The science of citizen science: a systematic literature review on educational and scientific outcomes
Citizen Science is an ever-growing field of public engagement with science, and recent years have seen an increasing number of studies examining its potential. This study reviews this research to determine the educational and scientific outcomes of Citizen Science. A literature search produced 1,240...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1226529/full |
| _version_ | 1797737406041948160 |
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| author | Lena Finger Vanessa van den Bogaert Laura Schmidt Jens Fleischer Marc Stadtler Katrin Sommer Joachim Wirth |
| author_facet | Lena Finger Vanessa van den Bogaert Laura Schmidt Jens Fleischer Marc Stadtler Katrin Sommer Joachim Wirth |
| author_sort | Lena Finger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Citizen Science is an ever-growing field of public engagement with science, and recent years have seen an increasing number of studies examining its potential. This study reviews this research to determine the educational and scientific outcomes of Citizen Science. A literature search produced 1,240 articles that were subsequently coded according to their main focus. Articles fell into one of three main categories: (a) empirical scientific articles, (b) narrative project descriptions, and (c) theoretical and technical conceptualizations. Hundred and forty-eight studies investigated educational outcomes of participation in Citizen Science such as effects on interest in science or motivation. These studies were examined further to assess the achievement of educational outcomes of Citizen Science. In terms of changing epistemological beliefs, for example, Citizen Science seems to have little effect. Overall, there is currently a lack of empirical studies to assess the educational outcomes comprehensively. In contrast, many empirical scientific articles answered research questions in different scientific disciplines based on Citizen Science data and many studies confirmed a high level of Citizen Science data quality providing information on the scientific outcomes. Implications for future research on Citizen Science are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:28:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-38a07335dde94aed84191d91a07606c2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-284X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:28:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-38a07335dde94aed84191d91a07606c22023-08-25T02:18:00ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2023-08-01810.3389/feduc.2023.12265291226529The science of citizen science: a systematic literature review on educational and scientific outcomesLena Finger0Vanessa van den Bogaert1Laura Schmidt2Jens Fleischer3Marc Stadtler4Katrin Sommer5Joachim Wirth6Chair of Research on Learning and Instruction, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, GermanyChair of Research on Learning and Instruction, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, GermanyChair of Research on Learning and Instruction, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, GermanyChair of Research on Learning and Instruction, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, GermanyCompetence Development and Competence Modeling, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, GermanyChair of Chemistry Didactics, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, GermanyChair of Research on Learning and Instruction, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, GermanyCitizen Science is an ever-growing field of public engagement with science, and recent years have seen an increasing number of studies examining its potential. This study reviews this research to determine the educational and scientific outcomes of Citizen Science. A literature search produced 1,240 articles that were subsequently coded according to their main focus. Articles fell into one of three main categories: (a) empirical scientific articles, (b) narrative project descriptions, and (c) theoretical and technical conceptualizations. Hundred and forty-eight studies investigated educational outcomes of participation in Citizen Science such as effects on interest in science or motivation. These studies were examined further to assess the achievement of educational outcomes of Citizen Science. In terms of changing epistemological beliefs, for example, Citizen Science seems to have little effect. Overall, there is currently a lack of empirical studies to assess the educational outcomes comprehensively. In contrast, many empirical scientific articles answered research questions in different scientific disciplines based on Citizen Science data and many studies confirmed a high level of Citizen Science data quality providing information on the scientific outcomes. Implications for future research on Citizen Science are discussed.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1226529/fullcitizen sciencescience educationmotivational effectsliterature reviewvalidity |
| spellingShingle | Lena Finger Vanessa van den Bogaert Laura Schmidt Jens Fleischer Marc Stadtler Katrin Sommer Joachim Wirth The science of citizen science: a systematic literature review on educational and scientific outcomes Frontiers in Education citizen science science education motivational effects literature review validity |
| title | The science of citizen science: a systematic literature review on educational and scientific outcomes |
| title_full | The science of citizen science: a systematic literature review on educational and scientific outcomes |
| title_fullStr | The science of citizen science: a systematic literature review on educational and scientific outcomes |
| title_full_unstemmed | The science of citizen science: a systematic literature review on educational and scientific outcomes |
| title_short | The science of citizen science: a systematic literature review on educational and scientific outcomes |
| title_sort | science of citizen science a systematic literature review on educational and scientific outcomes |
| topic | citizen science science education motivational effects literature review validity |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1226529/full |
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