This document provides information on how to effectively run a citizen science project or activity. It begins by defining citizen science and providing examples. It then lists best practices for citizen science studies at public events, such as keeping projects simple, choosing interesting topics, and maintaining scientific integrity. The document discusses popular misconceptions about science and provides examples of citizen science projects involving baseball and mazes. It emphasizes the importance of comparisons in scientific studies. Finally, it discusses factors that contribute to successful citizen science campaigns, such as providing feedback and being accessible to different groups.
This hour-long webinar introduces citizen science and opportunities for citizen science programming in 4-H contexts. It offers an overview of the wide diversity of citizen science projects (from astronomy to zoonotic diseases), outlines different participation opportunities (one-day events through individual inquiry), shares examples of what peers are doing across 4-H settings, and provides links to resources for getting started.
The webinar is a collaboration between 4-H experts in STEM and Youth Development (Nancy Schaff, NY; Jay Staker, IO; and Trudy Dunham, MN) and staff from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (Jennifer Shirk, Ileana Betancourt, and Jennifer Fee).
Maria C. R. Harrington, Ph.D.SIGGRAPH 2006 Educators Program. This was one of my first academic presentations, and here I presented my literature review findings for my dissertation. Many important insights were presented, and I am pleased to see that my dissertation did, indeed prove them to be on target and accurate. I still do not know what I should call this work, while my software can be displayed inside the hardware required for a true definition of Virtual Reality, VR implies full immersion with a headset or CAVE. Virtual Field Trips, while an accurate functional definition, represents a two-dimensional and linear web experience in the market. Fun, let us not forget the fun, but I want nothing to do with Edutainment, or Gamification. Serious Games implies some type of "win" or end-state where there is "victory" and my work is against that concept, exploring the opposite concept of intrinsic motivation. Simulations are very close to my work, and used in health care or aerospace because, yeah, we really do want doctors and pilots to crash and burn.. so yes, maybe Simulated Ecological Environments for Education (SEEE) is the best way to describe what I have done. Then tie in some intelligent tutoring systems, some analytics, and some feedback, and empower the learner to know more about how they learn, and what they don't yet know, and give them a path to find out.
Citizen Science Training Day: Working with Citizen ScientistsAlice Sheppard
Community building as part of a citizen science project; citizens as project-starters; interface design taking into account disabilities; successful discussion forum use; volunteers' vulnerabilities; citizen science project design tips; case studies
Sal Freudenberg considers how our minds solve complex, non-tangible problems and how our workspaces might not support the kinds of thinkers we badly need.
A journey through some of the historical research on the Psychology of Programming: Beacons, Schema, Chunking, Visual-spatial thinking, mental models, external representations, distributed cognition and Legitimate Peripheral Participation.
This hour-long webinar introduces citizen science and opportunities for citizen science programming in 4-H contexts. It offers an overview of the wide diversity of citizen science projects (from astronomy to zoonotic diseases), outlines different participation opportunities (one-day events through individual inquiry), shares examples of what peers are doing across 4-H settings, and provides links to resources for getting started.
The webinar is a collaboration between 4-H experts in STEM and Youth Development (Nancy Schaff, NY; Jay Staker, IO; and Trudy Dunham, MN) and staff from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (Jennifer Shirk, Ileana Betancourt, and Jennifer Fee).
Maria C. R. Harrington, Ph.D.SIGGRAPH 2006 Educators Program. This was one of my first academic presentations, and here I presented my literature review findings for my dissertation. Many important insights were presented, and I am pleased to see that my dissertation did, indeed prove them to be on target and accurate. I still do not know what I should call this work, while my software can be displayed inside the hardware required for a true definition of Virtual Reality, VR implies full immersion with a headset or CAVE. Virtual Field Trips, while an accurate functional definition, represents a two-dimensional and linear web experience in the market. Fun, let us not forget the fun, but I want nothing to do with Edutainment, or Gamification. Serious Games implies some type of "win" or end-state where there is "victory" and my work is against that concept, exploring the opposite concept of intrinsic motivation. Simulations are very close to my work, and used in health care or aerospace because, yeah, we really do want doctors and pilots to crash and burn.. so yes, maybe Simulated Ecological Environments for Education (SEEE) is the best way to describe what I have done. Then tie in some intelligent tutoring systems, some analytics, and some feedback, and empower the learner to know more about how they learn, and what they don't yet know, and give them a path to find out.
Citizen Science Training Day: Working with Citizen ScientistsAlice Sheppard
Community building as part of a citizen science project; citizens as project-starters; interface design taking into account disabilities; successful discussion forum use; volunteers' vulnerabilities; citizen science project design tips; case studies
Sal Freudenberg considers how our minds solve complex, non-tangible problems and how our workspaces might not support the kinds of thinkers we badly need.
A journey through some of the historical research on the Psychology of Programming: Beacons, Schema, Chunking, Visual-spatial thinking, mental models, external representations, distributed cognition and Legitimate Peripheral Participation.
Partnerships between science centers and citizen science projects can result in both better science and deeper learning.... learn how! This is the second in a series of workshop slideshows on integrating citizen science into informal science education programming.
Software development needs all different kinds of mind and there is a link between Autistic Spectrum Conditions and tech. How could our tools and environments better support the different types of thinking involved - hierarchical decomposition, opportunitistic leaps, creativity and neuro-diversity.
There are many creative ways to do citizen science activities at science centers. We build on a logic model framework to see how activities can build on the resources (inputs) you have available, and can achieve the learning outcomes you're aiming for. This is the fourth in a series of workshop slideshows about integrating citizen science into informal science education programming.
The Willing Volunteer – Incorporating Voluntary Data into National DatabasesMuki Haklay
At present few mapping databases contain crowd sourced or voluntary data. Consider how, in the future, this will be a valuable source of data for national geospatial, cadastral and mapping agencies
The power of cs in education moraitopoulou elina republica 2017Elina MORAITOPOULOU
Rapidly advancing scientific research is among the main transforming actors of our societies today. Citizen Science can promote public awareness, encourage meaningful contribution to research projects and empower local and global communities. How can we rethink school education through the prism of Citizen Science? And how can we start from schools to re-establish the links between scientific research and society, while promoting awareness and collaboration?
link to oral presentation >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN2Y-o3uM-c&t=264s
An overview of citizen science including the diversity of projects and people involved. Includes a nod towards the potential influence citizen scientists may have on policy matters .
Into the Night - Citizen Science Training day - introduction to citizen scienceMuki Haklay
Setting, running and evaluating - In this session, we will provide a brief overview of the types of citizen science that are relevant in addressing environmental challenges. We will look at classifications of citizen science projects, explore their potential goals, the process of recruitment and retention as well as the need to start project evaluation from an early stage. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in a short exercise to consider how these elements can be used in the design of a citizen science project.
What happens when instead of asking the crowd for help, the question of what is explored is handed over to the participants?
The potential of bottom-up citizen science has increased dramatically in the past decade. To understand this, we can look at the societal and technological changes that led to this proliferation, and then explore the challenges, risks and opportunities that this approach presents.
This seminar will also be live webcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqY8Jv5r4bs
Biotech Communications Workshop for Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Triangle biotech professionals
Presented by Jason Delborne, GES Center, NC State University, jadelbor@ncsu.edu
Monday, 10/2/2017 (day 1)
The role of learning in citizen scienceMuki Haklay
This is a presentation from the citizen science impact event at the Open University http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/opentel/citizen-science-impact-event-at-the-open-university/
Citizen science offer different levels of engagement to participants, which have been captured in typologies of the field (contributory, collaborative, co-created, collegial / crowdsourcing, distributed intelligence, participatory science, extreme citizen science). These typologies do no explicitly examine learning. At the same time, projects and activities striving to fulfil multiple goals (excellent scientific output, satisfying engagement, good recruitment, learning …). Within ythe range of citizen science project, we can consider different aspects of learning that are occurring in them, Projects and use examples from a range of project, and raise some aspects that can help those who are designing co-created projects.
This is a citizen science overview particularly aimed at graduate students enrolled in a new course at Arizona State University, aptly titled "Citizen Science." The author of this presentation, and course instructor, Darlene Cavalier, will talk students through its nuances and intersections with science, technology, and society.
Tina Phillips (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) - the DEVISE projectCitizenCyberlab
Tina Phillips (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) presenting the DEVISE project, and learning in citizen science research at the Citizen Cyberlab Summit, 17-18 September 2015, University of Geneva (UNIGE).
RDA Fourth Plenary Keynote - Prof. Christine L. Borgman, Professor Presidential Chair in Information Studies at UCLA: "Data, Data, Everywhere, Nor Any Drop to Drink." Tuesday 23rd Sept 2014, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
https://rd-alliance.org/plenary-meetings/fourth-plenary/plenary4-programme.html
Partnerships between science centers and citizen science projects can result in both better science and deeper learning.... learn how! This is the second in a series of workshop slideshows on integrating citizen science into informal science education programming.
Software development needs all different kinds of mind and there is a link between Autistic Spectrum Conditions and tech. How could our tools and environments better support the different types of thinking involved - hierarchical decomposition, opportunitistic leaps, creativity and neuro-diversity.
There are many creative ways to do citizen science activities at science centers. We build on a logic model framework to see how activities can build on the resources (inputs) you have available, and can achieve the learning outcomes you're aiming for. This is the fourth in a series of workshop slideshows about integrating citizen science into informal science education programming.
The Willing Volunteer – Incorporating Voluntary Data into National DatabasesMuki Haklay
At present few mapping databases contain crowd sourced or voluntary data. Consider how, in the future, this will be a valuable source of data for national geospatial, cadastral and mapping agencies
The power of cs in education moraitopoulou elina republica 2017Elina MORAITOPOULOU
Rapidly advancing scientific research is among the main transforming actors of our societies today. Citizen Science can promote public awareness, encourage meaningful contribution to research projects and empower local and global communities. How can we rethink school education through the prism of Citizen Science? And how can we start from schools to re-establish the links between scientific research and society, while promoting awareness and collaboration?
link to oral presentation >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN2Y-o3uM-c&t=264s
An overview of citizen science including the diversity of projects and people involved. Includes a nod towards the potential influence citizen scientists may have on policy matters .
Into the Night - Citizen Science Training day - introduction to citizen scienceMuki Haklay
Setting, running and evaluating - In this session, we will provide a brief overview of the types of citizen science that are relevant in addressing environmental challenges. We will look at classifications of citizen science projects, explore their potential goals, the process of recruitment and retention as well as the need to start project evaluation from an early stage. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in a short exercise to consider how these elements can be used in the design of a citizen science project.
What happens when instead of asking the crowd for help, the question of what is explored is handed over to the participants?
The potential of bottom-up citizen science has increased dramatically in the past decade. To understand this, we can look at the societal and technological changes that led to this proliferation, and then explore the challenges, risks and opportunities that this approach presents.
This seminar will also be live webcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqY8Jv5r4bs
Biotech Communications Workshop for Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Triangle biotech professionals
Presented by Jason Delborne, GES Center, NC State University, jadelbor@ncsu.edu
Monday, 10/2/2017 (day 1)
The role of learning in citizen scienceMuki Haklay
This is a presentation from the citizen science impact event at the Open University http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/opentel/citizen-science-impact-event-at-the-open-university/
Citizen science offer different levels of engagement to participants, which have been captured in typologies of the field (contributory, collaborative, co-created, collegial / crowdsourcing, distributed intelligence, participatory science, extreme citizen science). These typologies do no explicitly examine learning. At the same time, projects and activities striving to fulfil multiple goals (excellent scientific output, satisfying engagement, good recruitment, learning …). Within ythe range of citizen science project, we can consider different aspects of learning that are occurring in them, Projects and use examples from a range of project, and raise some aspects that can help those who are designing co-created projects.
This is a citizen science overview particularly aimed at graduate students enrolled in a new course at Arizona State University, aptly titled "Citizen Science." The author of this presentation, and course instructor, Darlene Cavalier, will talk students through its nuances and intersections with science, technology, and society.
Tina Phillips (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) - the DEVISE projectCitizenCyberlab
Tina Phillips (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) presenting the DEVISE project, and learning in citizen science research at the Citizen Cyberlab Summit, 17-18 September 2015, University of Geneva (UNIGE).
RDA Fourth Plenary Keynote - Prof. Christine L. Borgman, Professor Presidential Chair in Information Studies at UCLA: "Data, Data, Everywhere, Nor Any Drop to Drink." Tuesday 23rd Sept 2014, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
https://rd-alliance.org/plenary-meetings/fourth-plenary/plenary4-programme.html
Extreme Citizen Science: Current Development Muki Haklay
Slides from a talk to UCL Institute of Global Prosperity soundbites event - 5th November 2015.
With a growing emphasis on civil society-led change in diverse disciplines, from International Development to Town Planning, there is an increasing demand to understand how institutions might work with the public effectively and fairly.
Extreme Citizen Science is a situated, bottom-up practice that takes into account local needs, practices and culture and works with broad networks of people to design and build new devices and knowledge creation processes that can transform the world.
In this talk, Muki will discuss the work of UCL Extreme Citizen Science group within the wider context of the developments in the field of citizen science.He will cover the work that ExCiteS has already done, currently developing and plans for the future.
https://www.igp.ucl.ac.uk/igp-events-pub/muki-haklay-extreme-citizen-science
Darlene Cavalier's keynote presentation, More Can Be Done, at Quebec STEM con...Darlene Cavalier
Copy of presentation delivered at Quebec STEM symposium. (note: some videos will not appear in slideshare): https://sites.google.com/site/quebecstem2012/
#SpaceUp Phoenix 2015 featured presentation defining citizen science, surveying citizen science contributions in Arizona to space exploration & proposing a statewide census and conference for citizen science in Arizona.
Second Annual Chandler Science Pub Quiz, Ig Nobel EditionEileen M. Kane
Chandler Science Cafe at Gangplank Hack Night, Second Annual Science Pub Quiz. Do you watch Nova? Listen to Science Friday? Our hour-long quiz is about the 2014 Ig Nobel Awards.
Be a Smarter Volunteer with Your Smartphone, 2014 #TechPHXEileen M. Kane
We all have passions to help our community, our environment, and our cities.
Many non-profit organizations need your volunteer aid, but in addition to helping the various missions of your own causes, you can help recruit other volunteers, raise funds and increase advocacy with tools found on your smartphone.
Save endangered species, feed the homeless, bring non-profits into the 21st Century and become a volunteer rock star.
1. How to Run an Effective
Citizen Science Activity
Eileen Kane, Communications Director, Desert Rivers Audubon,
Eileen.Kane@DesertRiversAudubon.org
Mike McBeath, Department of Psychology, Arizona State
University, m.m@asu.edu
Robert McCord, Arizona Museum of Natural
History, Robert.McCord@mesaaz.gov
Eric M. Proctor, Wildlife Education Coordinator,
Arizona Game and Fish Department ,
EProctor@azgfd.gov
Constance E. Walker, Senior Science Education
Specialist, NOAO, cwalker@noao.edu
Summer Waters, Water Resource Extension Agent,
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County,
swaters@cals.arizona.edu
#CitizenScience
2. Citizen Science: “The systematic collection and analysis of data; development of
technology; testing of natural phenomena; and the dissemination of these activities
by researchers on a primarily avocational basis,“ or "public participation in scientific
research.“ OpenScientist.org
OwlWatch volunteers from Desert Rivers
Audubon monitor the artificial urban
burrowing owl habitat installation at
Zanjero Park, Gilbert. Christmas Bird
Count, December 14, 2012-
3. in Arizona
eBird data for Lucy’s Warbler
sightings, South Central AZ.
November-April, $15, research kit.
4. Running an Effective
Citizen Science Study
Michael K. McBeath
Department of Psychology and adjunct in
Neuroscience / Kinesiology / Electrical Engineering / Arts, Media, and Engineering
Mike erroneously
assumes that doing a
skateboarding study
will make people
think that he’s cool.
6. Best Practices of Science Studies at Public Events
1. Keep it simple, only test simple, straight hypotheses
2. Pick an interesting topic or no one will help facilitate
3. Get permission from all institutions and participants (IRB & consent)
4. Don’t compromise scientific integrity, but otherwise “go with the flow”
5. Be ethical, the reputations of you, the institutions, and science are at stake
7. Definition of Science:
Study of the lawful behavior of natural phenomena
Strong scientific research requires the following (OPTIC):
Observation
Prediction
Testing
Interpretation
Communication
Science typically requires a Control Comparison
“There are three types of people in the world,
those that can count and those that can’t.”
8. Kissers favor leaning right
Right-Handers and Americans Favor Heading Right
Güntürkün, O. (2003). Adult persistence of
head turning asymmetry, Nature, 421, 711.
Scharine, A.A. & McBeath. M.K. (2002). Right handers and Americans
favor turning to the right. Human Factors, 44(1), 248-256.
Walk down aisle and
indicate color of sticky
note hidden at the end.
Testing Kids at the
Renaissance Fair
9. Does pre-swinging a weighted baseball bat
increase bat speed at the plate?
Collecting data at the SciTech/Scottsdale
2012 Science of Baseball Festival
(Richard Hinrichs and Michael McBeath)
1. Volunteer subjects overwhelmingly believed they
swung faster following practice with weighted bats.
2. Speedgun results indicated reliably slower initial
swings following weighted bat practice (several mph).
10. Best Practices of Science Studies at Public Events
1. Keep it simple, only test simple, straight hypotheses
2. Pick an interesting topic or no one will help facilitate
3. Get permission from all institutions and participants (IRB & consent)
4. Don’t compromise scientific integrity, but otherwise “go with the flow”
5. Be ethical, the reputations of you, the institutions, and science are at stake
12. Route Histograms
(With children’s maze scaled to match the adult size)
Maze
Start
Maze
Exit
Race
End-Line
1’
3’
5’
7’
-1’
-3’
-5’-7’
8’
2’
Straight
Route
Mean
Route
Adults
Children 11 Angular
Deviation
These extreme cases exhibit
over 50 Angular Deviation
R2
=0.2171
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
01234567
Series1
-5 -3 -1 1 3 52 7
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
TimetoCompletion(sec.)
Maze Curvature (Deviation in Feet)
Time as a Function of Curv
Time minima occurs
at curvature 2.1’
(15.0 )
The optimum curvature for minimizing
task time occurs near the average
curvature preference
(Best quadratic fit for task time vs.
curvature, averaging left and right maze trials)
R2 = 0.297
McBeath, Brimhall, Miller, &
Holloway (2010). Journal of
Vision, 10(7): 1021.
15. • Allow for different levels of participation by a wide variety of
audiences.
• Grab people’s interest (plus no cost; require minimal time).
• Be something people can feel a part of – contributing value to a
larger database.
• Be well-structured; easy to use, web-based to reach large
audiences.
• Provide feedback on contributed measurements (e.g, map of
world that’s easily accessible).
• Be available to multiple venues (formal & informal) & amenable to
different types of learners.
• Be evaluated regularly to know what works and what does not.
A Successful Citizen
Science Campaign Must…
16. Citizen Science and
GLOBE at Night
Connie Walker
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Tucson, AZ
Sept 10, 2012 1AZ Science Festival
17. GLOBE at Night Campaign
• Citizen-scientists record the brightness of the night sky; online
• Grown to five 10-day campaigns/yr: Jan.-May 2013 (no Moon)
• 2012: 16,850 measurements; 83,000 in 7 yrs
• 2012: 92 countries participated; 115 different countries total
• 2012: 40% USA; 25% Europe; 35% other
• 55% have limiting magnitude 3 or 4 in 2012; trend getting brighter
18. GLOBE at Night Website
http://www.globeatnight.org
• 5 step citizen science program –
simple to participate
• Background information on key
concepts
• Interactive games
• Fun quizzes to check proficiency
• Teacher and Family Guides in 16
different languages
• Postcards, flyers en español también!
• Report page turn-key: web app
• Map page with data in various formats
• Mapping tool: map app
• Facebook, Twitter, audio podcasts
• Kits, scaffolded lesson plans
20. Overview of Survey Results from
the GLOBE at Night Campaign
• Two-thirds of the educators and 81% of
their students made changes in their
personal use of light and fixtures in their
homes since participating in the GLOBE at
Night citizen-science campaign.
• Changes included…..
• All but one respondent indicated that
engaging students in GLOBE at Night
increased their understanding of light
pollution.
22. Educational Value
GLOBE at Night Data
With the downloadable data sets,
• Compare data over time
• Compare to population density
• Compare with photography or
spectroscopy
• Use in a lighting survey
• Search for dark sky oases
• Monitor ordinance compliance
• Study effects of light pollution on
– human health, animals or plants
– safety, security, energy
consumption, cost Tucson, Arizona
23. Projects Done by Students
High school students
with amateur
astronomers from
Norman, Oklahoma
Elementary & middle
school students near
South Bend, IN
24. GLOBE at Night 2013
During the Arizona SciTech Festival, Arizona towns will be challenged to compete
in the GLOBE at Night campaign using the “adopt-a-street” method. The Arizona
town with the most measurements gets a star party from GLOBE at Night staff.
Editor's Notes
More than half the world’s population lives in cities.3 out of every 4 people living in cities have never seen the Milky Way galaxy arch across a dark, starry sky.How do you convince them that light pollution is washing out a natural and cultural heritage that has inspired mankind for millenia?LP is affecting more than our right to see a starry night sky.30% of outdoor lighting escapes upwards into space as wasted energy at a cost of a couple of billion dollars each year in the US.Too much light at night disrupts our circadian rhythm, causing sleeping disorders. Aging eyes are affected by glare.The habits and habitats of animals are deeply affected by light pollution (e.g., migrating birds and hatching sea turtles).
More than half the world’s population lives in cities.3 out of every 4 people living in cities have never seen the Milky Way galaxy arch across a dark, starry sky.How do you convince them that light pollution is washing out a natural and cultural heritage that has influence mankind for millenia?In addition, 30% of outdoor lighting escapes upwards into space as wasted energy at a cost of a couple of billion dollars each year in the US.Too much light at night disrupts our circadian rhythm, causing sleeping disorders. Aging eyes are affected by glare.The habits and habitats of animals are deeply affected by light pollution (e.g., migrating birds and hatching sea turtles).And we are quickly losing our right to see a starry night sky.
For instance there is background information on what a magnitude is and how to find Orion, Leo and the Southern Cross (Crux) – the constellations used in the campaign.
Two-thirds of the survey respondents and 81% of their students who participated in the GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaign made changes in their personal use of light or light fixtures in their homes. Changes included changing fixtures, turning off outside lights/reducing light usage overall, changing to more energy efficient lights, utilizing motion sensors to reduce light use, being an advocate and educating others about light usage, becoming involved in policy/talking to officials to make changes and becoming more aware of community lighting. All but one respondent indicated that they believed that engaging students in GLOBE at Night activities increased their understanding of light pollution.