Abstract
Citizen science projects represent an important example of mass collaboration at a global scale where nonscientists can contribute to science research across geographical locations. To more broadly and deeply capitalize on the potential for citizen science to invigorate inquiry-based science at school, we need to better understand how and why citizen science opportunities are taken up by particular teachers. In this chapter, we offer a framework for the analysis of conditions that influence voluntary participation in citizen science efforts. The framework is developed with empirical data from a longitudinal case study. The framework focuses on four dimensions that contributed sustained and evolving participation: (1) alignment between the citizen science opportunity with personal interests and teaching goals, (2) access to a networked community with curricular resources and a technical infrastructure, (3) an integrated indoor and outdoor classroom space that promoted place-based inquiry opportunities, and (4) a set of collaborative practices and networked opportunities that created conditions for an expanding set of partnerships. We close with a discussion of how the design of the socio-technical dimensions of citizen science efforts might be informed by both ethnographic and quantitative studies.
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Notes
- 1.
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) is a nonprofit marine science center located in Portland, Maine. GMRI was incorporated in 1968, with the mission of laying the foundation for a new genre of marine science, education, and community institution, including translating rigorous science into engaging formal and informal educational materials.
- 2.
Since 2002, the state of Maine, as a result of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative, has had a program that equips every middle school student with his or her own laptop computer for use at school and home, and all schools are equipped with high-speed wireless networks, technical assistance, and access to Department of Education-sponsored professional development.
- 3.
Our dataset included 22 e-mails, eight from the Vital Signs staff (primarily the project coordinator, who also ran the professional development and developed most of the curriculum) to Paulson and 14 from Paulson to the Vital Signs staff. We coded 41 unique segments of these e-mails that represented collaborative practices, 29 from Paulson and 12 from the Vital Signs staff.
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Acknowledgment
This work is supported by the National Science Foundation Cyberlearning program (Grant REC-1124568) and Learning in Informal and Formal Environments Science of Learning Center, a National Science Foundation-funded (Grant REC-354453) effort seeking to understand and advance human learning through a simultaneous focus on implicit, informal, and formal learning, thus cultivating generalizable interdisciplinary theories that can guide the design of effective new technologies and learning environments. We also acknowledge and thank “Mr. Paulson,” the Vital Signs staff members, and the other teachers, students, and parents who contributed their time and invaluable expertise and ideas to this work.
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Barron, B., Martin, C.K., Mertl, V., Yassine, M. (2016). Citizen Science: Connecting to Nature Through Networks. In: Cress, U., Moskaliuk, J., Jeong, H. (eds) Mass Collaboration and Education. Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Series, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13536-6_13
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