Knowledge Gain and Behavioral Change in Citizen-Science Programs

Abstract

Citizen-science programs are often touted as useful for advancing conservation literacy, scientific knowledge, and increasing scientific-reasoning skills among the public. Guidelines for collaboration among scientists and the public are lacking and the extent to which these citizen-science initiatives change behavior is relatively unstudied. Over two years, we studied 82 participants in a three-day program that included education about non-native invasive plants and collection of data on the occurrence of those plants. Volunteers were given background knowledge about invasive plant ecology and trained on a specific protocol for collecting invasive plant data. They then collected data and later gathered as a group to analyze data and discuss responsible environmental behavior with respect to invasive plants. We tested whether participants without experience in plant identification and with little knowledge of invasive plants increased their knowledge of invasive species ecology, participation increased knowledge of scientific methods, and participation affected behavior. Knowledge of invasive plants increased on average 24%, but participation was insufficient to increase understanding of how scientific research is conducted. Participants reported increased ability to recognize invasive plants and increased awareness of effects of invasive plants on the environment, but this translated into little change in behavior regarding invasive plants. Potential conflicts between scientific goals, educational goals, and the motivation of participants must be considered during program design.

Combining citizen science and public engagement: the Open AirLaboratories Programme

“…11,12,13,14 On this basis it is fair to say that, despite possible misgivings over CS really teaching about scientific method, traditional science learning in terms of raising scientific literacy in the context of the CS project is indeed enhanced through participation. The evaluation of these more traditional learning outcomes of CS emerge from more traditional ideas of what PE is and what it should deliver.…”

Public Perceptions of Citizen Science

“…Volunteers can bring many improvements to research, and they have the potential to benefit as well. Participation in citizen science has the potential to increase volunteers' knowledge of the field of study, such as ecology and conservation (e.g., Brossard et al 2005;Jordan et al 2011); to increase science literacy (Crall et al 2013) and engagement in conservation actions (Lewandowski and Oberhauser 2017); and to promote positive attitudes toward nature (Evans et al 2005).…”

Knowledge of Indonesian University Students on the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources

“…It is well known that this type of knowledge hardly influences pro-environmental action cf. [17,18]. Knowing the definition of ‗ecosystem' or ‗endemic species', for example, neither helps a low-income country smallholder nor a high-income country consumer in making more ecologically sound production or consumption choices.…”