The Use of Mobile Applications to Increase Environmental Awareness and Citizen Science Participation Among Users
Open Access
- Author:
- Teuber, Meg
- Graduate Program:
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- March 29, 2020
- Committee Members:
- Julia Diane Plummer, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Lucy R. Mc Clain, Committee Member
Rose Mary Zbiek, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- Citizen Science
Informal Education
Education
Science Education
Taxonomy
iNatualist
Mobile Applications
Educational Technology - Abstract:
- Citizen science research often focuses on maximizing data collection. With the increasing loss of biodiversity (Mooney, 2010; Wilson, 1985), environmental citizen science projects are vital to understanding the effects of climate change. However, research on citizen science rarely focuses on volunteer participation and how it affects their knowledge and awareness of environmental issues. This study sought to compare the user experience of three mobile applications, two pre-existing citizen science content communities and a field guide developed for this study, used to identify butterflies. Participants filled out a series of three surveys, one before participation, one after participation, and one a month after participation. After filling out the first survey, participants used one of three applications to find and identify butterflies and responded to the second survey composed of Likert-type two-stage scale items based on the strands of informal education (National Research Council, 2009). A month later, the third survey with similar statements was sent to participants. Using the survey responses, participants were found to feel higher levels of learning when they actively identified the butterflies and when the information provided by the applications were brief. The content community applications did not provide higher perceptions of learning than the field guide application. When comparing participant groups, findings suggest that preservice teachers responded more negatively towards their experience in the mock-citizen science project than other groups. Finally, participants who were not interested in the environment expressed higher concern for the security of their personal information requested by the applications. This study provided more insight into what should be considered when developing citizen science applications and when using them in informal education.