Citizen Science, Education, and Learning: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Citizen science is a growing field of research and practice, generating new knowledge and understanding through the collaboration of citizens in scientific research. As the field expands, it is becoming increasingly important to consider its potential to foster education and learning opportunities. Although progress has been made to support learning in citizen science projects, as well as to facilitate citizen science in formal and informal learning environments, challenges still arise. This paper identifies a number of dilemmas facing the field—from competing scientific goals and learning outcomes, differing underlying ontologies and epistemologies, diverging communication strategies, to clashing values around advocacy and activism. Although such challenges can become barriers to the successful integration of citizen science into mainstream education systems, they also serve as signposts for possible synergies and opportunities. One of the key emerging recommendations is to align educational learning outcomes with citizen science project goals at the planning stage of the project using co-creation approaches to ensure issues of accessibility and inclusivity are paramount throughout the design and implementation of every project. Only then can citizen science realise its true potential to empower citizens to take ownership of their own science education and learning.

A Place for Space: The Shift to Online Space Education During a Global Pandemic

“…An instructive analogue for space education, and how it might adapt to a post-pandemic environment, is the development of the field of citizen science. Citizen science has existed in some form or other as long as space education (Roche et al, 2021b) and its transdisciplinary nature has caused wide-ranging challenges for its integration into formal education (Roche et al, 2020). The tipping point for the evolution of modern citizen science was its early adoption of online engagement, which transformed it from a niche field of research and practice to a global phenomenon engaging millions (Bonney, 2014).…”

Citizen Science in Ireland

“…Citizen science refers to scientific research that involves people who do not identify as professional scientists. It can also refer to a theoretical or practical approach to research as well as being a field of research in its own right (Roche et al, 2020a). While the theoretical context of the individual terms "citizen" and "science" can vary greatly depending on a range of factors and circumstances (Eitzel et al, 2017), citizen science can provide a general indicator of a country's relationship between science and society.…”

Demonstrating an approach for evaluating synthetic geospatial and temporal epidemiologic data utility: Results from analyzing >1.8 million SARS-CoV-2 tests in the United States National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C)

“…However, previous research has reported deficits in how well synthetic data mimic original data including limitations in their: ability to capture longitudinal relationships, model multiple data types, and perform well on small sample sizes [10,19,20]. Due to the combination of potential widespread synthetic data dissemination, heightened research interest in COVID-19 [21], and the rise of "citizen science" [22][23][24], the user base and applications of pandemic-related synthetic data will likely be heterogenous and broad. Therefore, it is important to evaluate N3C synthetic data in a manner that can inform users with a wide range of intended use cases and definitions for synthetic data fitness for use.…”