ICT tools and citizen science: a pathway to promote science learning and Education for Sustainable Development in schools

ABSTRACT

The sustainability challenges facing humankind make necessary the convergence of Science Education (SE) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Science learning and ESD requires the adoption of student-centred transformative teaching methods that promote values and critical thinking. This article explores the role of citizen science (CS) as an educational tool that could contribute in such transformative teaching. Innovative ICT tools that enable teachers to more easily engage their pupils in CS-based activities tailored to their local environment and teaching objectives have been developed and implemented in eight case studies, involving 214 students and seven teachers from three schools in Greece, the United Kingdom, and Spain. The results showed that: a) the CS-based educational initiatives contributed to improving natural science learning and represented progress in the development and integration of students’ competencies for sustainability; b) the developed ICT tools increased students’ interest and motivation; c) versatile ICT tools and platforms for teachers’ co-working can contribute to the inclusion of CS in the curriculum and thereby to the inclusion of ESD in schools. We conclude that such educational initiatives can contribute to the convergence of SE and ESD and help students develop global skills, preparing them for 21^st century sustainability challenges.

KEYWORDS:

• ICT tools
• citizen science (CS)
• schools
• Science Education (SE)
• Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Conceptualization, Gloria Rodríguez-Loinaz and Igone Palacios-Agundez; Methodology, Gloria Rodríguez-Loinaz and Igone Palacios-Agundez; Data curation, Gloria Rodríguez-Loinaz; Formal analysis, Gloria Rodríguez-Loinaz and Igone Palacios-Agundez; Writing – original draft, Gloria Rodríguez-Loinaz and Igone Palacios-Agundez; Writing – review & editing, Gloria Rodríguez-Loinaz, Ibone Ametzaga-Arregi and Igone Palacios-Agundez; Funding acquisition, Ibone Ametzaga-Arregi; Supervision, Ibone Ametzaga-Arregi.

Compliance with ethical standards

This study was conducted within the framework of the ERASMUS+ program and meets all the ethical standards required by the European Commission. The survey for data collection was voluntary and anonymous. All teachers who participated in the project were school teachers who were aware of the purpose of the project, volunteered to participate in the research, were over 18 years of age, and gave their consent after reading the specific data protection notice included in the survey. Consent was not required from the students, as the educational activities were carried out during academic hours as part of regular school subjects and the only general information we collected from each participant was age, gender, region (Wales, Greece or Basque Country) and the case study in which he or she had participated. In the case of students who participated in student exchanges, tutors’ consent was obtained. A record of the files used in this study is kept at the Data Protection Unit of the UPV/EHU.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2022.2092192

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the European Union through action line 2 of the ERASMUS+ programme call for Projects, grant number 2018-1-UK01-KA201-048161, project name: Citizen Science for Education in Sustainable Development, CS4ESD (https://cs4esd.eu).