Driven to Discover: Enabling Authentic Inquiry through Citizen Science

明尼苏达大学正在与中西部的几个自然中心合作，将公民“技术人员”转变为公民“科学家”。“驱动发现项目将利用现有的公民科学计划与强大的教育组成部分，从事12-14岁的青年和他们的成年导师在真实的研究。 该项目的目标是为在各种非正规教育环境中与青年一起工作的成年人制定一个培训模式，使他们通过公民科学而不仅仅是数据收集活动参与真正的科学调查。在概念验证阶段，由4-H青年、成年领导人和几位科学家组成的团队正在进行参与式行动研究，以了解是什么因素导致青年充分参与生态研究。在第二阶段，项目人员正在培训4-H教育工作者、自然学家和教师如何让青年及其成年领导人参与其他4-H方案和其他非正式教育方案，与担任顾问角色的科学家一起进行生态研究。第一阶段约有10名成人和70名青年参加，第二阶段约有40名成人和300名青年参加。一项前端研究确定了该项目的目标受众和合作伙伴。形成性评价研究将监测研究小组成员之间的互动，总结性评价将衡量对参与者的知识，技能发展，态度和行为的影响。项目交付成果包括青年产生的生态研究成果，基于网络的计划实施材料，年度会议，并在真实的科学探究的非正式环境中从事青年群体的模型。 该模型预计将影响全国600多万青年。

The University of Minnesota is partnering with several nature centers in the Midwest to transform citizen "technicians" into citizen "scientists." The Driven to Discover project will use existing citizen science programs with strong educational components to engage 12-14 year old youth and their adult mentors in authentic research. The goal of the project is to develop a training model for adults who work with youth in a variety of informal education settings to involve them in authentic scientific inquiry via citizen science rather than just data collection activities. In the proof-of-concept phase, teams consisting of 4-H youth, adult leaders, and several scientists are conducting participatory action research to understand what factors lead youth to full engagement in ecological research. In phase two, project personnel are training 4-H educators, naturalists, and teachers how to engage youth and their adult leaders in other 4-H programs and other informal education programs to conduct ecological research with scientists in advisory roles. Phase one involves approximately 10 adults and 70 youth, whereas phase two involves approximately 40 adults and 300 youth. A front-end study defined the project's target audiences and partners. Formative evaluation study will monitor interactions among members of the research teams and summative evaluation will measure impacts on participants' knowledge, skills development, attitudes, and behavior. Project deliverables include youth-generated ecological research findings, web-based program implementation materials, an annual conference, and a model for engaging youth groups in informal settings in authentic scientific inquiry. The model is expected to impact more than six million youth nationwide.