Send message to Contributor

Short Abstract

This proposal presents a master’s-level activity that helps educators develop research skills by planning authentic projects. Tutor reflections highlight challenges, scaffolded support, tool selection, and core pedagogical priorities, fostering practical, reflective integration of Citizen Science.

Abstract

This proposal presents a structured inquiry design activity developed within a master’s-level course (usually taken by educators), developed to help students learn to act as researchers and develop inquiry-based projects. The assignment fosters skills in formulating research questions, planning methods, and navigating the investigation process, cultivating ownership of research and supporting independent, reflective educators. By guiding students to design projects centred on authentic educational scenarios—such as improving accessibility on field trips or online learning—it positions them to embed Citizen Science methodologies in their practice.

Reflections from four tutors, each with several years’ experience and around 80 students per cohort, reveal key student patterns. Many initially did not see themselves as researchers—even when only planning, not conducting, the inquiry. Expanding topic choices beyond field trips increased accessibility and relevance, especially for those without prior field trip experience. The activity reliably challenged participants, but its scaffolded design—described as “like stabilisers on bicycles”—helped demystify the process and showed one need not be a “super researcher,” just aware of the scientific process. Students struggled to distinguish research questions from hypotheses and to design feasible questions, timelines, and justifications for tool use. Despite hurdles, tutors valued how the activity initiated participants into educational research, building foundational inquiry competence and offering a practical, accessible path to integrate Citizen Science approaches.

This activity encouraged thoughtful selection of tools, projects, and materials suitable for diverse classroom contexts, while pedagogically emphasising not only scientific content but also inquiry methods, ethical reflection, community contributions, and the societal dimensions of science.