On Jeffrey P. Cohn’s article “Citizen Science: Can Volunteers Do Real Research?”
Cohn’s article discussed Citizen Science, a form of informal science learning that incorporated many strands of informal science learning mentioned in Surrounded by Science. Citizen Science projects allowed and encouraged volunteers to understand scientific content and knowledge, to engage in scientific reasoning [while not by manipulating or testing in the form of experiments, but by observing and exploring the living things on which they collected data], and to use the tools and language of science (strands 2, 3, 5). One would hope that Citizen Science projects also encouraged volunteers to reflect on the scientific experience and the learning experience and cultivate a scientific identity (strands 2,6). Citizen Science also relies on the first strand; without an interest or curiosity in the subject of a citizen science project, few would volunteer to participate.
While Cohn’s article was an excellent example for understanding the six strands of informal science learning, it was also an interesting and impressive read. It’s ironic that scientific organizations and groups “can’t get enough research assistants to do what [they] can get volunteers to do” (Cohn, 193). I would think that researchers love their field of work and would jump at every opportunity to be involved in research, whether or not they were compensated for it; after all, they did choose to make scientific study their career.
Citizen Science projects are such a great idea that I’m surprised I haven’t heard about them until this class. The field of science benefits from the data collected by citizen scientists and the public is inspired to appreciate nature, and learn more about and be involved in a field of study that it finds interesting. I used to think scientists were highly-educated and highly-trained professionals who were a very exclusive group, and too an extent they still are, but projects and experiences like citizen science make science a more attractively inclusive subject, especially if citizen scientists can be as young as third graders to participate.
-Adrienne Zhou
