EXP: Developing Citizen Scientists Through Face-to-Face and Networked Learning Opportunities

这项研究项目正在调查网络技术如何在学习成为公民科学家的中学生中产生兴奋和专业知识发展。调查人员正在与位于缅因州的公民科学网络系统“生命体征”合作，该系统在全州范围内与学校相连，不仅对重点参与者(七年级和八年级教室的教师和学生)开放，而且对任何想要学习和贡献的人都是如此。该项目的成果包括1)一组关于学习者和教师的案例研究，代表了利用网络学习资源的参与途径；2)一组关于新的学习资源和工具的建议，可以促进学生、教师和其他学习者的个性化学习；3)关于如何自动评估学习者上传的数据的一系列想法，这些方法可以链接到关于可以促进学习的资源的推荐。通过让学习者直接参与观察、记录和分享关于现实世界现象的信息，特别是使用真实的工具参与当地社区围绕科学问题设计的学习活动，并与科学家合作，“生命体征”具有很高的潜力，可以激发学生对自然世界的兴奋、兴趣和了解的愿望。生命体征计划让七年级和八年级科学教室的教师和学生参与以探究为基础的科学教育，围绕旨在研究和干预非本土物种入侵栖息地的活动。他们关注的STEM内容包括了解生态、物种繁殖过程以及干预受损生态系统的战略。缅因州为不同的学习者群体提供服务。在全州范围内，尽管社会经济状况的平均指标(家庭收入、贫困水平、学校午餐资格、作为第二语言的英语和成人教育水平)接近全国平均水平，但存在地区差异。缅因州贫困率最高的通常是该州西部、北部和东部边界的县，2008年那里的儿童贫困率从24%到28%不等，而在更富裕的县，儿童贫困率不到这个数字的一半。由于所有中学生都参与了笔记本电脑项目，这项研究能够将网络学习过程和结果与社区的经济状况进行比较。此外，全州范围的笔记本电脑计划在美国是独一无二的，它创造了一个强大的机会，让人们了解不同经济状况、生计来源和技术沉浸的社区是如何选择从事网络学习的，以及他们面临哪些障碍。

This research project is investigating how networked technologies can generate excitement and expertise development among middle school students learning to become citizen scientists. The investigators are partnering with "Vital Signs," a citizen science networked system located in the State of Maine, linked statewide to schools and accessible not only to the focal participants (teachers and students in seventh and eighth grade classrooms), but to anyone who wants to learn and contribute. Outcomes of this project include 1) a set of case studies of learners and teachers that that represent pathways of engagement that utilize cyberlearning enabled resources; 2) a set of recommendations about new learning resources and tools that can advance personalized learning for students, teachers, and other learners; and 3) a set of ideas about ways to automate the assessment of uploaded data from learners that can be linked to recommendations about resources that can advance learning."Vital Signs" has high potential to generate excitement, interest, and a desire to learn about the natural world by engaging learners directly in observing, documenting, and sharing information about real world phenomena, specifically participating in learning activities designed around scientific issues in their local communities using authentic tools and collaborating with scientists. The Vital Signs program engages teachers and students in seventh and eighth grade science classrooms in inquiry-based science education around activities designed to study and intervene in habitat invasion by non-native species. The STEM content they focus on includes understanding of ecologies, processes of species proliferation, and strategies for intervening in damaged ecosystems. The state of Maine serves a diverse group of learners. Across the state, though average indicators of socio-economic status (home income, poverty level, school lunch qualification, English as a second language, and level of adult education) are close to national averages, there are regional differences. The highest poverty rates in Maine are routinely found in the counties on the west, north, and east borders of the state, where in 2008 rates of child poverty ranged from 24-28%, while in more affluent counties, they were less than half of that. Because all middle school students are involved in the laptop program, this research is able to compare cyberlearning processes and outcomes in relation to economic profiles of communities. Further, the statewide laptop program is unique in the United States and it creates a powerful opportunity to understand how communities who vary in their economic profile, sources of livelihood and technological immersion choose to engage in cyberlearning and what barriers they face.