Embedded Assessment as an Essential Method for Understanding Public Engagement in Citizen Science

Authors

  • Rachel Becker-Klein PEER Associates
  • Karen Peterman Karen Peterman Consulting Co.
  • Cathlyn Stylinski University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.15

Keywords:

Embedded Assessment, Science Skills

Abstract

Citizen science is an important way of engaging a broad range of audiences in science inquiry by participating in research that asks novel questions and unearths new knowledge and new questioning. Though citizen science projects are quite diverse in their scientific pursuits, all projects share the common element of involving volunteers directly in some aspect of science inquiry. Thus, it is essential for citizen science projects to determine their participants’ capacity to learn and successfully perform science inquiry skills, such as making scientific observations, collecting and analyzing data, and sharing findings. Such skill gains are essential to (a) ensure high quality data that can be used in meaningful scientific research, and (b) achieve broader goals such as developing a participant’s identity as a contributor to science. However, we do not yet fully understand how improvement in participants’ inquiry skills through citizen science advances our knowledge of public engagement with science. In this essay, we offer embedded assessment as an effective method to capture participant skill gains, and encourage citizen science leaders, evaluators, and researchers to develop authentic methods that address the complexities of measuring skill development within the context of citizen science.

Author Biographies

Rachel Becker-Klein, PEER Associates

Rachel Becker-Klein, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Associate PEER Associates. Dr. Becker-Klein has over a decade of experience as an evaluator, and has been working at PEER Associates much of that time. She has worked as the evaluator on several NSF-funded projects in both the ITEST and ISE communities. Dr. Becker-Klein’s interest in systems thinking that derived from a Ph.D. in Community Psychology (from New York University in 2003) has pushed her to bring a holistic approach to evaluation and assessment tools. Embedded assessment tools as a way to measure participant skills, knowledge, and behavior are an important part of the work she does as an evaluator. Dr. Becker-Klein has developed embedded assessment tools for several STEM education programs (in both formal and informal educational settings).

Karen Peterman, Karen Peterman Consulting Co.

PI Karen Peterman, Ph.D., is President of Karen Peterman Consulting, Co. Dr. Peterman specializes in the evaluation of STEM programs and has more than a decade of experience evaluating NSF-funded programs. Dr. Peterman began using embedded assessment methods in 2005. Since that time she has become a champion for these methods, integrating embedded assessments into multiple projects and presenting her work at national conferences. Dr. Peterman earned her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Duke University in 2002. She was on staff at Goodman Research Group, Inc., from 2002-2008. Dr. Peterman began conducting evaluation as an independent consultant in 2008 and founded Karen Peterman Consulting, Co. in 2010.

Cathlyn Stylinski, University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science

Cathlyn Stylinski, Ph.D., is a Senior Agent (tenured research faculty) at University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. She is a STEM disciplinary expert with a Ph.D. in ecology and has 15 years of experience researching, designing and evaluating environmental and science education projects. Her work centers on public engagement in science, and she is particularly interested in collaborative learning, engagement of scientists in outreach, and integration of STEM practices into formal and informal education settings. Her projects include citizen science development andassessment, real-world technology applications in K-12 classrooms, and community building among informal educators around complex environmental issues.

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Published

2016-05-20

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2016)

Section

Essays

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