The impacts of an invasive species citizen science training program on participant attitudes, behavior, and science literacy

TLDR

Citizen science can significantly enhance informal science education by shaping participants’ attitudes, knowledge, and environmental behavior. The study examined how a one‑day invasive‑species citizen science training affected participants’ attitudes, knowledge, and behavior, and suggested that survey instruments be calibrated to the sophisticated target group. The training produced no overall change in science literacy or attitudes, but context‑specific measures revealed modest gains in literacy, knowledge, and pro‑environmental intentions, though interpreting these results is difficult without comparable studies.

Abstract

Citizen science can make major contributions to informal science education by targeting participants’ attitudes and knowledge about science while changing human behavior towards the environment. We examined how training associated with an invasive species citizen science program affected participants in these areas. We found no changes in science literacy or overall attitudes between tests administered just before and after a one-day training program, matching results from other studies. However, we found improvements in science literacy and knowledge using context-specific measures and in self-reported intention to engage in pro-environmental activities. While we noted modest change in knowledge and attitudes, we found comparison and interpretation of these data difficult in the absence of other studies using similar measures. We suggest that alternative survey instruments are needed and should be calibrated appropriately to the pre-existing attitudes, behavior, and levels of knowledge in these relatively sophisticated target groups.