Boundary Crossing in Student-Teacher-Scientist-Partnerships: Designer Considerations and Methods to Integrate Citizen Science with School Science

Bopardikar, Anushree; Bernstein, Debra; McKenney, Susan

doi:10.1007/s11251-022-09615-3

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…The internal communications within the program teams are an essential element of all citizen science programs, which is especially true for school citizen science programs (see, e.g., Zoellick et al, 2012;Benichou et al, 2023;Bopardikar et al, 2023). Interestingly, in school citizen science programs on marine litter, the internal project interactions are rarely being mentioned when discussing the communication strategies of these programs.…”

Section: Internal Communicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this contribution we describe the close interaction between scientists and citizen science coordinators and selected teachers who evaluate and test the research activities. Several reports emphasize the importance of efficient communication between teachers and scientists (e.g., Zoellick et al, 2012;Atias et al, 2023a), which is essential to guarantee straightforward research activities that have an appropriate duration and are adapted to the motivation and capacities of schoolchildren (Bopardikar et al, 2023;Kali et al, 2023). This also ensures mutual benefits for teachers (learning goals) and scientists (contribution to research), which is essential for successful school citizen science projects (Kali et al, 2020;Roche et al, 2020).…”

Section: Internal Communicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The citizen science coordinators from our program team are in regular contact with teachers and are always available to respond to questions during the main research phase. This is essential to guarantee the successful and correct application of the research guides, which is the first foundation for valid research data (see also Dittmann et al, 2022;Bopardikar et al, 2023).…”

Section: Continuous Communication With Teachersmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Communication strategies in an international school citizen science program investigating marine litter

Thiel,

Baeza Álvarez,

Diaz

et al. 2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Communication is an essential element of science, and while it is important in all scientific endeavors, it gains substantial strategic relevance in citizen science projects. For a school citizen science program to be successful, an adequate communication strategy needs to achieve a balance between learning objectives and the generation of scientific knowledge. In this community case study, we report on the communication strategies of an international network, namely, the citizen science program Científicos de la Basura (Litter Scientists), which collaborates with schoolteachers and schoolchildren to investigate anthropogenic litter on marine beaches and in rivers. The program has been active in Chile since 2007, and as of 2018, it had expanded to the 11 countries from the central and southern East Pacific. More than 40 teachers and collaborators from these countries work in this network making an effort to connect the research activities with the learning objectives of the school curriculum. The communication between the coordination team and the teachers includes three main elements (1 - design and planning; 2 - training and research; 3 - evaluation and sharing), with the following activities: (1a) regular internal communication within the coordination team to design, motivate and supervise adequate research projects, (1b) communication with teachers to design appropriate learning materials (co-creation) and get their feedback on the planned research activities, (2a) sharing the final research plan and transfer methodological skills through regular training of the teachers, (2b) responding to methodological questions by the teachers about the sampling, and coordinate data collection and validation, (3a) guiding teachers and schoolchildren in the evaluation and interpretation of their research results, and (3b) encouraging teachers and schoolchildren to communicate their scientific findings to the wider community. Intense internal communication and regular exchange with teachers guarantees successful learning and rigorous scientific information. The main challenges for the program are team capacity, socio-economic stability, internet access, and teachers’ workloads. Recommendations to achieve successful communication and good science are efficient team communication skills, customized contacts, collaborative work, guidance of field work, feedback from participants, and promoting the sense of community.

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Section: Internal Communicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Internal Communicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Continuous Communication With Teachersmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Communication strategies in an international school citizen science program investigating marine litter

Thiel,

Baeza Álvarez,

Diaz

et al. 2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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School participation in citizen science (SPICES): substantiating a field of research and practice

et al. 2023

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Using Design-Based Research to Develop the Learning Outcomes of a Curriculum-Based Environmental Citizen Science Project

Simms,

DeMattia,

Watson

et al. 2024

CSTP

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The Intertidal Monitoring Project (IMP) is a local, curriculum-based citizen science project intentionally designed to support the development of science competencies in elementary students. The focus of the IMP is the Research Days, where students follow an established scientific protocol to collect monitoring data on an introduced species of clam in British Columbia, Canada. The IMP represents a unique program to study because the school district funds transportation and programming costs so that all grade five students can engage in authentic place-based scientific research. A design-based research (DBR) approach was used to develop and refine the IMP activities between 2014 and 2023. This research is focused on a DBR Evaluation/Reflection phase that qualitatively assessed learning outcomes during the beta testing of a supplementary classroom activity. Student- and teacher-generated data were collected to understand the process of a class “coming to know” science and its community of practice during the IMP activities. This included student learning artefacts and a teacher interview. The findings show that participation in IMP activities: i) fostered the development of science competencies in a grade five learning community; ii) did not promote science identities; and indicated that iii) the Nature of Science (NOS) required more explicit instruction. Student-teacher-scientist partnerships (STSPs) emerged as a critical design element of curriculum-based citizen science.

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Boundary Crossing in Student-Teacher-Scientist-Partnerships: Designer Considerations and Methods to Integrate Citizen Science with School Science

Cited by 3 publications

References 54 publications

Communication strategies in an international school citizen science program investigating marine litter

Communication strategies in an international school citizen science program investigating marine litter

School participation in citizen science (SPICES): substantiating a field of research and practice

Using Design-Based Research to Develop the Learning Outcomes of a Curriculum-Based Environmental Citizen Science Project

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