Supporting Elementary Teacher Learning for Effective School-Based Citizen Science (TL4CS)

公民科学涉及非专业科学家的个人，他们通常与专业科学家合作进行真正的科学研究。当在小学实施良好时，公民科学项目使学生沉浸在科学内容中，并使他们参与科学实践。这些项目还可以为学生创造与当地自然环境联系的机会，这是必要的，因为一些研究表明，儿童越来越脱离自然。课堂教师在确保以学校为基础的公民科学项目以最大限度地提高效益的方式实施方面发挥着关键作用。然而，这些项目通常不包括对希望为教学目的实施项目的教师的实质性指导。该项目将为教师提供两种形式的支助：（1）在公民科学项目材料中提供指导;（2）教师专业发展。它将开发材料和专业发展经验，以支持80名五年级教师在40所不同的小学影响学生的教师学习。该项目的总体目标是生成关于教师学习的知识，使小学公民科学能够通过数据收集和意义构建来支持学生参与真实的科学内容和实践。具体而言，本研究旨在解决以下研究问题：（1）什么样的支持促进教师学习，制定有效的校本公民科学？(2)支持教师学习如何塑造教师制定校本公民科学的方式？以及（3）以学校为基础的公民科学对学生的学习和学生对自然和科学的态度有什么积极的影响？在项目执行期间收集的数据将包括教师调查、学生调查和评估以及个案研究协议。探索研究K-12计划（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源，模型和工具，显着提高学前班学生和教师对科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12项目中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究以及为拟议项目提供理论和经验依据的先前研究和开发工作的基础上。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Citizen science involves individuals, who are not professional scientists, in authentic scientific research, typically in collaboration with professional scientists. When implemented well in elementary schools, citizen science projects immerse students in science content and engage them with scientific practices. These projects can also create opportunities for students to connect with their local natural surroundings, which is needed, as some research has suggested that children are becoming increasingly detached from nature. The classroom teacher plays a critical role in ensuring that school-based citizen science projects are implemented in a way that maximizes the benefits. However, these projects typically do not include substantial guidance for teachers who want to implement the projects for instructional purposes. This project will develop two forms of support for teachers: (1) guidance embedded in citizen science project materials and (2) teacher professional development. It will develop materials and professional development experiences to support teacher learning for 80 5th grade teachers impacting students in 40 diverse elementary schools. The overarching goal of this project is to generate knowledge about teacher learning that enables elementary school citizen science to support students’ engagement with authentic science content and practices through data collection and sense making. Specifically, the study is designed to address the following research questions: (1) What kinds of support foster teacher learning for enacting effective school-based citizen science? (2) How do supports for teacher learning shape the way teachers enact school-based citizen science? and (3) What is the potential of school-based citizen science for positively influencing student learning and student attitudes toward nature and science? Data collected during project implementation will include teacher surveys, student surveys and assessments, and case study protocols. The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models, and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.