5,678 research outputs found

    Understanding citizen science and environmental monitoring: final report on behalf of UK Environmental Observation Framework

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    Citizen science can broadly be defined as the involvement of volunteers in science. Over the past decade there has been a rapid increase in the number of citizen science initiatives. The breadth of environmental-based citizen science is immense. Citizen scientists have surveyed for and monitored a broad range of taxa, and also contributed data on weather and habitats reflecting an increase in engagement with a diverse range of observational science. Citizen science has taken many varied approaches from citizen-led (co-created) projects with local community groups to, more commonly, scientist-led mass participation initiatives that are open to all sectors of society. Citizen science provides an indispensable means of combining environmental research with environmental education and wildlife recording. Here we provide a synthesis of extant citizen science projects using a novel cross-cutting approach to objectively assess understanding of citizen science and environmental monitoring including: 1. Brief overview of knowledge on the motivations of volunteers. 2. Semi-systematic review of environmental citizen science projects in order to understand the variety of extant citizen science projects. 3. Collation of detailed case studies on a selection of projects to complement the semi-systematic review. 4. Structured interviews with users of citizen science and environmental monitoring data focussing on policy, in order to more fully understand how citizen science can fit into policy needs. 5. Review of technology in citizen science and an exploration of future opportunities

    Treasure codes: augmenting learning from physical museum exhibits through treasure hunting

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    Previous studies have highlighted the difficulty that designers face in creating mobile museum guides to enhance small group experiences. In this paper, we report a study exploring the potential of mobile visual recognition technology (Artcodes) to improve users’ experiences in a visitor centre. A prototype mobile guide in the form of a treasure hunt was developed and evaluated by means of a field study comparing this technology with the existing personal guided tour. The results reveal a preference for the mobile guide amongst participants and show significant learning gains from pre-test to post-test compared with the pre-existing personal tour. Our observational analyses indicate how the mobile guide can be used to improve visitors’ learning experiences by supporting active discovery and by balancing physical and digital interactions. We further expand the concept of design trajectories to consider micro-scaffolding as a way of understanding and designing future public technologies

    Digital Education Evaluation: The Future of Time Lens at the Melbourne Museum

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    The Melbourne Museum, the most visited museum in Australia, asked the project team to determine the effectiveness of their scavenger hunt mobile application Time Lens Episode I: Treasures and Gems, as well as design a course of action for a new mobile application. The evaluation of Time Lens was used to determine if future family-based mobile applications were viable and desirable for use in the Melbourne Museum. The team observed the use of the application and discussed its effectiveness with families, staff, and peers. Based on these discussions the project team constructed plans for a future application for use at the Melbourne Museum. Our final recommendations also include plans to promote mobile technology within the museum

    Responsible research and innovation in science education: insights from evaluating the impact of using digital media and arts-based methods on RRI values

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    The European Commission policy approach of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is gaining momentum in European research planning and development as a strategy to align scientific and technological progress with socially desirable and acceptable ends. One of the RRI agendas is science education, aiming to foster future generations' acquisition of skills and values needed to engage in society responsibly. To this end, it is argued that RRI-based science education can benefit from more interdisciplinary methods such as those based on arts and digital technologies. However, the evidence existing on the impact of science education activities using digital media and arts-based methods on RRI values remains underexplored. This article comparatively reviews previous evidence on the evaluation of these activities, from primary to higher education, to examine whether and how RRI-related learning outcomes are evaluated and how these activities impact on students' learning. Forty academic publications were selected and its content analysed according to five RRI values: creative and critical thinking, engagement, inclusiveness, gender equality and integration of ethical issues. When evaluating the impact of digital and arts-based methods in science education activities, creative and critical thinking, engagement and partly inclusiveness are the RRI values mainly addressed. In contrast, gender equality and ethics integration are neglected. Digital-based methods seem to be more focused on students' questioning and inquiry skills, whereas those using arts often examine imagination, curiosity and autonomy. Differences in the evaluation focus between studies on digital media and those on arts partly explain differences in their impact on RRI values, but also result in non-documented outcomes and undermine their potential. Further developments in interdisciplinary approaches to science education following the RRI policy agenda should reinforce the design of the activities as well as procedural aspects of the evaluation research

    The emotion toward the ocean - Designing for visitors’ empathic experience in SEALIFE Helsinki aquarium

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    The ocean is vital to human survival, but it is under severe threat from humans, such as overfishing and unsatisfactory waste management. Raising people's empathy for the ocean is helpful for them to take action to protect the marine ecology. Direct contact with nature is an effective way for people to empathise with nature, and the aquarium is one of the ways for contemporary people to contact the ocean. The purpose of this project is to explore how aquarium service experience could support visitors' empathic resonance with sea life. In the literature review, this thesis research the studies in the field of co-design, service design, empathy and aquarium in order to build the theoretical framework for practical research activities and state the theory for supporting the proposal. The research project conducted interviews with the curator and designer of SEALIFE Helsinki Aquarium, field observation, and held the experience workshop and co-creation workshop. According to the findings and insights derived from the research activities, a proposal containing three measures was proposed by taking service design as the primary method, it includes design principles, empathy engagement activity and the toolkit for the aquarium and designer. The proposal was taken to the feedback workshop with aquarium staff to collect suggestions and feedback. The research discovered different typologies of visitors in the SEALIFE Helsinki Aquarium from the perspective of empathy, which is adults alone, couples, parents, children, and adults with friends. Research has shown that a series of factors in the service system of the aquarium influence the empathy of visitors, including visitor density, multiple sensory experiences (such as the sound and smell of the ocean), material selection, moving methods, expression of information, distance, connection with life, undesirable service touch-points and the motivation and companion of visitors. The sensitivity of the different types of visitors to different factor is different, only information expression and the distance with the marine life shows have a remarkable influence on almost all kinds of visitors. This thesis demonstrates that service design can contribute to supporting visitor's empathy with nature, and explores specific service methods to achieve this. It can be part of sustainable future design, however, this thesis offers only a glimpse to the topic, and the long term influence of the study and its impact is to be seen out of the frame of the thesis
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