Citizen science, like open pedagogy, can be described as learner-generated knowledge built iteratively and reflectively by participants who identify as co-creators of that shared knowledge (Hegarty 2015). This session introduces Citizen Science as a promising tool for student empowerment when paired with open pedagogy inspired by the Libraries’ Open Pedagogy Incubator, a semester-long program designed to incentivize faculty to go explore open pedagogical practices. In the summer and fall of 2020, a cohort of faculty instructors were brought together to develop competencies in open pedagogy through a series of hands-on workshops, curated readings, and cohort discussions (Burke, Cross & Tully, 2020). The Incubator supported explicit engagement with open pedagogy in each participant’s courses, reduced costs, and sought to empower students in innovative ways by cultivating a faculty learning community where instructors could build skills and confidence. By developing an initial cohort, the Incubator also built a new community of learning where instructors can share ideas, offer feedback, and explore cross- and interdisciplinary approaches to pedagogy. In addition, the Incubator produced a set of public, locally-tailored models for open pedagogy which seeks to inspire other instructors with grounded, concrete examples of what “open pedagogy” looks like on our campus.

One outcome of the Incubator was faculty enthusiasm about the relationship between open pedagogy and their established work in citizen science. (Mitchell et al, 2017). As a result, we have begun to explore the relationship between these topics and we believe they can be powerful compliments based on shared values and approaches. Open pedagogy and citizen science both aim to elevate individual contributions to science and education to the greater global community: the first through a collective enterprise to communicate knowledge, and the second through collective participation in science (Teo & Triantafyllou, 2020). Teaching models that synergize open education approaches with citizen science involve two prongs: (1) student participation in a citizen science project that contributes data, and (2) communicating the data, results, and implications to stakeholder communities. These implementations can range from simple (e.g., pairing one project with social media posts) to complex (e.g., multiple citizen science projects where students produce instructions, best practices, and other communication styles). Many challenges to this pedagogy must be overcome to achieve broader acceptance, including the re-creation of curricular standards in higher education and Retention Promotion and Tenure criteria. Nonetheless, we can leverage a combination of open pedagogy and citizen science to help students develop skills to assess and communicate scientific information effectively, and thus advance the next generation of global leaders.

Join us to discuss the relationship between open pedagogy and citizen science. In our presentation, we will articulate explicit parallels between citizen science and Hegarty’s eight attributes of open pedagogy (Hegarty 2015). We will engage the audience through the use of prompts for reflection and brainstorming using the Padlet tool. Results and feedback from this session will inform efforts to further research and examine opportunities and challenges when using this connection to support student agency and creativity.