Openness, transparency, and reproducibility are widely accepted as fundamental aspects of scientific practice. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that these features are not readily adopted in the daily practice of most scientists. The Centre for Open Science has been championing efforts for systemic change in the scientific process, with newly adopted practices such as preregistration and open sharing of data and experimental materials. In an effort to inculcate these practices early in training, we have integrated several key components of open science practice into an undergraduate research methods course in the cognitive sciences. Students were divided into four research teams, each with the goal of carrying out a replication experiment related to the study of attention; specifically, temporal orienting, alertness, prior entry, and the attentional blink. Teams completed a preregistration exercise, and importantly, were encouraged to consider a priori the criteria for a successful replication. They were also required to collect and analyze data, prepare manuscripts, and disseminate their findings in poster symposia and oral presentations. All project materials can be found at https://osf.io/gxkfq/. Critical appraisal of the goals and implementation of the course are discussed.
Integrating open science in the teaching of cognitive research methods
