Public Participation in Scientific Research: Designing an Online Collaborative System for Research & Learning Using Live Bird Cams

直播视频的广泛普及使世界各地的观众可以一起观看现场活动，包括史无前例的全天候观看野生动物。此外，实时聊天和论坛等在线技术为人们在世界各地进行协作开辟了新的可能性。这些项目提供的创新是将这些机会聚集在一起，使参与者能够在观看和注释实时流媒体视频时进行实时研究和讨论；通过实时问答会议分享问题和见解；以及使用交互式可视化工具探索数据。科学家将支持社区的研究兴趣，而不是传统的公民科学模式，社区支持科学家的工作。该项目将使来自不同背景和视角的人能够共同创建科学调查，包括可能无法接触自然的参与者。该项目的评估研究将促进对使相互关联的人们社区能够参与科学发现的更多阶段的做法的理解，以及参与如何影响他们的学习结果。它由推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划资助，该计划旨在促进对非正式环境中科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括为扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验提供多种途径，推进对非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及加深参与者对更深层次学习的理解。因此，该项目将推动一种新的类型的公众参与STEM研究(PPSR)。它还将利用活的野生动物摄像头推进科学探索，并建立一个长期研究数据库，以了解环境变化如何影响鸟类的行为和繁殖成功。该项目旨在加深公众对科学的参与，以知识和STEM学习的相关性为基础，通过创建一个在线学习环境，扩展PPSR的传统众包模式，参与者收集数据来回答科学家提出的问题。在这个项目中，参与者参与共同创建的研究调查，包括提出问题、决定需要哪些数据、生成数据、寻找模式、进行解释、审查结果和分享结果。目标是1)建立一个让公众更深入地参与科学研究的系统；2)发展参与者的科学技能和兴趣；3)增加参与者？对鸟类和环境的了解；4)产生关于野生动物的新的科学知识；5)在国家范围内促进对共同创建的PPSR项目的有效项目设计的理解。通过迭代设计和评估，该项目将促进对促进在线协作的条件的了解，并建立支持在线学习环境中的科学和发现的设计原则。通过规模和准实验研究，评估研究将促进对以不同方式参与的参与者学习结果可能相似或不同的理解，无论他们是观察CAMS并阅读关于调查的信息，作为贡献者处理数据，作为合作者提供一些投入，还是作为共同创建者参与大部分或所有科学过程。尽管野生动物直播摄像头很受欢迎，全世界有数百万人观看了数百个摄像头，但关于在正式或非正式的科学教育中使用直播摄像头进行协作工作的研究很少。为该项目创建的基础设施和开放源码框架将扩大具有不同职业背景和观点的人的在线社区的能力，以便在解决对个人有意义的问题和促进新知识方面进行合作。以这个项目为原型，来自世界各地的凸轮操作员可以建立凸轮网络，使未来的研究能够有更广泛的范围进行比较生物学研究和发现。此外，它还将作为教室或在线社区使用合作研究中的直播内容探索其他科学领域的模型。通过让来自社会各地的科学家和参与者成为合作者和共同创建者，该项目可以帮助增加公众对科学、技术和环境管理的参与，同时促进对自然世界的理解，并为公共决策提供信息。

The widespread accessibility of live streaming video now makes it possible for viewers around the world to watch live events together, including unprecedented, 24/7 views of wildlife. In addition, online technologies such as live chatting and forums have opened new possibilities for people to collaborate from locations around the world. The innovation that the projects provide is bringing these opportunities together, enabling real-time research and discussion as participants observe and annotate live streaming footage; sharing questions and insights through live Q&A sessions; and explore data with interactive visualization tools. Scientists will support the community's research interests, in contrast with traditional models of citizen science in which communities support the work of scientists. This project will enable people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives to co-create scientific investigations, including participants who might not otherwise have access to nature. The evaluation research for this project will advance the understanding of practices that enable interconnected communities of people to participate in more phases of scientific discovery, and how participation affects their learning outcomes. It is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning in informal environments. 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. As such, this project will advance a new genre of Public Participation in STEM Research (PPSR). It will also advance scientific exploration using live wildlife cams and establish a database for long-term research to understand how bird behavior and reproductive success are affected by environmental change. This project aims to deepen public involvement in science, building on knowledge and relevance for STEM learning by creating an online learning environment that expands on traditional crowdsourcing models of PPSR in which participants collect data to answer questions driven by scientists. In this project, participants are involved in co-created research investigations, including asking questions, deciding what data are needed, generating data, looking for patterns, making interpretations, reviewing results, and sharing findings. The goals are to 1) create a system that involves the public more deeply in scientific research; 2) develop participants' science skills and interests; 3) increase participants? understanding of birds and the environment; 4) generate new scientific knowledge about wildlife; and 5) advance the understanding of effective project design for co-created PPSR projects at a national scale. Through iterative design and evaluation, the project will advance the understanding of the conditions that foster online collaboration and establish design principles for supporting science and discovery in online learning environments. Through scaling and quasi-experimental studies, the evaluation research will advance the understanding of how learning outcomes may be similar or different for participants engaging in different ways, whether they observe the cams and read about the investigation, process data as contributors, provide some input as collaborators, or join in most or all of the scientific process as co-creators. Despite the popularity of live wildlife cams, with millions of people watching hundreds of cams around the world, little research has been conducted on the use of live cams for collaborative work in formal or informal science education. The infrastructure and open-source framework created for this project will expand the capacity for online communities of people from diverse career backgrounds and perspectives to collaborative on solving personally meaningful questions and contribute to new knowledge. Using this project as a prototype, cam operators from around the world could build networks of cams, enabling future studies with broader scope for comparative biological studies and discoveries. Additionally, it will serve as a model for use in classrooms or for online communities exploring other scientific fields using live-streaming content in collaborative research. By involving scientists and participants from across society as collaborators and co-creators, this project can help increase public engagement with science, technology, and environmental stewardship while advancing the understanding of the natural world and informing public decision-making.