This research project is investigating how networked technologies can generate excitement and expertise development among middle school students learning to become citizen scientists. The investigators are partnering with "Vital Signs," a citizen science networked system located in the State of Maine, linked statewide to schools and accessible not only to the focal participants (teachers and students in seventh and eighth grade classrooms), but to anyone who wants to learn and contribute. Outcomes of this project include 1) a set of case studies of learners and teachers that that represent pathways of engagement that utilize cyberlearning enabled resources; 2) a set of recommendations about new learning resources and tools that can advance personalized learning for students, teachers, and other learners; and 3) a set of ideas about ways to automate the assessment of uploaded data from learners that can be linked to recommendations about resources that can advance learning.
"Vital Signs" has high potential to generate excitement, interest, and a desire to learn about the natural world by engaging learners directly in observing, documenting, and sharing information about real world phenomena, specifically participating in learning activities designed around scientific issues in their local communities using authentic tools and collaborating with scientists. The Vital Signs program engages teachers and students in seventh and eighth grade science classrooms in inquiry-based science education around activities designed to study and intervene in habitat invasion by non-native species. The STEM content they focus on includes understanding of ecologies, processes of species proliferation, and strategies for intervening in damaged ecosystems. The state of Maine serves a diverse group of learners. Across the state, though average indicators of socio-economic status (home income, poverty level, school lunch qualification, English as a second language, and level of adult education) are close to national averages, there are regional differences. The highest poverty rates in Maine are routinely found in the counties on the west, north, and east borders of the state, where in 2008 rates of child poverty ranged from 24-28%, while in more affluent counties, they were less than half of that. Because all middle school students are involved in the laptop program, this research is able to compare cyberlearning processes and outcomes in relation to economic profiles of communities. Further, the statewide laptop program is unique in the United States and it creates a powerful opportunity to understand how communities who vary in their economic profile, sources of livelihood and technological immersion choose to engage in cyberlearning and what barriers they face.
Networked technologies have provided new opportunities for young people to collaborate with peers and adults on projects of national and international STEM significance. Citizen Science projects capitalize on the interest and efforts of non-scientists who join forces with professional scientists to contribute data that helps address problems of concern. From amateur astronomers to monitors of weather patterns, these efforts have yielded impressive results, advancing basic science and increasing the engagement of community members. Although Citizen Science projects do not require networked technologies (an early example is the Christmas Bird Count, originating in the early 1900s), they have dramatically changed the potential of such projects. Mobile GPS-enabled data collection devices, applications like Google Maps, and online databases, make it easier to identify geographic coordinates and share data contributions. Citizen Science programs have the potential to combine many, if not all, of the practices in the Next Generation Science Standards and can yield beneficial outcomes both for individual learning and for scientific communities. Our NSF project, funded by the Cyberlearning Program, documented learning and interest development for students and teachers engaged in citizen science. The research site was Vital Signs, a citizen science project that monitors invasive species in Maine. The program leverages the statewide public school laptop program, an inquiry-based curriculum, a professional development infrastructure, and a focus on networked learning. During the 2-3 week classroom unit, students go into the field during class and on their own time and use digital cameras and GPS receivers to monitor local ecosystems for native and invasive species, and submit their findings online. Using GIS capabilities, the website’s data exploration section allows anyone interested in invasive species to see what Vital Signs program participants have collected. Four middle schools (two urban and two rural) served as research partners and more than two hundred students participated in our two-year project. Our results showed that this Citizen Science opportunity engaged students in authentic inquiry as they documented local species found on beaches and in woodlands. Students developed skills in scientific observation, plant and animal identification, field note writing, photography, GPS activity, and using networked systems as sites for collaborative inquiry. For teachers and students who became deeply engaged in the content we saw evidence that their learning crossed the boundaries of home, school, and community. Deeply engaged participants chose to extend their learning by doing investigations in the summer, teaching others what they had learned, and applying their growing skills to new projects. More generally, interest in science was an important driver of learning. Prior interest was associated with learning science outside of school. Although students with more and less interest in science reported using science-learning resources similarly for school, those with higher interest used more resources to learn for fun, including the Internet, documentary films, and books. Learners with higher interest were also more likely to participate in activities exploring the natural world, such as observing wildlife and photographing or drawing nature. Our analysis of social networks also showed a relationship between interest and learning partnerships. Students in the higher interest group were more likely to report that one or both parents played specific learning support roles, especially the roles of learner, encourager, and collaborator. Students in the higher interest group were also more likely to report that their friends, too, were interested in science, again supporting the idea that the social network a child has access to may influence the development of science-related interests. After the Vital Signs unit, the majority of all students reported that they looked at plants differently and noticed focal species elsewhere, but approximately 50% more students in the higher interest group reporting this to be true. For teachers, the picture was similar—the boundaries of the classroom were permeable, and practice and collaboration extended out into a professional learning community as well as inward to personal interests and activities outside of school hours. We identified six collaborative practices between teachers and Vital Signs staff that furthered teacher learning and development and led to new student opportunities. This framework has implications for systems designed to support asynchronous and collocated interactions between the classroom and community expert organizations. Through publications, presentations, professional development workshops, and national collaborations, this project work has contributed research methods and design ideas for how to (1) engage youth and families in STEM learning, including those from rural and lower SES communities, and (2) connect schools and teachers, especially those who may not have access to high quality STEM opportunities or local expertise, to partnerships, practices, and organizations that utilize networked systems. This work has informed learning sciences communities engaged in research to better understand impacts and outcomes of informal learning opportunities, as well as citizen science organizations designing online systems that broaden participation with families and engage students and teachers to cross formal learning boundaries.
