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Citizen Inquiry: Engaging Citizens in Online Communities of Scientific Inquiries

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Citizen Inquiry: Engaging Citizens in Online Communities of Scientific Inquiries Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs Citizen Inquiry: Engaging Citizens in Online Communities of Scientific Inquiries Thesis How to cite: Aristeidou, Maria (2016). Citizen Inquiry: Engaging Citizens in Online Communities of Scientific Inquiries. PhD thesis Institute of Educational Technology. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c [not recorded] https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Version of Record Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk Citizen Inquiry: Engaging Citizens in Online Communities of Scientific Inquiries Maria Aristeidou BA Education Science and Primary Education MSc Technology Education and Digital Systems (e-Learning) Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Institute of Educational Technology The Open University March 2016 1 Abstract Citizen Inquiry has been proposed as an informal science learning approach to enable widespread involvement in science and empower citizens with reasoning and problem-solving skills used by scientists. It combines aspects from citizen science and inquiry-based learning, producing science learning experiences within distributed communities of interest. A central challenge for Citizen Inquiry is to involve citizens in planning and implementing their own investigations, supported and guided by online systems and tools within an inquiry environment, while collaborating with science experts and non-experts. This thesis explores how to create an active and sustainable online community for citizens to engage in scientific investigations. To this end, it investigates the design of online communities, recruitment and retaining of members, factors that engage or disengage members from the community, and whether and how members learn throughout their participation. The intervention comprises two iterations of Citizen Inquiry communities: ‘Inquiring Rock Hunters’ and ‘Weather-it’. The communities were accommodated by the nQuire platform and the nQuire-it toolkit, respectively, software designed and structured to support collaborative personally- meaningful inquiry learning. The findings of this research are explained through an analysis that compared the two design studies with previous research on citizen participation projects and online communities. Results highlight the importance of frequent project communication, multiple ways of participation, software usability, and interaction and collaboration between the members, while indicating disengagement factors such as lack of time, interest and confidence. Different categories of learning are identified (activity, on-topic and community), emphasizing the understanding of inquiry activities as part of a complete scientific process and the balance between fun and 2 learning. The thesis concludes with design considerations for the creation of future Citizen Inquiry and other citizen participation communities. 3 Acknowledgements I wish to express my gratitude to my supervisors, Professor Mike Sharples and Professor Eileen Scanlon, who have provided essential guidance and advice along the way, and also to Dr. Christothea Herodotou who stood by me as a third informal supervisor. I would also like to thank Professor Rick Holliman and Dr. Elizabeth Fitzgerald for their feedback on earlier drafts of this work. This PhD research would not have been possible without the creation of the two online communities that have been the focus of my study. Thus, I would like to thank Ms. Linda Fowler for her help in Inquiring Rock Hunters and Dr. Stephen Lewis for his contributions to Weather-it. I would also like to thank Dr. Eloy Villasclaras and the rest of the software development team that provided me with the technology needed for my research. I am also indebted to my participants who kindly took the time to get involved in my projects. Finally, but by no means least, I am incredibly grateful to my family and friends. My brother Petros with whom we travelled our PhD journeys together, my sister Angela for being so encouraging, my niece Stella for the moments of relaxation, and my parents, Christos and Stella, who have always been by my side. A warm thank you to Nicolas for all his love and support that gave me the strength to see this journey through. I would also like to thank my dear friends Natalia and Amy who have always been there to listen and find solutions to my concerns. Finally, my thanks to all of my Milton Keynes friends, and particularly Vasso and Tina, who made these years more enjoyable. 4 Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 4 Contents ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Index of Tables ......................................................................................................................... 12 Index of Figures ........................................................................................................................ 13 Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................ 15 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 15 1.2 Motivation and Background ............................................................................................. 15 1.3 Research Aim and Questions ............................................................................................ 17 1.4 PhD Thesis Contribution and Novelty ............................................................................... 19 1.5 Thesis outline ................................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 2: Literature Survey ..................................................................................................... 23 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 23 2.2 Public Participation in Scientific Research ........................................................................ 23 2.2.1 PPSR projects ............................................................................................................ 24 2.2.2 Typologies of PPSR projects ..................................................................................... 24 2.2.3 Informal Learning in PPSR ........................................................................................ 31 2.2.4 Evaluation frameworks in PPSR projects .................................................................. 32 2.2.5 Citizens in PPSR projects ........................................................................................... 35 2.2.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 35 2.3 Inquiry-based Learning ..................................................................................................... 36 2.3.1 IBL and personal meaning in science ........................................................................ 37 2.3.2 IBL orchestration ...................................................................................................... 38 2.3.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 40 2.4 Citizen Inquiry ................................................................................................................... 40 2.4.1 Citizen Inquiry Orchestration ................................................................................... 41 2.4.2 Online community of Citizen Inquiry ........................................................................ 43 2.4.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 46 2.5 Lifecycle of an Online Community .................................................................................... 46 2.5.1 Potential ................................................................................................................... 47 2.5.2 Coalescing ................................................................................................................. 48 2.5.3 Maturing ................................................................................................................... 50 2.5.4 Stewardship .............................................................................................................. 52 2.5.5 Transformation ......................................................................................................... 55 5 2.6 User Motivation and Engagement .................................................................................... 57 2.6.1 Motivation and sustaining participation .................................................................. 58 2.6.2 Behaviour and types of engagement ........................................................................ 60
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