Citizen scientists in the classroom
A recent study led by Victoria University of Wellington’s Dr Dayle Anderson and Dr Markus Luczak-Roesch looks at the benefits of using Online Citizen Science (OCS) in primary school classrooms.
Citizen Science projects are those which involve public volunteers in scientific research in some way, such as crowdsourcing, community-based monitoring, or some other form of collaboration with researchers on a scientific or technological project. OCS is the sub-field of this participatory science that makes use of systems on the Web to let volunteers contribute to real scientific endeavours.
Existing OCS initiatives invite volunteers to explore species on the seafloor, or on the Antarctic Peninsula, to classify images of galaxies or suspected planets, to transcribe non-digital artefacts, to create a 3D atlas of the human brain and to trace gene sequences.
OCS projects have great potential to help increase children's science capabilities at different ages, while also supporting the development of basic skills such as counting and reading, and advancing digital literacy. While research has shown how informal learning happens when participating in OCS, the embedding and effectiveness of OCS in addressing curriculum goals in the formal context of a classroom hasn’t been investigated so far.
The project is funded by the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative which fosters research collaborations with teachers. Primary school teachers from a number of schools worked with the research team to identify OCS projects that would complement the science programmes their students were already engaged in.
Dr Anderson says although they are still analysing the results, the observations of students using OCS tools have been overwhelmingly positive.
“We were surprised by the richness of the opportunities for developing science capabilities in the classroom. The kids were so positive using the OCS tool and relating it to what they were studying in the classroom.”
Dr Anderson says students developed a strong connection with the scientific teams behind OCS projects. “The fact that they were collecting real data for a real scientist gave them a sense of doing really important work. This is a rich opportunity for students to engage with authentic scientific projects.”
In addition, a preliminary analysis of how students interacted with digital devices in the classroom while using the OCS tools provides some useful messages for all schools. Instead of each student working on a single device, fewer devices and group work stimulated curious and supportive face-to-face communication, and reduced competition and distraction between students.