Page 221 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

16 Educating-Within-Place: Care, Citizen Science, and EcoJustice 195

water, or identifying the flowering dates of specific plants. Collected data sets are
recorded, organized, and then entered onto Environment Canada’s EMAN database
for environmental researchers to interpret and for policymakers to utilize. Participants
can expect feedback on their reported data.
Citizen science programs vary in the degree to which they are sociopoliticized.
At one end of the spectrum are those programs that are highly prescriptive, care-
fully defining stakeholders’ roles. Citizen scientists are usually recruited only to
collect data and have little say in other aspects of program implementation. At the
other end of the spectrum are those programs that take a less hierarchical approach
to program implementation, where participants equally share various roles. Table 1
delineates various stakeholders’ roles using NatureWatch. One can see from this
that NatureWatch tends toward citizen science programs that are more hierarchical
and prescriptive. With the exception of community members, namely, students
“collecting samples,” professional scientists claim responsibility over all other
aspects of program implementation.
For 3 years, we have been field-testing NatureWatch within public elementary
and secondary schools. Our research has evaluated specifics around NatureWatch
program implementation. Beyond such program didactics, recently, our evaluations
have broadened to explore epistemological and ontological dimensions. As marginal
participants in the research, we have had the pleasure of observing and recording
student involvement with the program throughout various case studies. While such
programs excel at doing essentially what they set out to accomplish, namely collecting
and monitoring various ecological data, they superficially provide experiences for
students to develop ongoing and meaningful relationships with place. We believe,
and then argue, that such citizen science programs could be more meaningful for
students if they capitalized more consciously on the human relationship with its
environment. In making this case, we adopt a different philosophical position, which
has implications for matters of epistemology and ontology.
NatureWatch, as it is currently implemented, tends toward teaching students how
to identify specific species as indicators of ecological health. In our three case studies,
two in elementary schools, and a third within a secondary school, after a day of
inservice, teachers introduced students to the program teaching basic skills around
species identification, data measuring, recording, and reporting. Sets of data were
usually uploaded onto a central database. Without exception, each participating
school chose WormWatch to implement with their respective classrooms. Teachers
unanimously felt this program would be appealing to students as worms are “animals,”

Table 1 Nature Watch stakeholders’ roles (Wilderman 2007)
Who defines the Who designs the Who collects the Who analyzes the Who interprets the
problem? study? samples? samples? data?
Professional Professional Community Professional Professional
scientists scientists (citizens/ scientists scientists
students) Community
(citizens/
students)