“I am more confident to talk about death now”. Students’ response to the citizen science project SoKuL

In the citizen science project “Storytelling about caring cultures at the end of life. Students and citizen scientists are doing research in intergenerational and intercultural exchange (SoKuL)”, students (n=6) reported in qualitative interviews and focus groups on their learning experiences in the project.The students were able to gain varied and sustainable experiences. As a result of their participation in the project, they perceived personal development, which they describe as valuable for their internship and their future profession in elderly care. This concerns the development of an attitude that makes it easier to deal with and address the topics of dying, death & mourning and a learning process in conducting dialogues.The in-depth learning experiences of the participating students illustrate the interventional nature of the research project. The participation of citizen scientists as coresearchers not only serves the advancement of knowledge in sciences. Their participation in the project was accompanied by a transformative learning process.