scholarly journals The National Eclipse Weather Experiment: use and evaluation of a citizen science tool for schools outreach

2016 ◽  
Vol 374 (2077) ◽  
pp. 20150223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio M. Portas ◽  
Luke Barnard ◽  
Chris Scott ◽  
R. Giles Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Atmospheric Effects ◽  
Science Data ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Citizen Science Project

The National Eclipse Weather Experiment (NEWEx) was a citizen science project for atmospheric data collection from the partial solar eclipse of 20 March 20. Its role as a tool for schools outreach is discussed here, in seeking to bridge the gap between self-identification with the role of a scientist and engagement with science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects. (The science data generated have had other uses beyond this, explored elsewhere.) We describe the design of webforms for weather data collection, and the use of several external partners for the dissemination of the project nationwide. We estimate that up to 3500 pupils and teachers took part in this experiment, through the 127 schools postcodes identified in the data submission. Further analysis revealed that 43.3% of the schools were primary schools and 35.4% were secondary. In total, 96.3% of participants reported themselves as ‘captivated’ or ‘inspired’ by NEWEx. We also found that 60% of the schools that took part in the experiment lie within the highest quintiles of engagement with higher education, which emphasizes the need for the scientific community to be creative when using citizen science projects to target hard-to-reach audiences. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Atmospheric effects of solar eclipses stimulated by the 2015 UK eclipse’.

Role of Women in the Pursuit of NDE 4.0

2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 272-284
Author(s):  
Ripi Singh ◽  
Marybeth Miceli
Keyword(s):  
Women Leaders ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Change Leadership ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Growth Disruption ◽  
Multiple Challenges ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Technology Standardization

This paper is intended to highlight roles that women can and likely will play in shaping the future of NDE 4.0, from execution to leadership levels as well as from development to transformation activities. As we build momentum toward adopting Industry 4.0 into the nondestructive evaluation (NDE) domain, we face multiple challenges such as technology standardization, talent and skills shortfall, massive transformation, and regulatory and certification standards (Singh 2019, 2020a). Many of these challenges are better addressed with a proper mix of gender in responsible teams. Women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields are a source of talent that can be harnessed as digitalization becomes a major part of the NDE sector. According to a recent Forbes article, traits like listening and empathy serve women well in “change leadership,” which is the ability to influence and inspire action in others and respond with vision and agility during periods of growth, disruption, or uncertainty to bring about the needed change (Lipkin 2019). While working the innovation value chain, emotional intelligence makes women better suited to capturing marketplace insight and easing friction in technology adoption, and a balance of gender in a team makes for more productive ideation sessions for effective problem-solving and objective execution. This paper presents literature research triggered by personal experience and substantiated by recent candid conversations with women leaders in NDE, to highlight the importance of a blended and balanced gender mix required for NDE 4.0.

Ten years of citizen science data collection of wetland plants in an urban protected area

2015 ◽  
Vol 162 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Buldrini ◽  
Antinisca Simoncelli ◽  
Stefania Accordi ◽  
Giovanna Pezzi ◽  
Daniele Dallai
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Wetland Plants ◽  
Science Data

The Role of Prototype Matching in Science Pursuits: Perceptions of Scientists That Are Inaccurate and Diverge From Self-Perceptions Predict Reduced Interest in a Science Career

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 881-898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin McPherson ◽  
Bernadette Park ◽  
Tiffany A. Ito
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Science Career ◽  
Science Interest ◽  
Self Perceptions ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Prototype Matching ◽  
Perceptions Of Students ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Representative Member

Self-to-prototype matching is a strategy of mental comparisons between the self-concept and the typical or “representative” member of a group to make some judgment. Such a process might contribute to interest in pursuing a science career and, relatedly, women’s underrepresentation in physical science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (pSTEM) fields. Across four studies, we measured self–scientist discrepancies on communal, agentic, and scientific dimensions, and assessed participants’ interest in a science career. The most consistent predictor of science interest was the discrepancy between self and scientist on the scientific dimension (e.g., intelligent, meticulous). Study 4 established that students with larger self–scientist discrepancies also had less accurate perceptions of students pursuing science, and that inaccuracy was related to lower science interest. Thus, students with lower science interest do not just perceive scientists differently from themselves but also erroneously. Discrepancy and inaccuracy together explained a significant portion of the gender gap in pSTEM interest.

Co-Designing Mobile Applications for Data Collection in Citizen Science Projects – Challenges and Lessons Learned within the Nachtlicht-BüHNE Project

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friederike Klan ◽  
Christopher C.M. Kyba ◽  
Nona Schulte-Römer ◽  
Helga U. Kuechly ◽  
Jürgen Oberst ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Smartphone Apps ◽  
Science Project ◽  
Science Projects ◽  
Citizen Science Project

<p>Data contributed by citizen scientists raise increasing interest in many areas of scientific research. Increasingly, projects rely on information technology such as mobile applications (apps) to facilitate data collection activities by lay people. When developing such smartphone apps, it is essential to account for both the requirements of the scientists interested in acquiring data and the needs of the citizen scientists contributing data. Citizens and participating scientists should therefore ideally work together during the conception, design and testing of mobile applications used in a citizen science project. This will benefit both sides, as both scientists and citizens can bring in their expectations, desires, knowledge, and commitment early on, thereby making better use of the potential of citizen science. Such processes of app co-design are highly transdisciplinary, and thus pose challenges in terms of the diversity of interests, skills, and background knowledge involved.</p><p>Our “Nachtlicht-BüHNE” citizen science project addresses these issues. Its major goal is the development of a co-design process enabling scientists and citizens to jointly develop citizen science projects based on smartphone apps. This includes (1) the conception and development of a mobile application for a specific scientific purpose, (2) the design, planning and organization of field campaigns using the mobile application, and (3) the evaluation of the approach. In Nachtlicht-BüHNE, the co-design approach is developed within the scope of two parallel pilot studies in the environmental and space sciences. Case study 1 deals with the problem of light pollution. Currently, little is known about how much different light source types contribute to emissions from Earth. Within the project, citizens and researchers will develop and use an app to capture information about all types of light sources visible from public streets. Case study 2 focuses on meteors. They are of great scientific interest because their pathways and traces of light can be used to derive dynamic and physical properties of comets and asteroids. Since the surveillance of the sky with cameras is usually incomplete, reports of fireball sightings are important. Within the project, citizens and scientists will create and use the first German-language app that allows reporting meteor sightings.</p><p>We will share our experiences on how researchers and communities of citizen scientists with backgrounds in the geosciences, space research, the social sciences, computer science and other disciplines work together in the Nachtlicht-BüHNE project to co-design mobile applications. We highlight challenges that arose and present different strategies for co-design that evolved within the project accounting for the specific needs and interests of the communities involved.</p>

scholarly journals Estimating disease vector population size from citizen science data

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (184) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tam Tran ◽  
W. Tanner Porter ◽  
Daniel J. Salkeld ◽  
Melissa A. Prusinski ◽  
Shane T. Jensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Tick Population ◽  
Science Data ◽  
Tick Abundance ◽  
Vector Population ◽  
Public Datasets

Citizen science projects have the potential to address hypotheses requiring extremely large datasets that cannot be collected with the financial and labour constraints of most scientific projects. Data collection by the general public could expand the scope of scientific enquiry if these data accurately capture the system under study. However, data collection inconsistencies by the untrained public may result in biased datasets that do not accurately represent the natural world. In this paper, we harness the availability of scientific and public datasets of the Lyme disease tick vector to identify and account for biases in citizen science tick collections. Estimates of tick abundance from the citizen science dataset correspond moderately with estimates from direct surveillance but exhibit consistent biases. These biases can be mitigated by including factors that may impact collector participation or effort in statistical models, which, in turn, result in more accurate estimates of tick population sizes. Accounting for collection biases within large-scale, public participation datasets could update species abundance maps and facilitate using the wealth of citizen science data to answer scientific questions at scales that are not feasible with traditional datasets.

scholarly journals Expanding the Boundaries of Informal Education Programs: An Investigation of the Role of Pre and Post-education Program Experiences and Dispositions on Youth STEM Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Falk ◽  
David D. Meier
Keyword(s):  
Outdoor Education ◽  
Informal Education ◽  
Stem Learning ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Stem Programs ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
How People Learn ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Almost All

For generations educators have been supporting children and youth’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning through informal education programming. Such programming includes a wide variety of outdoor education programs, camp programs, and increasingly targeted STEM programs run afterschool, on weekends, and over the summer months. However, despite the positive impacts these programs have, few would argue that these programs could not be improved or be designed to better meet the needs of a broader and more diverse population of learners. Arguably, one major flaw in how most educators have approached the design and improvement of these programs—a flaw that permeates almost all informal STEM education efforts–is that either explicitly or implicitly, the focus of educators has been exclusively on what happens during the program itself. Superficially this seems reasonable. After all, the time children/youth are within the temporal and physical boundaries of the program, class, or museum is the time when educators have maximal control over events. However, given what is known about how people learn (National Academies of Sciences, 2018), we argue that this long-standing approach needs to be reconsidered.

scholarly journals Japanese Higher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-65
Author(s):  
Aki Yamada
Keyword(s):  
Stem Education ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Liberal Arts Education ◽  
Japanese Higher Education ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Vertical Division ◽  
And Mathematics

In today’s information-driven society, the Japanese government envisions the next societal revolution as “Society 5.0,” where advanced technologies and service platforms integrate with and empower individuals in a human-based society. While Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education has traditionally focused on technical skills and knowledge in isolation, this paper will look at the potential role and benefits of incorporating liberal arts education into these technical studies. This concept of integrating the liberal arts into STEM education is known as STEAM. The purpose of the study is to create a foundation for clarifying the role of interdisciplinary education in overcoming the vertical division of academic disciplines and restoring the “integrated nature” of scholarship. This study seeks to show how the humanities, social sciences, and arts can be used to enhance STEM education, and, furthermore, how this STEAM approach to education is key to enabling Japan’s vision for Society 5.0.

scholarly journals Examining the Role of Spatial Skills and Mathematics Motivation on Middle School Mathematics Achievement

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinnari Atit ◽  
Jason R. Power ◽  
Norma Veurink ◽  
David Uttal ◽  
Sheryl Sorby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Mathematics Achievement ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
School Students ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Mathematics Motivation ◽  
And Mathematics

Background: Spatial skills and mathematical ability have been repeatedly identified as criticalfor achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Previous studies have identified correlations between spatial skills and mathematical achievement; however, questions remain regarding improvements in non-spatial areas associated with STEM achievement. The current study examined whether competency in spatial skills could be related to individuals’ motivation for mathematics. Measures of spatial skills and mathematics motivation were completed by 1,056 seventh grade students.Results: Using hierarchical linear modeling, spatial skills and math motivation were examined relative to students’ performance on a state standardized mathematics subtest. Results indicate that spatial skills and motivation interact to significantly predict students’ mathematics performance.Conclusions: These results suggest that spatial skills in combination with motivation play a significant role in middle school students’ mathematics achievement.

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