Citizen Science as a vehicle for individual and community learning

Citizen science allows people to participate in scientific research processes. It is uniquely positioned to support and expand participants’ scientific literacy, for example, through hands-on experience. Because it takes place in a real-world context, it offers an opportunity to motivate learning based on relevance and personal interest or motive. In this sense, citizen science contributes to the democratisation of science. It opens its doors to scientific development within society and provides access to knowledge from publicly funded research.

“In my doctoral dissertation, I highlighted the challenges associated with the applicability of novel air quality sensing technologies using ethnographic user research. Although the technology is not there yet, as I titled one of the published articles, participating in citizen science projects supports individual and community learning by enabling hands-on, active experimentation and learning”, points out dr. Johanna Robinson of the SIAE.

Read more in the SIAE Newsletter here.