RCN-UBE: 3dNaturalists bioblitzes, citizen science, and undergraduate learning

该RCN-UBE项目旨在将学者和实践者聚集在一起，在公民科学、少数群体参与、学生学习和保护区管理之间的交叉点探索大数据倡议。该网络将有三项主要活动：(1)将从业人员、学者、机构管理人员和学生聚集在一起的跨学科讲习班；(2)利用公民科学数据和时空数据集为学生提供介绍性研究体验的学生实习；(3)合作评估学生的学习经验。该网络将侧重于为生物多样性问题收集的公民科学数据--特别是物种识别、物种出现情况和栖息地参数。Bioblitz活动是一项大型公共活动，专注于24小时生物多样性调查，是利用清单、智能手机应用程序和其他方法让公民参与科学的工具。将科学参数添加到公民科学工具中，再加上团队学习活动，使学生既参与科学，又参与发现。虽然越来越多的研究侧重于帮助学生破译科学，但大多数评估工具只是间接衡量学生在科学方面的参与度和领导力。该项目的学术价值在于，它解决了在实地越来越多地使用公民科学工具的问题，并探索了公民科学活动作为新的创新方法的潜力，以使未被充分代表的少数群体学生参与STEM，特别是利用课堂外和当地社区的活动。预计这些评估将对扩大对环境科学的参与具有总结性和形成性两方面的应用。该项目的更广泛影响包括来自不同职业水平和广泛机构的各种生物学和社会科学分支学科的教职员工。此外，参与的学生来自许多不同类型的机构，包括社区学院、少数族裔服务机构和本科院校。教职员工和学生都反映了美国日益增长的多样性。未被充分代表的少数群体，特别是对与社区有联系感兴趣的学生，被选为参加生物区划的小组的一部分。在Biobitz期间，学生既担任研究助理，又担任公民科学，因此他们既学习科学，又成长为领导者。作为一项关键成果，将在生物学的多个机构和学科中使用共同标准和评估，以确定利用公民科学和课堂外非正式环境的发现体验如何使学生参与STEM领域。该项目由生物科学局和本科教育司教育和人力资源局联合资助，作为他们应对《本科生物学教育的愿景与变革：行动呼吁》(http://visionandchange/finalreport/).)中提出的挑战的努力的一部分

This RCN-UBE project seeks to bring together scholars and practitioners to explore big data initiatives at the intersections between citizen science, minority participation, student learning and protected areas management. The network will have three main activities: (1) interdisciplinary workshops that bring together practitioners, academics, agency managers and students; (2) student internships that provide introductory research experience for students using citizen science data and spatial and temporal datasets; and (3) collaborative assessments of student learning experiences. The network will focus on citizen science data collected for biodiversity questions--specifically species identification, species occurrence, and habitat parameters. The bioblitz activities, large public events focused on a 24 hour survey of biological diversity, are tools that engage citizens in science using inventories, smartphone apps, and other approaches. The addition of science parameters to the citizen science tool coupled with team learning activities engages students in both science and discovery. While an increasing number of studies focus on helping students decipher science, most assessment tools only indirectly measure student engagement and leadership in the sciences. The intellectual merit of this project is that it addresses the growing use of citizen science tools in the field and explores the potential for citizen science activities as new innovative approaches to engage underrepresented minority students in STEM especially using activities outside of the classroom and in the context of local communities. It is envisaged that these assessments will have both summative and formative applications to broadening participation in the environmental sciences.The broader impacts of the project include the faculty who come from a variety of biology and social science sub-disciplines at different career levels and from a wide range of institutions. In addition, the participating students come from many different types of institutions including community colleges, minority serving institutions and undergraduate institutions. Both faculty and students reflect the growing diversity of the United States. Underrepresented minorities and especially students interested in connections to communities are selected as a part of a team that participates in the bioblitzes. Students act as both research assistants and citizen sciences during the bioblitz so they both learn the science and grow into leadership. As a key outcome, the common standards and assessments will be used across multiple institutions and disciplines of biology to determine how discovery experiences using citizen science and informal settings outside the classroom can engage students in STEM fields. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/).