Personally, I am an advocate for science. I wish to share my passion for science so that others can see the beauty and benefits of knowing science. I am now an educational designer and an informal educator. My mandates include “sparking imaginative learning” and “seeding a science-positive culture”. I wish to to bridge the gap between the general public and the science researcher. When it comes to general science in culture, I have found stereotypical images of scientists wearing white lab coats and working behind safety-shielded windows in private, sterile environments, or else a frizzy-haired, reckless mad scientist. The Draw a Scientist study has shown that the image of a scientist is changing, but there is still a gap between the what and why of science.
What do researchers do, and why are they doing it? The aspiring researchers experience harsh publishing obstacles and limited funding due to the science community culture. The general public and the policy makers need to know why the research is important and how it should impact policies.
General science knowledge has advanced with the availability of great websites and online science stores. What has struck me though, are the not-so-scientific experiment blogs. In the slime-making craze from 2017 children ended up with chemical burns on their hands. Steve Spangler posted a scientific rant about these at-home experiments that were often performed without proper safety precautions. Just as a parent would think twice about letting their children build their own tree house with unsupervised access to hammers, nails, saws, and rope, we need to think twice about performing experiments without guidance. Expert guidance is available, online!
Citizen science is a bridge that spans from the research field to the public domain. Researchers invest a part of their funding towards building an interactive (often gamified) component in their research project. This means that the general public receive a quick tutorial in a specific field of study and can then participate in gathering data, or performing the preliminary analysis of the data for that project.
The advent of mobile apps for citizen science have brought research off the desk and prominently into the field. The click of a button can crowdsource information from the very location that the researcher wishes to monitor. This ease of use improves the user’s experience, which could entice them to share the science, and it also brings the potential for researchers to collaborate with the people most likely to be impacted by the research findings.
We need to keep in mind that the mobile app designed for citizen science is often developed within the means of the research project members. Based on that team’s resources, an app may only be made available for iOS or for the Android device. The app may require geo-localisation, and permission to access various functionalities on the mobile device, and yet not be updated as often as the slick commercial apps. The developed app may reflect the age group of the researchers, making it less appealing to certain users, or difficult for others to intuitively use. None of these factors should impede the use of mobile devices for citizen science, instead, we can use it as a testament that the research team is composed of people looking to collaborate in a grassroots way with the people of the community!
Citizen science has prospered from the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic as people living in confinement looked to the internet for activities. I propose a quick exploration of this public crowd-sourcing movement online and on mobile:
Have you found an interest in mixing your time with citizen science?
Share your discovery here.
Sources:
Belluz, J., Plumer, B., & Resnick, B. (2016, July 14). The 7 biggest problems facing science, according to 270 scientists. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2016/7/14/12016710/science-challeges-research-funding-peer-review-process
Picard, C. (2021, February 12). Parents Everywhere Are Worried About DIY Slime After Multiple Kids Are Burned. Good Housekeeping. https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/news/a43500/slime-safety
Spangler, S. (2017, September 6). Steve Spangler loses his mind over Borax! [Video file]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vja83KLQXZs
Terada, Y. (2019, May 22). 50 Years of Children Drawing Scientists. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/50-years-children-drawing-scientists
Zipf L, Primack RB, Rothendler M (2020) Citizen scientists and university students monitor noise pollution in cities and protected areas with smartphones. PLoS ONE 15(9): e0236785. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236785
Hi Evelyne:
Your A1 is quite interactive. I had no idea that so much was available with Citizen Science. Even though my plate is full with activities, it is still tempting to join a community.
Hi Evelyne, I’ve never used Genially but this looks like a fantastic tool for creating interactive posters! Can multiple students collaborate and create projects together on Genially?
I love the games and resources you’ve included related to Citizen Science. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Seo-Whi,
Glad to introduce you to genial.ly!
I am also happy to introduce you to the amazing world of citizen science!
I am using genial.ly to collaborate with my A2 team, but I have not tried to assign students to group work.
There are a lot more options when you use the premium (paid) version of the program.
DeeDee’s A1 is also created in genial.ly and it looks quite different from mine.
I have used this program in conjunction with Twine (as my mind map) to create an escape room game, and high school students would probably be able to use it that way.
The only hiccup is that genial.ly is for desktop use. Its creators mention this and strongly suggest only using it on desktop for best operations.
I look forward to visiting your future creations.