Friederike Barkmann (University of Innsbruck) from the Sparkling Science project Lebensraum Gründach and Fabian Pettig (University of Graz) from EAT+CHANGE presented their projects and lessons learned in the webinar. The active involvement of students, teachers and other citizen scientists raises exciting questions about methods, formats and materials with regard to the transfer of knowledge about scientific work.
Lessons learned
In addition to imparting concrete knowledge for participating in research in the project, the collaboration with citizen scientists also has the function of creating a fundamental understanding of scientific work. Both speakers emphasized that an exchange should therefore also take place with the project participants at eye level, which classifies the procedure. Knowledge transfer on data collection and processing alone is not enough.
Different methods and materials are used in the projects.
Friederike Barkmann emphasized the importance of joint workshops with the participating schools, which also closely involve the teachers. Among other things, the measuring devices and data exchange are explained and tried out so that independent research works well afterwards.
Fabian Pettig reported that good experiences have been made with the co-construction of teaching materials. For example, the young co-researchers can document their findings in an age-appropriate research handbook.
More information from the projects, lessons learned and tips can be found in the recording.
The next Spotlights
Spotlights in the Inside Sparkling Science 2.0 news series take place on the second Thursday of each month from 12:00 to 13:00. Make a note and register now!
- December 14, 2023: "Dealing with conflict situations - What to do when tensions arise in a citizen science project?" Register now
- January 11, 2024: "Motivation and recognition in Citizen Science - Which methods work?" Register now
The recordings of all previous lectures can be found here.
