ABCD-ReproNim: An Educational Program for Responsible and Reproducible Analyses of ABCD Data

ABCD-ReproNim is a research educational course that provides training in responsible and reproducible analyses of data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. ABCD-ReproNim was established in 2020 and structured as a collaborative partnership between ABCD investigators and ReproNim, a NIBIB-funded P41 center for reproducible neuroimaging whose vision is to help researchers achieve more reproducible data analysis workflows and outcomes. With over 1.1 K registered students and >18 K YouTube views, ABCD-ReproNim has been well-received by the community and is providing ABCD data training while promoting skill development in reproducible analyses that support efficient, re-executable design and FAIR practices. Participants first receive didactic training across a semester-long online course that includes lectures, readings, and data exercises. We use an innovative curricular approach that is grounded in modern, transformational methods of STEM pedagogy, which includes philosophies and features drawn from active learning, inverted classrooms, and hack weeks. At the completion of the course, participants contribute to team-based, collaborative data analysis projects during an in-person hackathon at the host institution, Florida International University, in Miami, Florida. Through this research educational program, we provide (i) a comprehensive understanding of the ABCD dataset; (ii) instructional techniques that enhance the validity and reproducibility of research methods; (iii) support of interdisciplinary, team-based collaborations; and (iv) dissemination of the course, project materials, and research findings. Our overall goal is to contribute to the generation of a cadre of investigators that are well trained in the techniques that support responsible, reproducible, and valid analyses of ABCD data.