SciStarter 2.0: A Dashboard to Drive Research, Participation, and Community-building in Citizen Science

亚利桑那州立大学将为其SciStarter网站开发新功能，以扩大公民科学的参与，并为研究公民科学参与的性质和影响提供丰富的数据。SciStarter是一个受欢迎的在线公民科学热点，拥有超过850个可搜索的公民科学项目，由研究人员和项目所有者添加，并为超过35，000名公民科学家提供服务。该项目将开发新的功能添加到当前的网站，使参与者能够探索数百个公民科学项目，并选择他们最感兴趣的项目，跟踪他们的参与情况，并与他们感兴趣的人和项目建立联系。扩展后的网站还将提供丰富的数据，帮助公民科学项目评估其项目，并为研究人员调查公民科学参与的性质提供丰富的数据。 该网站将通过与《发现》杂志、公民科学协会和其他合作伙伴的合作，向公众广泛开放。SciStarter网站将开发更多功能，以扩大公民科学参与，并研究参与的性质和影响。扩展后的功能将包括：（1）参与者的综合注册，以便更容易地跨平台参与一个或多个公民科学项目;（2）项目所有者的地理信息系统实施，以确定项目的地理边界，以便参与者更容易找到项目;以及（3）在线个人仪表板，用于参与者跟踪他们的项目、参与和对科学的贡献，共享和保存数据，记录对项目的兴趣，创建个人资料，并找到他们感兴趣的人和项目。 这些新功能将为未来的研究创造机会，涉及：（1）了解公民科学家如何使用该网站，以及它如何响应他们的需求和兴趣，（2）了解公民科学家为什么，如何以及有什么影响参与研究。 该项目将支持推进非正式STEM学习计划的总体战略，通过为各种环境中的创新资源提供资金，加强非正式环境中的学习。这包括提供多种途径，以扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验，推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及发展参与者对深入学习的理解。

Arizona State University will develop new features for its SciStarter website that will expand participation in citizen science and provide rich data for researching the nature of and impacts of citizen science participation. SciStarter is a popular online citizen science hotspot featuring more than 850 searchable citizen science projects, added by researchers and project owners, and serving over 35,000 citizen scientists. The project will develop new features to add to the current website that will enable participants to explore hundreds of citizen science projects and select projects of most interest to them, track their participation, and connect to people and projects they are interested in. The expanded website will also provide rich data that will help citizen science projects evaluate their programs and that will rich data for researchers to investigate the nature of citizen science participation. The website will be widely accessible to the public through partnerships with Discover Magazine, the Citizen Science Association, and other partners.The SciStarter website will develop additional features to expand citizen science participation and to research the nature and impacts of participation. The expanded features will include: (1) an integrated registration for participants to more easily engage in one or multiple citizen science projects, across platforms; (2) GIS implementation for project owners to define the geographic boundaries of projects so participants can find them more easily; and (3) an online, personal dashboard for participants to track their projects, participation, and contributions to science, share and save data, record interests in projects, create profiles, and find people and projects of interest to them. These new features will create opportunities for future research concerning: (1) understanding how citizen scientists use the site and how it responds to their needs and interests, and (2) understanding why, how, and with what impacts citizen scientists participate in research. The project will support the overall strategy of the Advancing Informal STEM Learning Program to enhance learning in informal environments through the funding of innovative resources through a variety of settings. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants.