Computational social science represents an interdisciplinary approach to the study of reality based on advanced computer tools. From economics to political science, from journalism to sociology, digital approaches and techniques for the analysis and management of large quantities of data have now been adopted in several disciplines. The papers in this JCOM commentary focus on the use of such approaches and techniques in the research on science communication. As the papers point out, the most significant advantages of a computational approach in this sector include the chance to open up a range
Keystone Connect Network is a proposed regional broadband network whose purpose is to increase educational opportunities and generate business growth. The backbone of this plan is the Pennsylvania Research and Education Network's (PennREN), a next generation high-speed internet network, managed by KINBER, which educational institutions can use to train their students and create new learning opportunities; and business can create new products and connect with their customers.
This INSPIRE project addresses the issue of high volume hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking, and its effects on ground water resources. Fracking allows drillers to extract natural gas from shale deep within the earth. Methane gas sometimes escapes from shale gas wells and can contaminate water resources or leak into the atmosphere where it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Monitoring for these potential leaks is difficult because methane is also released into aquifers naturally, and because monitoring is time- and resource-intensive. Such subsurface leakage may also be relatively rare. This project seeks to improve overall understanding of the impacts of natural gas drilling using both advances in computer science and geoscience, and to teach the public about such impacts. The project will elucidate both the effects of human activities such as shale gas development as well as natural processes which release methane into natural waters. Results of the proposed research will lead to a better understanding of water quality in areas of shale-gas development and will highlight problems and potentially problematic management practices. The research will advance both the fields of geoscience and computer science, will train interdisciplinary graduate students, and involve citizen scientists in collecting data and understanding environmental data analysis.
The project combines new hydro-geochemical strategies and data mining approaches to study the release of methane into streams and ground waters. For example, researchers will explore how to analyze the heterogeneous spatial data that describe distributions of methane concentrations in natural waters. The objectives of this project are to i) transform the ability to measure methane in streams; ii) train citizen scientists to work with project scientists to sample streams in an area of shale-gas development and publish large-volume datasets of methane in natural waters and aquifers; iii) innovate data mining and machine learning methods for environmental data to identify anomalous spots with potential leakage; iv) run field campaigns to measure methane concentrations and isotopic signatures of water samples in these spots; v) foster dialogue among nonscientists, consultants, university scientists, members of the gas industry, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations in and beyond the target region. Toward this end, the team will host workshops aimed to build dialogue among stakeholders and will release data analytic software for environmental measurements to benefit a broader research community.
This project, a collaboration of teams at Georgia Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, and the Museum of Design Atlanta and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, will investigate how to foster engagement and broadening participation in computing by audiences in museums and other informal learning environments that can transfer to at-home and in-school engagement (and vice versa). The project seeks to address the national need to make major strides in developing computing literacy as a core 21st century STEM skill. The project will adapt and expand to new venues their current work on their EarSketch system which connects computer programming concepts to music remixing, i.e. the manipulation of musical samples, beats and effects. The initiative involves a four-year process of iteratively designing and developing a tangible programming environment based on the EarSketch learning environment. The team will develop three new applications: TuneTable, a multi-user tabletop exhibit for museums; TunePad, a smaller version for use at home and in schools; and an online connection between the earlier EarSketch program and the two new devices.
The goal is to: a) engage museum learners in collaborative, playful programming experiences that create music; b) direct museum learners to further learning and computational music experiences online with the EarSketch learning environment; c) attract EarSketch learners from local area schools to visit the museum and interact with novice TuneTable users, either as mentors in museum workshops or museum guests; and d) inform the development of a smaller scale, affordable tangible-based experience that could be used at homes or in smaller educational settings, such as classrooms and community centers. In addition to the development of new learning experiences, the project will test the hypothesis that creative, playful, and social engagement in the arts with computer programming across multiple settings (e.g. museums, homes, and classrooms) can encourage: a) deeper learner involvement in computer programming, b) social connections to other learners, c) positive attitudes towards computing, and d) the use and recognition of computational concepts for personal expression in music. The project's knowledge-building efforts include research on four major questions related to the goals and evaluation processes conducted by SageFox on the fidelity of implementation, impact, success of the exhibits, and success of bridging contexts. Methods will draw on the Active Prolonged Engagement approach (unobtrusive observation, interviews, tracking-and-timing, data summaries and team debriefs) as well as Participatory Action Research methods.
This work is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Michael HornBrian MagerkoJason Freeman
The connections between technology applications of all sorts and human users that are ubiquitous in informal learning and assume a great deal about how the technology is used and how learning takes place. Much of the research in this area has been focused on game design and interaction. This project will examine this interaction involving the use of gestures that represent how individuals work with systems and large data sets that represent complex systems like the oceans, to understand how basic elements of a project with a 3-D type of design might enhance the user experience and increase the utility and learning that takes place by understanding the cognitive elements of these game like interactions in specific STEM related settings like museums.
This exploratory pathways project will investigate the use of interactive, gesture-enabled, multi-touch spheres for teaching about ocean systems in science centers and museums. The gesture-enabled aspect of the project will improve on interactive table-top installations which can frustrate users who use unexpected gestures and receive no response leading to brief interaction and abandonment without significant interaction or learning. The project will investigate ways in which unsupported gestures would still produce a system response which would encourage the user to remain at the installation and continue to investigate. The effect of multiple gestures will be supported by using natural mappings between gestures and interactions with the on-sphere data.
The project investigates theories of embodied cognition that support the notion that by engaging with global-scale datasets on a spherical display more effectively models the earth in a non-distorted manner and therefore will be more natural and allow users to develop a more accurate conceptual model of how data relates to itself and the globe. In this way, the project shares some aspects of understanding about learning through game play. The sphere will not be a fully developed game but will share characteristics of game play.
This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants.
Citizen science engages members of the public in science. It advances the progress of science by involving more people and embracing new ideas. Recent projects use software and apps to do science more efficiently. However, existing citizen science software and databases are ad hoc, non-interoperable, non-standardized, and isolated, resulting in data and software siloes that hamper scientific advancement. This project will develop new software and integrate existing software, apps, and data for citizen science - allowing expanded discovery, appraisal, exploration, visualization, analysis, and reuse of software and data. Over the three phases, the software of two platforms, CitSci.org and CyberTracker, will be integrated and new software will be built to integrate and share additional software and data. The project will: (1) broaden the inclusivity, accessibility, and reach of citizen science; (2) elevate the value and rigor of citizen science data; (3) improve interoperability, usability, scalability and sustainability of citizen science software and data; and (4) mobilize data to allow cross-disciplinary research and meta-analyses. These outcomes benefit society by making citizen science projects such as those that monitor disease outbreaks, collect biodiversity data, monitor street potholes, track climate change, and any number of other possible topics more possible, efficient, and impactful through shared software.
The project will develop a cyber-enabled Framework for Advancing Buildable and Reusable Infrastructures for Citizen Science (Cyber-FABRICS) to elevate the reach and complexity of citizen science while adding value by mobilizing well-documented data to advance scientific research, meta-analyses, and decision support. Over the three phases of the project, the software of two platforms, CitSci.org and CyberTracker, will be integrated by developing APIs and reusable software libraries for these and other platforms to use to integrate and share data and software. Using participatory design and agile methods over four years, the project will: (1) broaden the inclusivity, accessibility, and reach of citizen science; (2) elevate the value and rigor of citizen science software and data; (3) improve interoperability, usability, scalability and sustainability of citizen science software and data; and (4) mobilize data to allow cross-disciplinary research and meta-analyses. These outcomes benefit society by making citizen science projects and any number of other possible topics more possible, efficient, and impactful through shared software and data. Adoption of Cyber-FABRICS infrastructure, software, and services will allow anyone with an Internet or cellular connection, including those in remote, underserved, and international communities, to contribute to research and monitoring, either independently or as a team. This project is also being supported by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Gregory NewmanLouis LiebenbergStacy LynnMelinda Laituri
This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Scientists and researchers from fields as diverse as oceanography and ecology, astronomy and classical studies face a common challenge. As computer power and technology improve, the sizes of data sets available to us increase rapidly. The goal of this project is to develop a new methodology for using citizen science to unlock the knowledge discovery potential of modern, large data sets. For example, in a previous project Galaxy Zoo, citizen scientists have already made major contributions, lending their eyes, their pattern recognition skills and their brains to address research questions that need human input, and in so doing, have become part of the computing process. The current Galaxy Zoo project has recruited more than 200,000 participants who have provided more than 100 million classifications of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This project builds upon early successes to develop a mode of citizen science participation which involves not only simple "clickwork" tasks, but also involves participants in more advanced modes of scientific thought. As part of the project, a symbiotic relationship with machine learning tools and algorithms will be developed, so that results from citizen scientists provide a rich training set for improving algorithms that in turn inform citizen science modes of participation. The first phase of the project will be to develop a portfolio of pilot projects from astrophysics, planetary science, zoology, and classical studies. The second phase of the project will be to develop a framework - called the Zooniverse - to facilitate citizen scientists. In particular, research and machine-learning communities will be engaged to identify suitable projects and data sets to integrate into Zooniverse.
The ultimate goal with the Zooniverse is to create a sustainable future for large-scale, internet-based citizen science as part of every researcher?s toolkit, exemplifying a new paradigm in computational thinking, tapping the mental resources of a community of lay people in an innovative and complex manner that promises a profound impact on our ability to generate new knowledge. The project will engage thousands of citizens in authentic science tasks leading to a better public understanding of science and also, by the engagement of students, leading to interest in scientific careers.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Geza GyukPamela GayChristopher LintottMichael RaddickLucy FortsonJohn Wallin
The majority of the world’s billions of biodiversity specimens are tucked away in museum cabinets with only minimal, if any, digital records of the information they contain. Global efforts to digitize specimens are underway, yet the scale of the task is daunting. Fortunately, many activities associated with digitization do not require extensive training and could benefit from the involvement of citizen science participants. However, the quality of the data generated in this way is not well understood. With two experiments presented here, we examine the efficacy of citizen science participants
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Elizabeth EllwoodHenry BartMichael DooseyDean JueJustin MannGil NelsonNelson RiosAustin Mast
This introduction presents the essays belonging to the JCOM special issue on User-led and peer-to-peer science. It also draws a first map of the main problems we need to investigate when we face this new and emerging phenomenon. Web tools are enacting and facilitating new ways for lay people to interact with scientists or to cooperate with each other, but cultural and political changes are also at play. What happens to expertise, knowledge production and relations between scientific institutions and society when lay people or non-scientists go online and engage in scientific activities? From
In this book, Brian G. Southwell discusses how disparities in information-sharing arise and what can be done to alleviate them. In all sorts of ways and for all sorts of reasons, people have always sought to share information among their family and other social networks. However, this sharing has never been equal: inevitably, some people are better-informed than others and some are more socially-connected than others. At first glance, the plethora of communication tools and technologies available nowadays should help democratise information and reduce disparity but differences in how, when and
Probably among the first to deal with it, nearly sixty years ago, Norbert Wiener, the founding father of cybernetics (The human use of human beings. Cybernetics and Society, Houghton Mifflin Company, London, 1950), prefigured its opportunities, as well as its limitations. Today, it is a quite common belief. We have entered (are entering) a new, great era in the history of human society: the age of information and knowledge.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Pietro Greco
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Celebrating 15 years of success and growth, the STS Conference Graz on May 9 and 10, 2016, gathered nearly 200 delegates from all over the world who had the opportunity to discuss and share research and experiences on 6 main themes: Policy and Technology; Gender and Queer STS; Mobility, Energy and Sustainability; Responsible Research and Innovation Studies; Nutrition, Health and Biomedicine; and Information and Communication Technologies, Surveillance and Society.