Citizen CI-TEAM Demonstration Project - Expanding the Zooniverse: Refining Resources to Support Educator Use of Citizen Science in the Classroom

Adler Planetarium, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

Participation in authentic research projects can be a powerful way to engage students in science and introduce them to the computational tools that are used in science research. However, finding an authentic project in which students can participate is time consuming for educators, both in terms of finding an appropriate project and preparing curriculum to support its use in the classroom. Citizen science ? the involvement of non-professionals in the research enterprise ? has been successfully adapted to the classroom by programs such as Cornell University?s Lab of Ornithology. Current efforts across citizen science projects tend to be focused on students reporting back fieldwork or stop at providing subject area lesson plans that relate to the topic of the research study. Thus, they do not have a strong connection to the subsequent analysis conducted by the researchers: there is no introduction to the significant computational tools that are used by scientists after students contribute data to arrive at research results. Additionally, the lesson plans are generally developed as part of the setup of the project, and have no sustainable way to continue expanding or be applied to new projects without additional influx of funding. In collaboration with the Adler, the Zooniverse Citizen Science Alliance has developed a framework called ZooTeach to support educators in the development and sharing of classroom curriculum, which can be easily implemented across Zooniverse research projects. The team in this demonstration project is first to refining the existing ZooTeach resource, seeding with pilot resources, expanding, and disseminating this framework with and to formal and informal educators. In doing so, the team is developing a set of best practices for how citizen science projects can be used in the classroom to encourage exploration of computing in an authentic science workforce context. Intellectual Merit The Adler team is led by Nancy Ross Dribin, director of interactive media, in collaboration with the Adler education department and Dr. Chris Lintott, director of citizen science initiatives and founding member of the Zooniverse. An advisory board of seven people, including a mix of leading figures in Chicago Public Schools, educational technology, and computational science instruction, inform the project. With the successful completion of this project, the Adler will: ? Evaluate and refine the existing ZooTeach structure to ensure that it supports and encourages educator use. Expected outcomes include both visiting to find resources and contributing to resource development as direct authors as well as reviewers. Working with educators to provide such an environment will provide valuable information to projects looking to encourage educator-contributed materials. ? Create an interactive to support the use of the Zoos as an introduction to the use of computational tools in science research. By supporting non-project educators as the primary contributors of curriculum, this opens the possibility of using future funding to create more specific, complex resources that facilitate connecting the citizen science task completed by students and the computational tools and analysis conducted by the team scientists. Broader Impacts This project will: ? Promote use of Zoo Teach at appropriate formal and informal educator conferences and in professional development at the Adler. In addition to encouraging use of Zoo Teach by educators and in informal education professional development programs, this will also enable team members to disseminate project findings to peers. ? Evaluate the effectiveness of an open, contributory approach to lesson plan development in relation to citizen science projects. As noted above, this evaluation will be disseminated via conferences as well as via the Adler?s website and via electronic communications with peers. It will provide valuable information about the effectiveness of and best practices for following this approach.