Systematic evaluation approaches and alignment with society: Methodological approaches to developing an evaluation framework for citizen science

1. Methodological approaches to developing an evaluation framework for citizen science

This module enables learners to develop an evaluation framework for citizen science in a methodological and systematic way. The learners will get acquainted with the logic model of evaluation and the open framework for evaluating CS, which aims at assessing and evaluating CS projects in a transdisciplinary and bottom-up manner.

Module description:

What?	How?	Why?
Skills and resources needed for CS assessment	Introducing more challenges for CS evaluation.	Explaining to learners that researchers and their RPOs need to invest and allocate resources for CS assessments, in particular if they are going to be continuous.
Open Framework for Evaluating Citizen Science Activities (OFECSA)	Describing the elements of the Open Framework for Evaluating Citizen Science Activities, including the scientific, volunteer, and the socio-ecological dimensions.	Demonstrating how a simple evaluation model applies to citizen science as a basic introduction to methodological approaches to evaluation.
Tools for evaluation	Describing basic tools of evaluation such as surveys, interviews, embedded assessment, participatory observation, and self-reflection processes.	Providing an overview of simple assessment tools + their pros and cons.
The logic model of evaluation applied to citizen science	Introducing the logic model as an overall framework for systematic assessments.	Guiding learners to think methodologically about evaluation and assessment criteria.

Slide available in slide deck.