This is a free course of approximately 1 hour 45 minutes. It is aimed at anyone who will spend time interacting with citizen scientists - for example, recruiting people to participate in your project, blogging, or acting as a group leader or discussion forum moderator. You will need to have an overview of citizen science, but no in-depth knowledge is required.
Millions of people choose to contribute to science as citizen scientists, and have a variety of motivations to do so. Once in the project, they require feedback and communication, and, often, a space in which to discuss the project and the wider issues with their peers - and with you. Depending on the project, they may also need specific tools or learning opportunities. This course will introduce you to a variety of means to promote effective communication between everyone involved in the project, to community building, and to a deeper understanding of the citizen scientist's perspective and their needs.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
A video introduction to the course and a welcome from the course leader.
A short description of what the learner can expect to find in this course.
A very short introduction to our first section.
We'll start with an introduction to a well-known study of volunteer motivations. This part of the course is based on a paper by Jordan Raddick et al, called "Galaxy Zoo: Exploring the Motivations of Citizen Science Volunteers". You can read the whole paper here.
You don't need to know any astronomy or learn any of the examples shown here - they are merely here as "this is something people found interesting"!
In this section, we'll watch a short video by a woman who participated in a different citizen science project, Stall Catchers, and consider different types of motivation.
Alice Sheppard shares her thoughts on citizen science motivations, and what it means for us to understand them.
How do you find your volunteers in the first place? Here are some ideas for places to look.
What information should you include on your project page, or in your first newsletter or press release?
In this section we'll look at a useful tip to avoid jargon, making communication of the science more accessible.
A short video from the course leader about the importance of citizen scientists forming a community.
In this section we'll read some tips for working face-to-face with groups of people.
What if you go online instead of face-to-face? To build an online community, you might choose to use social media, blogs or newsletters, a discussion forum, or build discussion tools such as chat boxes directly into your project interface. The best option will vary from project to project, and several projects use more than one type. We'll look at some advantages and disadvantages of each.
A discussion forum can be a wonderful place which the citizen scientist will want to visit and contribute to regularly. However, it's a lot of work to maintain, and depending on the nature of your project people might not want to use it. We'll look at some specific aspects of discussion forums to help you decide whether it's suitable to build one.
You've completed this course. A very short, final word before you attempt the test ...
This quiz will test your understanding of Volunteer Engagement, Management and Care. You will need a mark of 50% to pass the course.