Positioning Learners for Community Engagement Through Invitations to Author Media Artifacts: An Example From Citizen Science

• In Event: 70.024 - The Impact of Multimodal Composing on Youth Transformative Disciplinary Identity Work Across Settings

Abstract

Purpose: We share findings from research looking at the potential for Citizen Science projects to support middle school student engagement in inquiry connected to their local communities. To contribute to the broader symposium goals, we focus on how teachers can position students for greater contribution by recognizing existing interests developed across settings and extending explicit invitations for authorship.

Theoretical Framework: Citizen science efforts have been critiqued for the fact that participants primarily collect data for scientists rather than truly collaborating (Mueller, Tippins, & Bryan, 2011). Calabrese-Barton (2011) argues that these organizations need to recognize and incorporate the local knowledge, expertise, and practices of participants, which aligns with the call for recognition of funds of knowledge identified in The Next Generation Science Standards. To help address these critiques and contribute to future designs, our analysis comes out of a theoretical perspective that engagement in any activity or topic is dynamic over time and setting, connected to interactional practices within social networks, consists of intertwined but distinct lines of practice (Azevedo, 2011; Barron, 2006; Hidi & Renninger, 2006), and can be supported by practices that emphasize intellectual authority, accountability to one another, and responsibility for problematizing content (Engle, 2006).

Methods & Data Sources: We used multiple strategies to understand learner and educator experiences working through Vital Signs, a citizen science project: (1) classroom case studies using field note, photograph, and video documentation; (2) student and teacher learning biographies documenting interests, family life, and digital practices through interviews; and (3) collection of learning artifacts from the classroom and online.

Results: To illustrate how a teacher can leverage existing funds of knowledge we share two cases from a rural school where 45% of students qualified for subsidized lunch: (1) From an early age Naomi was highly engaged with the natural world and especially fascinated with bugs. She also enjoyed the visual arts and occasionally integrated these interests. Recognizing her love of the entomological world, her teacher arranged for her to develop the official Japanese Beetle species ID card for Vital Signs, including her macrophotography. Through work in and out of school, connections she was making between art and science, and opportunities to share her findings, Naomi became increasingly explicit about her science-linked identity, “I was on a bike ride, so I put ‘on my bike ride’ on both [Vital Signs investigations], and now they call me the bicycling scientist.” (2) Eva was perceived as a, “language artsy” sort of student. Near the winter holidays, her science teacher shared a personal story framing his concerns about using invasive species in holiday wreaths, and encouraged students to broadcast this message through local media. Eva took him up on it, using her skills to craft a persuasive letter to the editor on this topic, leading to publication and new audiences.
Scholarly Significance: Our focus on how teachers can intentionally position students for community contribution and disciplinary engagement by connecting with their prior interests is consistent with recent scholarship calling for new ways to capitalize on learning across settings (Barron & Bell, forthcoming).

Authors

• Brigid J.S. Barron, Stanford University

• Caitlin Kennedy Martin, DePaul University - Digital Youth Network