Do Ecological or Molecular Biological Citizen Science Projects Affect the Perceptions of Undergraduate Students Toward Pursuing Future Citizen Science?

Abstract

Science literacy, including intrinsic motivation to participate in science outside of STEM careers, is an important goal of introductory biology courses aimed at non-majors. Citizen science may be able to support science literacy and science participation goals in such classes by providing authentic research opportunities matched to course content such as ecology or molecular biology. As yet, it is not known whether using citizen science of different biological disciplines in introductory biology courses for non-majors effectively increases undergraduates' motivation to participate in future citizen science. To investigate how the content focus of citizen science projects impacts students' attitudes toward future citizen science participation, we conducted a multilevel cross-classified analysis (mixed linear model) on four years of non-major biology students' student survey data (n = 2,962) responding to ecological versus molecular biology citizen science project assignments using self-determination theory (SDT) as a backbone. Results suggest that general content categories of citizen science projects seem to be less influential on student attitudes toward future citizen science participation than are student-level characteristics and features of individual projects that promote competence and relatedness. Course instructors should be aware that adding citizen science projects simply for course content alignment is insufficient for promoting students' intrinsic motivation. Instead, time needs to be allotted for making deeper connections between the students and the projects.

Strategies to empower students through open pedagogy and citizen science

“…Open Pedagogy in Formal Education Settings D espite the alignment with established educational learning theory, CS and OP are only rarely used in formal educational settings, i.e., K-12 or higher education (Bedell & Gates, 2021;Jenkins, 2011;Schuttler et al, 2019;Shah & Martinez, 2016;Vance-Chalcraft et al, 2022;Vitone et al, 2016), yet they lend themselves naturally to discovery and experiential learning. The recently established USECitSci Network (https://qubeshub.…”

“…A CS project can independently facilitate discovery, but an instructor must provide structured opportunities for guided exploration and reflection so that Bruner's (1961) and Boyatzis et al 's (2001) theories can be realized-for example, via OP. Importantly, CS not only improves learning gains (Vance-Chalcraft et al, 2022); it can also increase students' sense of belonging, participation in, and access to science (Johns et al, 2021;Vance-Chacraft et al, 2021) if the students are given the opportunity to personalize the experience or reflect on their scientific contribution (see (Bedell & Gates, 2021)). This pedagogical intervention therefore has a high potential impact on diversity in STEM.…”

Learning by doing: A multi‐level analysis of the impact of citizen science education

“…When those supports are not in place, the experience and the resulting learning can suffer (e.g., Williams et al, 2021). Further, while prolonged exposure and engagement of students with a project often facilitate improved learning outcomes, extended citizen science collaborations require intensive resources from school teachers and program coordinators (Bedell & Gates, 2021). Time constraints in school schedules, students’ workload, and the amount of curricular space that can be allocated to citizen science initiatives can limit the scope of citizen science involvement in the classroom (Silva et al, 2016).…”