Abstract

Citizen science projects are an increasingly popular way to engage the public in the process of science. However, few studies have evaluated learning outcomes beyond knowledge gains in formal learning settings with youth. This study evaluated the effects of a classroom-based citizen science project in which middle and high school students collected data about hummingbirds and their habitat use as part of a long-term study on declining hummingbird populations. We explored changes in science identity, nature connectedness, and knowledge of curricular material using quantitative pre- and post-test questionnaires (n = 367). While curricular knowledge scores increased modestly, the project had no meaningful impacts on science identity or nature connectedness. Nevertheless, students reported that the citizen science aspect motivated them and made them feel that they were contributing to science. Results suggest that, while citizen science has potential as an effective mode for educating students about the processes and content of science, one should not assume that it necessarily conveys additional benefits.

Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2021.1927990 .

摘要

公民科学项目是一种日益流行的让公众参与科学过程的方式。然而，很少有研究对青少年在正规学习环境中获得的知识以外的学习成果进行评估。本研究评估了一项基于课堂的公民科学项目的效果，在该项目中，中学生收集了有关蜂鸟及其栖息地使用的数据，作为对蜂鸟数量下降的长期研究的一部分。我们使用定量的前测和后测问卷探索了科学身份、自然联系和课程材料知识的变化（n = 367）。虽然课程知识分数略有增加，但该项目对科学身份或自然联系没有有意义的影响。尽管如此，学生们报告说，公民科学方面激励了他们，让他们觉得自己在为科学做出贡献。结果表明，虽然公民科学有潜力作为一种有效的模式来教育学生了解科学的过程和内容，但人们不应认为它必然会带来额外的好处。

本文的补充数据可在 https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2021.1927990 在线获得。