Citizen science projects: An opportunity for education in scientific literacy and sustainability

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.12.17824

Keywords:

citizen science, scientific literacy, SDGs, formal education, non-formal education

Abstract

Since the term citizen science first emerged, projects involving citizens in science have increased in number and have spread to a variety of areas. Thus, citizen science is emerging as a mechanism for involving society and stimulating the population’s interest in science and contributing to their scientific literacy. Furthermore, we must also highlight the inherent contribution of citizen science projects to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper reviews some examples of international citizen science projects and details active projects in Spain, from the perspective of both formal and non-formal education.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Emilia López-Iñesta, University of Valencia (Spain).

Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics Education at the University of Valencia (UV), Spain. She is a member of the Intelligent Data Analysis Laboratory (IDAL-UV). Her research focuses on mathematical problem-solving, learning analytics, citizen science, and gender diversity in STEM. 

Miguel Ángel Queiruga-Dios, University of Burgos (Spain).

Associate Professor in the Department of Specific Didactics in the Faculty of Education at the University of Burgos (Spain). He is involved in European projects such as Scientix, Erasmus+, Europeana, PLATON, STEM Alliance, and EU Code Week as a leading teacher. He has been recognised by Aciertas (COSCE), the Global Teacher Award, and the Physics Teaching and Dissemination Award from the BBVA Foundation-RSEF.

Daniel García-Costa, University of Valencia (Spain).

Researcher in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Valencia (Spain), PhD candidate in the programme of Information, Communication, and Computing Technologies, and member of the Intelligent Data Analysis Laboratory (IDAL). 

Francisco Grimaldo, University of Valencia (Spain).

Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Vice-Dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Valencia (UV), Spain. He is a member of the Intelligent Data Analysis Laboratory (IDAL-UV) and an associate researcher in the Laboratory of Agent-Based Social Simulation at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR). He is also the Director of the Capgemini-UV Chair in innovation in software development.

References

Benavent, X., De Ves, E., Forte, A., Botella-Mascarell, C., López-Iñesta, E., Rueda, S., Roger, S., Perez, J., Portalés, C., Dura, E., García-Costa, D., & Marzal, P. (2020). Girls4STEM: Gender diversity in STEM for a sustainable future. Sustainability, 12(15), 6051. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156051

Berkes, F., Colding, J., & Folke, C. (Eds.). (2003). Navigating social-ecological systems: Building resilience for complexity and change. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511541957

Bonney, R., Ballard, H., Jordan, R., McCallie, E., Phillips, T., Shirk, J., & Wilderman, C. (2009). Public participation in scientific research: Defining the field and assessing its potential for informal science education. Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED519688.pdf

Bonney, R., Phillips, T. B., Ballard, H. L., & Enck, J. W. (2016). Can citizen science enhance public understanding of science? Public Understanding of Science25(1), 2–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662515607406

COSCE. (2011). Informe ENCIENDE. Enseñanza de las Ciencias en la Didáctica Escolar para edades tempranas en España. Editorial Rubes. https://www.cosce.org/pdf/Informe_ENCIENDE.pdf

Curtis, V. (2018). Online citizen science and the widening of academia. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77664-4

Devictor, V., Whittaker, R. J., & Beltrame, C. (2010). Beyond scarcity: Citizen science programmes as useful tools for conservation biogeography. Diversity and Distributions16(3), 354–362. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-4642.2009.00615.x

Grimaldo, F., Sánchez, C. R., López-Iñesta, E., Vicente, J. E., & Querol, E. Q. (2017). Ciència ciutadana contra prejudicis lingüístics: El projecte ­
Milmots.eu­. Llengua, Societat i Comunicació15, 48–53. https://doi.org/10.1344/LSC-2017.15.6

Heigl, F., Kieslinger, B., Paul, K. T., Uhlik, J., & Dörler, D. (2019). Opinion: Toward an international definition of citizen science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences116(17), 8089–8092. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1903393116

Kocman, D., Števanec, T., Novak, R., & Kranjec, N. (2020). Citizen science as part of the primary school curriculum: A case study of a Technical Day on the topic of noise and health. Sustainability12(23), 10213. https://doi.org/10.3390/su122310213

Martínez-Ruiz, F., Bautista-Arnedo, M., & del-Pino-Ruiz, J. (2005). Educación científica, sociedad y televisión. Comunicar, 25https://doi.org/10.3916/C25-2005-203

Miller, J. D. (1983). Scientific literacy: A conceptual and empirical review. Daedalus112(2), 29–48. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20024852

National Research Council. (1996). National science education standards. The National Academy Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/4962

Oltra, A., Palmer, J. R., & Bartumeus, F. (2016). Objectiu: Atrapar el tigre. Una plataforma de ciència ciutadana per a combatre el mosquit tigre. Mètode, 88, 11–15.

Queiruga-Dios, M. Á., López-Iñesta, E., Diez-Ojeda, M., Sáiz-Manzanares, M. C., & Vázquez Dorrío, J. B. (2020). Citizen science for scientific literacy and the attainment of sustainable development goals in formal education. Sustainability, 12(10), 4283. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104283

Queiruga-Dios, M. Á., López-Iñesta, E., Diez-Ojeda, Vázquez-Dorrío, J. B., & Pachamé, A. (2021). Ciencia ciudadana Odour Collect en el aula de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria utilizando la metodología ABP. 29 Encuentros de Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales.

Sanz, F., Pelacho, M., Clemente, J., Ibáñez, M., Guardia, L., Lisbona, D., Val, V., Embid, A., Castelo, V., Arias, R., Salas, N., Ruiz, G., Tarancón, A., Ferrer, A., Cuartielles, D., García, C., Perla, P., Barral, M., Gavete, B., … Sevilla-Callejo, M. (2020). Informe del Observatorio de la Ciencia Ciudadana 2019/2020https://ciencia-ciudadana.es/informe-del-observatorio-de-la-ciencia-ciudadana-en-espana-2020/

Serrano-Sanz, F., Holocher-Ertl, T., Kieslinger, B., Sanz García, F., & Silva, C. G. (2014). White paper on citizen science for Europehttps://ec.europa.eu/futurium/en/system/files/ged/socientize_white_paper_on_citizen_science.pdf

UNESCO. (2017). Education for sustainable development goals: Learning objectives. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/­48223/pf0000247444

Vitone, T., Stofer, K., Steininger, M. S., Hulcr, J., Dunn, R., & Lucky, A. (2016). School of ants goes to college: Integrating citizen science into the general education classroom increases engagement with science. Journal of Science Communication15(01), A03. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.15010203

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2022-02-02

How to Cite

López-Iñesta, E., Queiruga-Dios, M. Ángel, García-Costa, D., & Grimaldo, F. (2022). Citizen science projects: An opportunity for education in scientific literacy and sustainability. Metode Science Studies Journal, (12), 33–39. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.12.17824
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    2858
  • PDF
    928
  • (Español)
    9

Issue

Section

Citizen science. Society takes centre stage

Metrics

Similar Articles

> >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.