Citizen Science and Democracy: Participation with a Purpose

In this paper we discuss the changing role of citizen science in research, teaching, and learning. This change is being brought about by the development of a wider perspective on the potential purposes of participation in citizen science both for scientists and for members of the public. In this paper we review frameworks for participation, discuss benefits of participation and consider whether we can use new models of citizen science to democratise research. Citizen science is best understood as a democratic endeavour. The more opportunities for learning, the more people benefit, the more challenging the task for educators, the more varied the media and tools developed to support this purpose. Educators have extended the range of opportunities for learning to include not just formal settings, but informal ones. This position paper discusses the development of tools to support the connections between formal and informal learning settings and in particular the potential of tools to support citizen science, as a vehicle for learning both about science and about the conduct of research.