Main Content
Session Information
06 SES 06, Informal Learning in Different Environments
Paper Session
Contribution
Citizen science is a collaborative research practice where members of the public (non-professional scientists) collaborate with professional scientists to conduct scientific research (Wiggins & Crwoston, 2011). Citizen cyberscience is a form of research collaboration that engages volunteers in contributing online to empirical scientific projects. Millions of volunteers participate around the world, but little is known about the learning outcomes and learning processes stimulated by citizen cyberscience projects. While the contribution of volunteers to scientific data collection and analysis has been well documented, there is still limited research on participation in citizen science projects and how it may support learning. However, this topic is of increasing importance, as European public policies take a closer look at the potential of citizen science for scientific education and social innovation in technological democracies.
This paper will report our findings from the Citizen Cyberlab (CCL) European research project. CCL is a collaboration between 7 European research institutions (CERN, Geneva; UNO, Geneva; University of Geneva; UPD, Paris; UCL, London; Imperial College, London; TMC, London), which has been running in the last three years. Overall, the CCL research project aims to produce a new understanding of learning behaviours and creative outputs, anchored in real-world examples of citizen cyberscience. In this paper, we focus specifically on learning outcomes and learning processes. Until now, citizen science research on learning addressed narrow and well-defined topics, e.g. attitudes towards science or learning gains in specific topic-related knowledge. We progress beyond the state-of the-art by addressing several interesting new questions, firstly by evaluating and studying the experience of CCL pilot project volunteers, secondly by looking at participants’ perceived experiences in the larger online Citizen Science community.
This research has implications for lifelong Science Education and learning within an Open Science framework.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Ackermann, E. (1996) Perspective-taking and object construction: Two keys to learning. In J. Kafai, & M. Resnick, (Eds.), Constructionism in Practice: Designing, Thinking, and learning in a Digital World. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, Publishers, pp. 25-37. Billett, S. (2001). "Learning through work: workplace affordances and individual engagement", Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 13 Iss 5 pp. 209 – 214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005548 Brossard D, Lewenstein B, and Bonney R. (2005). Scientific knowledge and attitude change: the impact of a citizen science project. International Journal of Science Education 27: 1099–1121. Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning.Educational Researcher, 18 (1), 32-42. Crall, AW, Jordan, R, Holfelder, K, Newman GJ, Graham, J and Waller, D (2012). The impacts of an invasive species citizen science raining program on participant attitudes, behavior and science literacy. Public Understanding of Science, 0(0), 1-20. Cronje, R., Rohlinger, S., Crall, A., Newman, G. (2011) Does Participation in Citizen Science Improve Scientific Literacy? A Study to Compare Assessment Methods, Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 10:3, 135-145. Jordan R.C., Gray S.A., Howe D.V., Brooks, W.R., Ehrenfeld J.G. (2011). Knowledge Gain and Behavioral Change in Citizen-Science Programs. Conservation Biology 25, 6, 1148–1154. Lave, J. (1993), “The practice of learning”, in Chaiklin, S. and Lave, J. (Eds), Understanding Practice: Perspectives on Activity and Context, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 3-32. Price, C. A., & Lee, H. S. (2013). Changes in participants’ scientific attitudes and epistemological beliefs during an astronomical citizen science project. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 50 (7), 773–801. Shirk, J.L., Ballard, H., Wilderman, C.C., Phillips, T., Wiggins, A., Jordan, R., McCallie, E., Minarchek, M., Lewenstein, B.V., Krasny, M.E., Bonney, R. (2012). Public Participation in Scientific Research: A Framework for Deliberate Design. Ecology and Society, 17(2): 29. Trumbull, D.J., Bonney, R., Bascom K. & Cabrel A. (2000). Thinking scientifically during participation in a citizen-science project. Science Education, 84(2), 265–75.
Programme by Network 2019
00. Central Events (Keynotes, EERA-Panel, EERJ Round Table, Invited Sessions)
Network 1. Continuing Professional Development: Learning for Individuals, Leaders, and Organisations
Network 2. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)
Network 3. Curriculum Innovation
Network 4. Inclusive Education
Network 5. Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
Network 6. Open Learning: Media, Environments and Cultures
Network 7. Social Justice and Intercultural Education
Network 8. Research on Health Education
Network 9. Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement
Network 10. Teacher Education Research
Network 11. Educational Effectiveness and Quality Assurance
Network 12. LISnet - Library and Information Science Network
Network 13. Philosophy of Education
Network 14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Network 15. Research Partnerships in Education
Network 16. ICT in Education and Training
Network 17. Histories of Education
Network 18. Research in Sport Pedagogy
Network 19. Ethnography
Network 20. Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments
Network 22. Research in Higher Education
Network 23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
Network 24. Mathematics Education Research
Network 25. Research on Children's Rights in Education
Network 26. Educational Leadership
Network 27. Didactics – Learning and Teaching
Network 28. Sociologies of Education
Network 29. Reserach on Arts Education
Network 30. Research on Environmental und Sustainability Education
Network 31. Research on Language and Education (LEd)
Network 32. Organizational Education
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