Project Duration
2017-2022
Location
United States and United Kingdom
Background
The LEARN CitSci (Learning & Environmental Science Agency
Research Network for Citizen Science) research project ran from
2017 – 2022 and explored the learning processes and outcomes for
young people aged 5 – 19 years who participated in Community and
Citizen Science projects.
LEARN CitSci was an international partnership between educational
researchers and Community and Citizen Science practitioners
across the UK & USA and was led by the Natural History Museum
London and the University of California
Davis (read more about the six partner project
team). The project was guided and supported by an eight member
advisory board with expertise across educational research and
citizen science delivery (follow the link below to read more
about the project advisory board).
The project focused on Community & Citizen Science programmes at
three natural history museums (the Natural History Museum London,
the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum
of Los Angeles County). These organisations partnered with the
Zooniverse team at the University of Oxford and learning
researchers at the University of California, Davis and the Open
University UK.
Our research aimed to explore the following key questions:
- What is the nature of the learning environments and what
activities do youth engage in when participating in natural
history museum-led Community and Citizen Science?
-
To what extent do youth develop the following three science
learning outcomes through participation in natural history
museum-led Community and Citizen Science programmes
-
An understanding of the science content and norms
-
Identifying roles for themselves in the practice of
science
-
Developing a sense of agency to take action using science
-
What programme features and settings in natural history
museum-led Community and Citizen Science foster the three
science learning outcomes above (1,2,3)?
These legacy webpages have been created as an output of the now
concluded LEARN CitSci research project. To read more about our
research, key findings and outputs – please explore the links
below.
Pages
Funders
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation
in the USA, and Wellcome and the
Economic and Social
Research Council in the UK.
Partners
Appearing in the most recent
issue of Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, “What
Do We Know About Young Volunteers? An Exploratory Study of
Participation in Zooniverse” examines how youth, mainly 16–19
years old, participate in online citizen science projects. The
co-authors include Heidi Ballard, the Center’s Faculty Director,
and other colleagues collaborating on the LEARN CitSci project, funded jointly by
the National Science Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.
