Designer considerations and processes in developing school-based citizen-science curricula for environmental education

ABSTRACT

School-based citizen-science can be a powerful means to engage youth in environmental education, yet developing robust science curricula around citizen-science activities is tremendously challenging. Prior research provides limited examples and very little guidance for curriculum designers. To support the designers of school-based citizen-science curricula, this research article presents a participant-observation case study of designer thinking and processes in creating and integrating in-class curriculum with citizen-science fieldwork. Interviews, observations, and documents of designer work aimed at supporting middle school students’ learning of climate change were analysed to gain insight into designer thinking, challenges, and resolutions. Findings indicate how designer work evolved through various measures, including appraisal by external advisors, inspiring examples, surveys of teachers’ implementations, and written pre-post assessments of student learning throughout the phases of analysis, development, and evaluation of the curriculum. Four key considerations for designing school-based citizen-science curricula emerged from the data: creating the learning environment around the fieldwork; tackling concerns about data quality and utility; making scientist-designed fieldwork engaging to students; and balancing scientific and educational goals. These considerations are discussed in light of relevant literature, and educational implications for design and research are presented.

KEYWORDS:

• curriculum design
• citizen-science
• participant-observation
• case study

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grants # 1252416, 1251562, and 1252373. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the funding agency. The authors thank Brian Drayton for his feedback as a critical friend throughout various stages of this research. The authors also thank the research participants.

Data Availability

The original data cannot be shared due to concerns related to confidentiality, as per the research organization’s Institutional Review Board.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

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

Notes

1. This research was approved by the Institutional Review Board at ≪research organisation≫under protocol ≪#≫[This research was approved by the Institutional Review Board at TERC].

2. The design documents for this intended outcome consisted of drafts of the written curriculum, designer emails, memos, planning documents, curriculum project grant proposal, and teacher surveys.

3. The design documents for this intended outcome consisted of drafts of the written curriculum, designer emails, memos, planning documents, annual progress reports to funding agency, teacher surveys, and written pre-post assessments of student learning.

4. The design documents for this intended outcome consisted of drafts of the written curriculum, and designer emails, memos, and planning documents.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [1252416, 1251562, 1252373].