tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8870492126959061342.post840797431999255977..comments2024-03-26T11:50:32.354-05:00Comments on Youth Development Insight: Youth can positively influence citizen science, research and stewardship Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8870492126959061342.post-61671497451077565382017-11-17T14:49:46.304-06:002017-11-17T14:49:46.304-06:00Very interesting addition to the conversation, Mar...Very interesting addition to the conversation, Margo. Thanks for sharing that article and describing community science as another alternative with important educational and CHANGE results. Heidi Haugenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06963971466753338518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8870492126959061342.post-17123908551341275972017-09-01T16:05:49.416-05:002017-09-01T16:05:49.416-05:00Currently dwelling in the educational realm, I'...Currently dwelling in the educational realm, I'm tempted to say that scientists reaching out to engage the public in citizen science projects are primarily focused on collecting data at a large scale. Educational materials may be more of an afterthought as a way to stimulate interest and promote involvement. But I think the field of citizen science may be swinging more towards a balance between data collection and public education. And with the rise in “alternative facts” I think scientists and educators have a vested interest in helping our citizenry understand how science works and how “facts” are vetted through the scientific process. As Bonney et al. point out in their article “Can citizen science enhance public understanding of science?” (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963662515607406), “… practitioners who design and implement citizen science projects without specific learning objectives or lesson plans must realize that learning does not just ‘happen’ via project participation. Citizen science participants are unlikely to change their perspectives about science unless their participation includes reflection about their role and how it relates to the processes of science.”<br /><br />With a few exceptions, such as the Driven to Discover project you mention, most citizen science projects do not focus on the scientific process or the relevance of an individual's participation (this is my opinion and may be my alternative fact!). However there are references in citizen science literature that describe different types of citizen science projects, one of which seems to lend itself well to youth engagement, “Community Science.” Community science projects are ones where the public has an interest in an issue and reach out to scientists to help them study and understand the issue. Projects such as these are often initiated with the goal to effect change. The possibility of effecting authentic change in their community is an enticing motivator for youth to learn about the scientific process.<br /><br />So, as an educator in a time of alternative facts, I hope citizen science projects are created with as much emphasis on teaching participants the whole scientific process as there is on data collection.Margo Bowermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05173788936472731505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8870492126959061342.post-55050863857922333462017-08-31T16:45:38.821-05:002017-08-31T16:45:38.821-05:00To clarify, one of the things that made this progr...To clarify, one of the things that made this program unique is that we focused on involving youth in an authentic environmental monitoring project, the adult leaders were trained in University of Minnesota Extension AIS Detectors. The youth collected data as part of this program, and even recorded some first detections along with developing their own scientific research posters.<br /><br />For more on the AIS Detectors, please go to this website: www.maisrc.umn.edu/ais-detector<br />Rebecca Meyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13643233362523823280noreply@blogger.com