Youth ownership of data quality is the practice of giving young people responsibility for high quality CCS data collection and analysis. As young people gain expertise through practice, they can then be positioned to regulate data collection and analyses for themselves and their peers. We found that creating opportunities for students to be responsible for data collection and analysis helped them understand data and the role of data in scientific endeavors, and develop a sense of ownership around their work in YCCS.
Sharing what you’ve learned is fundamental to Youth-focused Community and Citizen Science, yet the audiences and uses of data and findings are often invisible to participants. Involving youth directly in sharing findings with outside audiences is one way to (1) further motivate, (2) help youth review and reflect on what youth are learning, and (3) diversify the products, processes and people involved in YCCS. With the case studies and resources, read more about this key practice, why we think it is important to learning in YCCS, and the different forms it can take—from scientific posters, to blogs, to conversations with community members.
As educators and researchers, we are focused on joining young people in the work of learning, doing, and using science to improve the world we share. This means thinking about young people as community leaders and people who do science. We also need to understand and strengthen the connection between “learning science” and “making change in the world.” The concept of environmental science agency (ESA) helps us do this.
Instead of studying nature alone on a pedestal, treating humans, plants, and animals as one social ecological system (SES) can be valuable for meaningful learning about environmental stewardship and science. Our research shows that using YCCS as a way to engage young people in thinking about complex interactions between human and nature can promote sophisticated reasoning, access to student’s funds of knowledge, and connection to place. In the case studies below, read more about how educators encourage young people to grapple with the world around them.
