Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

International Conference on Information

iConference 2023: Information for a Better World: Normality, Virtuality, Physicality, Inclusivity pp 563–580Cite as

Design Principles for Background Knowledge to Enhance Learning in Citizen Science

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 13972))

Abstract

Citizen scientists make valuable contributions to science but need to learn about the data they are working with to be able to perform more advanced tasks. We present a set of design principles for identifying the kinds of background knowledge that are important to support learning at different stages of engagement, drawn from a study of how free/libre open source software developers are guided to create and use documents. Specifically, we suggest that newcomers require help understanding the purpose, form and content of the documents they engage with, while more advanced developers add understanding of information provenance and the boundaries, relevant participants and work processes. We apply those principles in two separate but related studies. In study 1, we analyze the background knowledge presented to volunteers in the Gravity Spy citizen-science project, mapping the resources to the framework and identifying kinds of knowledge that were not initially provided. In study 2, we use the principles proactively to develop design suggestions for Gravity Spy 2.0, which will involve volunteers in analyzing more diverse sources of data. This new project extends the application of the principles by seeking to use them to support understanding of the relationships between documents, not just the documents individually. We conclude by discussing future work, including a planned evaluation of Gravity Spy 2.0 that will provide a further test of the design principles.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    https://blog.planethunters.org/2018/11/26/planet-hunters-a-new-beginning/.

  2. 2.

    https://gravityspy.org/.

  3. 3.

    https://www.zooniverse.org/lab.

  4. 4.

    https://alog.ligo-la.caltech.edu/aLOG/.

  5. 5.

    https://dcc.ligo.org/M080375/public.

  6. 6.

    http://pem.ligo.org/.

  7. 7.

    https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/zooniverse/snapshot-serengeti.

References

  1. Aasi, J., et al.: Advanced LIGO. Class. Quantum Gravity 32(7), 074001 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Abbott, B.P., et al.: A guide to LIGO-Virgo detector noise and extraction of transient gravitational-wave signals. Class. Quantum Gravity 37(5), 055002 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bazerman, C.: Systems of genres and the enactment of social intentions. In: Freedman, A., Medway, P. (eds.) Genre and the New Rhetoric, pp. 79–101. Taylor and Francis (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Biswas, R., et al.: Application of machine learning algorithms to the study of noise artifacts in gravitational-wave data. Phys. Rev. D 88(6), 062003 (2013). arXiv: 1303.6984

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Buikema, A., et al.: Sensitivity and performance of the advanced LIGO detectors in the third observing run. Phys. Rev. D 102(6), September 2020

    Google Scholar 

  6. Cardamone, C., et al.: Galaxy zoo green peas: discovery of a class of compact extremely star-forming galaxies. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 399(3), 1191–1205 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Casanueva Diaz, J.: Control of the gravitational wave interferometric detector Advanced Virgo. Ph.D. thesis, Université Paris-Saclay (ComUE) (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Cavaglia, M., Staats, K., Gill, T.: Finding the origin of noise transients in LIGO data with machine learning. Commun. Comput. Phys. 25(4) (2019). arXiv: 1812.05225

  9. Chatterji, S., Blackburn, L., Martin, G., Katsavounidis, E.: Multiresolution techniques for the detection of gravitational-wave bursts. Class. Quantum Gravity 21(20), S1809–S1818 (2004)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  10. Coughlin, S., et al.: Classifying the unknown: discovering novel gravitational-wave detector glitches using similarity learning. Phys. Rev. D 99(8), 082002 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Crowston, K., Mitchell, E., Østerlund, C.: Coordinating advanced crowd work: Extending citizen science. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice 4(1) (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Davis, D., et al.: LIGO detector characterization in the second and third observing runs. Class. Quantum Gravity 38(13), 135014 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Finholt, T.A., Olson, G.M.: From laboratories to collaboratories: a new organizational form for scientific collaboration. Psychol. Sci. 8(1), 28–36 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Gilliland-Swetland, A.: Electronic records management. Ann. Rev. Inf. Sci. Technol. 39(1), 219–253 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Harper, R.: Inside the IMF. Routledge (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Hine, C.: Virtual Ethnography. SAGE Publications Ltd, SAGE Publications Ltd, Apr 2000

    Google Scholar 

  17. Jackson, C., Crowston, K., Østerlund, C., Harandi, M.: Folksonomies to support coordination and coordination of folksonomies. Comput. Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) 27(3–6), 647–678 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Jackson, C.B., et al.: Teaching citizen scientists to categorize glitches using machine-learning-guided training. Computers in Human Behavior 105 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Jackson, C.B., Østerlund, C., Harandi, M., Crowston, K., Trouille, L.: Shifting forms of engagement: Volunteer learning in online citizen science. In: Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 4(CWCW), 36 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Latour, B.: Pandora’s Hope: Essays on the Reality of Science Studies. Harvard University Press (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Nguyen, P., Schofield, R.M.S., Effler, A., Austin, C., Adya, V., Ball, M., Banagiri, S., Banowetz, K., Billman, C., Blair, C.D., et al.: Environmental noise in advanced LIGO detectors. Class. Quantum Gravity 38(14), 145001 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Nuttall, L.K.: Characterizing transient noise in the LIGO detectors. Philosophical Trans. Roy. Soc. A Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 376(2120), 20170286 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Østerlund, C., Crowston, K.: Documentation and access to knowledge in online communities: know your audience and write appropriately? J. Am. Soc. Inform. Sci. Technol. 70, 619–633 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Ram, S., Liu, J.: A semantic foundation for provenance management. J. Data Semant. 1(1), 11–17 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Shankar, K., Hakken, D., Østerlund, C.: Rethinking documents. In: The Handbook of Science and Technology Studies, 4 edn., pp. 59–86. MIT Press, Cambridge (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Simpson, R., Page, K.R., De Roure, D.: Zooniverse: observing the world’s largest citizen science platform. In: Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on World Wide Web, pp. 1049–1054. ACM (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Smith, J.R., et al.: A hierarchical method for vetoing noise transients in gravitational-wave detectors. Class. Quantum Gravity 28(23), 235005 (2011). arXiv: 1107.2948

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  28. Soni, S., et al.: Discovering features in gravitational-wave data through detector characterization, citizen science and machine learning. Class. Quantum Gravity 38(19), 195016 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Star, S.L.: The structure of ill-structured solutions: boundary objects and heterogeneous distributed problem solving. In: Gasser, L., Huhns, M.N. (eds.) Distributed Artificial Intelligence, vol. 2, p. 37–54. Morgan Kaufmann (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Star, S.L., Griesemer, J.R.: Institutional ecology, ‘translations’ and boundary objects: amateurs and professionals in Berkeley’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907–39. In: Social Studies of Science, vol. 19, pp. 387–420. Sage (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Swales, J.M.: Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge University Press (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Yates, J., Orlikowski, W.J.: Genres of organizational communication: a structurational approach to studying communications and media. Acad. Manag. Rev. 17(2), 299–326 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Zevin, M., et al.: Gravity spy: integrating advanced LIGO detector characterization, machine learning, and citizen science. Class. Quantum Gravity 34(6), 064003 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Partially funded by grants from the US National Science Foundation, INSPIRE 15–47880 and HCC 21–06865. The authors thank the Gravity Spy volunteers who participated in this research. Without their contribution, the project would not exist.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA

    Kevin Crowston, Isabella Corieri & Carsten Østerlund

  2. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Corey Jackson

Authors
  1. Kevin Crowston
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Corey Jackson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Isabella Corieri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Carsten Østerlund
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kevin Crowston .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. iSchool Organization, Berlin, Germany

    Isaac Sserwanga

  2. Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Anne Goulding

  3. University of Missouri, Chicago, IL, USA

    Heather Moulaison-Sandy

  4. University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Jia Tina Du

  5. University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    António Lucas Soares

  6. Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Viviane Hessami

  7. University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Rebecca D. Frank

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Crowston, K., Jackson, C., Corieri, I., Østerlund, C. (2023). Design Principles for Background Knowledge to Enhance Learning in Citizen Science. In: Sserwanga, I., et al. Information for a Better World: Normality, Virtuality, Physicality, Inclusivity. iConference 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13972. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28032-0_43

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28032-0_43

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-28031-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-28032-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation