Thinking scientifically during participation in a citizen-science project

A movement has begun recently to involve nonscientists in scientific invest igations through projects in which a range of individuals gather data for u se by scientists to investigate questions of research importance. These pro jects are frequently referred to as citizen-science projects, and the benef its are assumed to extend beyond the production of important large database s. Those who argue in support of citizen-science projects assume that parti cipants will increase their understanding about the process of science thro ugh this engagement in authentic science, in contrast to traditional, right ly scripted school laboratory investigations. However, very little research on the impact of participating in such projects has been carried our. This article examines the letters written by more than 700 participants in a ci tizen-science project conducted by the Cornell Laboratory of Omithology. Of these letters, which were unsolicited and not connected with a formal eval uation, nearly 80% revealed that participants had engaged in thinking proce sses similar to those that are part of science investigations. We cannot st ate that participation in a citizen-science project caused this thinking, b ut we can say that participation provided a forum in which participants eng aged in these habits of thought, The letters also raise some issues about s ome misunderstandings of science that citizen-science projects should striv e to address. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.