Evaluation in Citizen Science: The Art of Tracing a Moving Target

Schaefer, Teresa; Kieslinger, Barbara; Brandt, Miriam; Bogaert, Vanessa van den

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-58278-4_25

Cited by 36 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…However, we would also argue that the task of accompanying research and evaluation [60] cannot be borne by the projects alone. It needs a national, overarching strategy and funding is particularly important for representative, cross-sectional, e.g., [5,29] and long-term, studies [21,22].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Known Unknowns: What Citizen Science Projects in Germany Know about Their Volunteers—And What They Don’t Know

2021

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The citizen science landscape in Germany offers an enormous range for participation. More than 170 projects currently present themselves on the national citizen science platform. In 2020, we conducted a survey among 140 projects (participation rate 56%), and they provided information on the organisational framework and characteristics (disciplines, initiators, funding, and project goals), as well as on the academic researchers and the volunteering citizen scientists involved. A surprising result was that the level of knowledge about the volunteers is very low overall. Many projects deliberately do not collect personal data (e.g., on socio-demographic variables, knowledge, and behaviour), partly for data-protection reasons and partly because they are unsure about how to collect it due to a lack of instruments and standards. We aim to illustrate the complexity of this issue and discuss various dilemmas arising between theoretical aspirations and the pragmatic and procedural realities in practice. We conclude with suggestions for developing project-specific strategies to increase diversity and inclusion. We argue that the task of conducting accompanying research on participant diversity cannot be borne by individual projects alone and consider the development and implementation of co-creative and qualitative approaches suitable for this purpose.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Known Unknowns: What Citizen Science Projects in Germany Know about Their Volunteers—And What They Don’t Know

2021

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“…Thus, the development of CS projects is usually driven by a specific research question ahead of its goals for science education (Bonney et al, 2009a). Despite the prevailing scientific goals of CS to generate quality data (Bonney et al, 2009b), there is increasing focus on understanding the effect of CS projects on the participants themselves and on society (Bela et al, 2016;Kieslinger et al, 2018;Schaefer et al, 2021). With more science organizations and funding agencies investing in CS, evidence of its wider effects is needed to demonstrate the value of CS projects to society, as well as science.…”

Section: Assessing the Outcomes Of Cs As Informal Science Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, those students in the study with previous experience appeared to maintain more confidence in science skills, and it would be useful to know if this also propels intention to act and participate in environmental decision making in future. Evaluation instruments need to extend beyond assessing standard knowledge gain impacts on individuals and measure the degree of civic empowerment confired by CS projects (Schaefer et al, 2021) as well as investigate specifically how CS can be designed to "enhance the transformative aspects of CS at the society level" (Turrini et al, 2018, page 184).…”

Section: Attitudes and Behaviours Towards The Marine Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediments and Seashores - A Case Study of Local Citizen Science Contributing to Student Learning and Environmental Citizenship

2021

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Citizen science aims to bridge the gap between science and society by engaging people in understanding the process of science. This is needed to foster informed democratic involvement of critical, environmentally informed citizens. Can these aspirations be facilitated by school-based citizen science that offers opportunity to engage scientifically with environmental issues at a scale with local relevance? This is tested through application of Marine Metre Squared (Mm2), a citizen science initiative for long-term monitoring of the New Zealand intertidal zone. Through direct observation and “hands-on” engagement, participants are involved in place-based learning that connects them with nature. Strong interest from teachers and uptake into school programmes has been key to its success in collecting long term biodiversity data. Through facilitated delivery, the project also has the capacity to meet school curriculum goals and develop the environmental science citizenship capabilities of participants. Assessing the use of Mm2 as a citizen science intervention within schools, we found that it affected science learning, skill development and environmental attitudes. Our findings further demonstrate the effect of extended involvement in a citizen science project, the value of a local issue-focused project for student learning outside the classroom, and how school science education can be enriched through citizen science to also grow civic responsibility for the environment (environmental citizenship).

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“…Prior work has been undertaken defining criteria, indicators, and methods for impact evaluation in CS and SS (Schlierf and Meyer 2013;Kieslinger et al 2018;Phillips et al 2018;Schaefer et al 2021). Yet, online evaluation tools that are capable of demonstrating the value of CS and SS remain limited and untested as regards their content validity (Gresle et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An additional drawback of these evaluations is that they often rely solely on scientific investigators' feedback and fail to include that of the other stakeholders involved in the project, which ultimately leads to a bias in the evaluation studies (Gresle et al 2019). It is clear that evaluations of participatory research need to be framed from a multidimensional and multi-stage perspective where the process itself is worth evaluating (Schaefer et al 2021). Thus, an impact evaluation tool tailored for SS and CS should reflect upon the implementation of the project and the way in which the participatory concepts have been incorporated, so that it can, in turn, become an opportunity for critical reflection and experiential learning (Gresle et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-evaluating participatory research projects: A content validation of the InSPIRES online impact evaluation tool

Gignac

Gresle

Lamelas

et al. 2021

Research Evaluation

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Research projects involving science shops and citizen science in their promotion of participatory approaches are flourishing globally. However, an instrument evaluating the impacts of such approaches at different stages of a participatory research processes has yet to be validated. The InSPIRES H2020 project developed an impact evaluation tool for just this purpose, consisting of 64 items that reflect upon the dimensions of knowledge democracy, citizen-led research, participatory dynamics, transformative change, and integrity. In this article, we seek to test the content validity of this tool and to provide recommendations that can ensure its validity. A panel of nine experts was created to evaluate each item as regards the following three criteria: representativeness, relevance, and clarity. The Aiken’s V and Wilson Score methods were used to assess the tool’s content validity based on the experts’ ratings. Experts’ written comments were also reviewed. At the panel level, 75% of the items were considered satisfactory in relation to each of the three validity criteria. However, at the population level, 72% of the items suggested that parts of the tool were not valid and required revision. The main suggestions from the experts pointed to the need to reformulate items in which the separation between science and society appeared reinforced and to develop more items about the gender perspective of a research project. The revised version of the tool should serve as a well-founded, comprehensive evaluation instrument for on-going and future projects whose goal is to self-reflect and compare participatory research processes.

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Evaluation in Citizen Science: The Art of Tracing a Moving Target

Cited by 36 publications

References 31 publications

The Known Unknowns: What Citizen Science Projects in Germany Know about Their Volunteers—And What They Don’t Know

The Known Unknowns: What Citizen Science Projects in Germany Know about Their Volunteers—And What They Don’t Know

Sediments and Seashores - A Case Study of Local Citizen Science Contributing to Student Learning and Environmental Citizenship

Self-evaluating participatory research projects: A content validation of the InSPIRES online impact evaluation tool

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