Learning to See, Seeing to Learn: A Sociotechnical System Supporting Taxonomic Identification Activities in Volunteer-Based Water Quality Biomonitoring

作为在非正式环境中加强学习的总体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划为各种环境中使用的创新资源提供资金。该项目将开发和研究网络增强的非正式学习环境，以改进公民科学家的观察实践和分类技能。该项目将侧重于志愿者所需的分类鉴定技能，为当地溪流、湖泊、河口、湿地和地下水资源的水质监测提供高质量的数据。为了使识别淡水昆虫的任务更容易和更有吸引力，该项目将开发一个创新的教育资源，即大型无脊椎动物识别培训环境，它将使用可缩放的高分辨率图像、互动媒体和诊断特征的注释来提高感知技能。其目标是提高参与鉴定任务的志愿者的信心和准确性，同时提高他们为科学研究和保护工作生成的数据的可靠性和质量。这个跨学科的设计研发项目将使用网络千兆像素图像技术来创建一个视觉环境，用户可以在其中无缝地从大型无脊椎动物的全景图转移到极端特写，在不同位置和缩放级别嵌入文本、图像、图形、音频和视频。该系统将与通过一系列设计研究设计的认知学徒培训模式协调开发。设计研究将在两年内进行，包括审查各种生物监测项目的特点、审查现有培训材料和战略、专业昆虫学家的专家业绩分析，以及开发用户界面功能。项目开发人员将与五个地区性志愿者生物监测组织合作，让不同类型的志愿者参与设计过程，包括农村人口、老年人、城市青年和支持他们的培训人员。项目工作将包括四个综合活动：以设计为基础的学习研究、创建昆虫学教学集合、开发网络平台和对培训系统进行外部评估。将评估由此产生的大型无脊椎动物鉴定培训环境对志愿者准确性、信心和参与与大型无脊椎动物有关的分类活动的影响。还将审查学习系统对培训员和志愿生物监测组织的影响。

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative resources for use in a variety of settings. This project will develop and study a cyber-enhanced informal learning environment to improve observational practices and classification skills among citizen scientists. The project will focus on the taxonomic identification skills needed by volunteers to provide high-quality data for water quality monitoring of local streams, lakes, estuaries, wetlands, and ground water resources. To make the task of identifying freshwater insects easier and more engaging, the project will develop an innovative educational resource, the Macroinvertebrate Identification Training Environment, that will use zoomable high-resolution images, interactive media, and annotations of diagnostic features to improve perceptual skills. The goal is to increase the confidence and accuracy of volunteers engaged in identification tasks, while also increasing the reliability and quality of the data they are generating for purposes of scientific research and conservation efforts.This interdisciplinary design research and development project will use networked gigapixel image technology to create a visual environment where users can move seamlessly from full panoramic views of macroinvertebrates to extreme close-ups, with embedded text, images, graphics, audio, and video at various locations and zoom levels. This system will be developed in concert with a cognitive apprenticeship training model designed through a series of design studies. The design studies will be conducted over a two-year period and will include examination of the distinguishing features of various biomonitoring programs, reviews of existing training materials and strategies, expert performance analysis of professional entomologists, and development of user interface features. Project developers will collaborate with five regional volunteer biomonitoring organizations to engage a diverse set of volunteers in the design process, including rural populations, older adults, urban youth, and the trainers who support them. The project work will consist of four integrated strands of activity: design-based learning research, creation of an entomological teaching collection, cyberplatform development, and the external evaluation of the training system. The resulting Macroinvertebrate Identification Training Environment will be evaluated in terms of its impacts on volunteer accuracy, confidence, and engagement in taxonomic classification activities related to macroinvertebrates. The impacts of the learning system on trainers and volunteer biomonitoring organizations will also be examined.