K. N., McBee, M. T., Peters, S. J., & Miller, E. M. (2019). A Path to Greater Credibility: Large-Scale Collaborative Education Research. AERA Open, 5(4), 2332858419891963. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419891963 van der Zee, T., & Reich, J. (2018). Open Education Science. AERA Open, 4(3), 233285841878746. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858418787466