Sample records for testing citizens training

  1. "Evita Una Muerte, Esta en Tus Manos" Program: Bystander First Aid Training for Terrorist Attacks.

    PubMed

    Pajuelo Castro, J J; Meneses Pardo, J C; Salinas Casado, P L; Hernandez Martin, P; Montilla Canet, R; Del Campo Cuesta, J L; Incera Bustio, G; Martin Ayuso, D

    The latest terrorist attacks in Europe and in the rest of the world, and the military experience in the most recent conflicts leave us with several lessons learned. The most important is that the fate of the wounded rests in the hands of the one who applies the first dressing, because the victims usually die within the first 10 minutes, before professional care providers or police personnel arrive at the scene. A second lesson is that the primary cause of preventable death in these types of incidents involving explosives and firearms is massive hemorraghe. There is a need to develop a training oriented to citizens so they can identify and use available resources to avoid preventable deaths that occur in this kind of incidents, especially massive hemorrhage. A 7-hour training intervention program was developed and conducted between January and May 2017. Data were collected from participants' answers on a multiple-choice test before and after undertaking the training. Improved mean score for at least 75% of a group's members on the posttraining test was considered reflective of adequate knowledge. A total of 173 participants (n = 74 men [42.8%]; n = 99 women [57.2%]) attended the training. They were classified into three groups: a group of citizens/ first responders with no prior health training, a group of health professionals, and a group of nursing students. Significant differences (ρ < .05) between mean pre- and post-training test scores occurred in each of the three groups. There was a clear improvement in the knowledge of the students after the training when pre- and post-training test scores were compared within the three groups. The greatest improvement was seen in the citizens/first responders group. 2017.

  2. Safari Science: Assessing the reliability of citizen science data for wildlife surveys

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Steger, Cara; Butt, Bilal; Hooten, Mevin B.

    2017-01-01

    Protected areas are the cornerstone of global conservation, yet financial support for basic monitoring infrastructure is lacking in 60% of them. Citizen science holds potential to address these shortcomings in wildlife monitoring, particularly for resource-limited conservation initiatives in developing countries – if we can account for the reliability of data produced by volunteer citizen scientists (VCS).This study tests the reliability of VCS data vs. data produced by trained ecologists, presenting a hierarchical framework for integrating diverse datasets to assess extra variability from VCS data.Our results show that while VCS data are likely to be overdispersed for our system, the overdispersion varies widely by species. We contend that citizen science methods, within the context of East African drylands, may be more appropriate for species with large body sizes, which are relatively rare, or those that form small herds. VCS perceptions of the charisma of a species may also influence their enthusiasm for recording it.Tailored programme design (such as incentives for VCS) may mitigate the biases in citizen science data and improve overall participation. However, the cost of designing and implementing high-quality citizen science programmes may be prohibitive for the small protected areas that would most benefit from these approaches.Synthesis and applications. As citizen science methods continue to gain momentum, it is critical that managers remain cautious in their implementation of these programmes while working to ensure methods match data purpose. Context-specific tests of citizen science data quality can improve programme implementation, and separate data models should be used when volunteer citizen scientists' variability differs from trained ecologists' data. Partnerships across protected areas and between protected areas and other conservation institutions could help to cover the costs of citizen science programme design and implementation.

  3. Lights, Camera…Citizen Science: Assessing the Effectiveness of Smartphone-Based Video Training in Invasive Plant Identification

    PubMed Central

    Starr, Jared; Schweik, Charles M.; Bush, Nathan; Fletcher, Lena; Finn, Jack; Fish, Jennifer; Bargeron, Charles T.

    2014-01-01

    The rapid growth and increasing popularity of smartphone technology is putting sophisticated data-collection tools in the hands of more and more citizens. This has exciting implications for the expanding field of citizen science. With smartphone-based applications (apps), it is now increasingly practical to remotely acquire high quality citizen-submitted data at a fraction of the cost of a traditional study. Yet, one impediment to citizen science projects is the question of how to train participants. The traditional “in-person” training model, while effective, can be cost prohibitive as the spatial scale of a project increases. To explore possible solutions, we analyze three training models: 1) in-person, 2) app-based video, and 3) app-based text/images in the context of invasive plant identification in Massachusetts. Encouragingly, we find that participants who received video training were as successful at invasive plant identification as those trained in-person, while those receiving just text/images were less successful. This finding has implications for a variety of citizen science projects that need alternative methods to effectively train participants when in-person training is impractical. PMID:25372597

  4. How training citizen scientists affects the accuracy and precision of phenological data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Feldman, Richard E.; Žemaitė, Irma; Miller-Rushing, Abraham J.

    2018-05-01

    Monitoring plant and animal phenology is a critical step to anticipating and predicting changes in species interactions and biodiversity. Because phenology necessarily involves frequent and repeated observations over time, citizen scientists have become a vital part of collecting phenological data. However, there is still concern over the accuracy and precision of citizen science data. It is possible that training citizen scientists can improve data quality though there are few comparisons of trained and untrained citizen scientists in the ability of each to accurately and precisely measure phenology. We assessed how three types of observers—experts, trained citizen scientists that make repeated observations, and untrained citizen scientists making once-per-year observations—differ in quantifying temporal change in flower and fruit abundance of American mountain ash trees (Sorbus americana Marsh.) and arthropods in Acadia National Park, Maine, USA. We found that trained more so than untrained citizen science observers over- or under-estimated abundances leading to precise but inaccurate characterizations of phenological patterns. Our results suggest a new type of bias induced by repeated observations: A type of learning takes place that reduces the independence of observations taken on different trees or different dates. Thus, in this and many other cases, having individuals make one-off observations of marked plants may produce data as good if not better than individuals making repeated observations. For citizen science programs related to phenology, our results underscore the importance of (a) attracting the most number of observers possible even if they only make one observation, (b) producing easy-to-use and informative data sheets, and (c) carefully planning effective training programs that are, perhaps, repeated at different points during the data collection period.

  5. How training citizen scientists affects the accuracy and precision of phenological data.

    PubMed

    Feldman, Richard E; Žemaitė, Irma; Miller-Rushing, Abraham J

    2018-05-07

    Monitoring plant and animal phenology is a critical step to anticipating and predicting changes in species interactions and biodiversity. Because phenology necessarily involves frequent and repeated observations over time, citizen scientists have become a vital part of collecting phenological data. However, there is still concern over the accuracy and precision of citizen science data. It is possible that training citizen scientists can improve data quality though there are few comparisons of trained and untrained citizen scientists in the ability of each to accurately and precisely measure phenology. We assessed how three types of observers-experts, trained citizen scientists that make repeated observations, and untrained citizen scientists making once-per-year observations-differ in quantifying temporal change in flower and fruit abundance of American mountain ash trees (Sorbus americana Marsh.) and arthropods in Acadia National Park, Maine, USA. We found that trained more so than untrained citizen science observers over- or under-estimated abundances leading to precise but inaccurate characterizations of phenological patterns. Our results suggest a new type of bias induced by repeated observations: A type of learning takes place that reduces the independence of observations taken on different trees or different dates. Thus, in this and many other cases, having individuals make one-off observations of marked plants may produce data as good if not better than individuals making repeated observations. For citizen science programs related to phenology, our results underscore the importance of (a) attracting the most number of observers possible even if they only make one observation, (b) producing easy-to-use and informative data sheets, and (c) carefully planning effective training programs that are, perhaps, repeated at different points during the data collection period.

  6. MAppERS: a peer-produced community for emergency support

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Frigerio, Simone; Schenato, Luca; Bianchizza, Chiara; Del Bianco, Daniele

    2014-05-01

    A general trend in European governance tends to shift responsibilities in territorial management from national central authorities to local/regional levels and to the citizens as first actors of Civil Protection. Prevention is a long term goal that rests not only on the capacities of professional operators and volunteers, but that has to necessarily imply the involvement and awareness of the citizens over the territory they inhabit. In fact people often do not have chance to interact in the surveillance of the territory and only face risks when they have to bear impacts on their lives. Involvement of population creates more cost-effective and context-specific strategies of territorial surveillance and management. A collaborative user environment is useful for emergency response and support in the wake of disasters, feeding updated information on the ground directly to on-site responders. MAppERS (Mobile Application for Emergency Response and Support) is a EU project (funded under programme 2013-2015 Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, ECHO A5) which empowers citizens as "crowd-sourced mappers" through the development of a smart phone application able to collect GPS-localised and detailed parameters, that can then be sent from citizens to civil protection operators in a contest of geospatial response. The process of app design includes feedback from citizens, involving them in training courses on the monitoring of the territory as long term objective of raising public awareness and participation from the citizens, as actors in a networked disaster response community. The project proceeds from the design and testing of the smart phone applications (module MAppERS-V for volunteers, module MAppERS-C for citizens) according to software engineering environment (Android and Iphone SDK). Information exchange and data transfer need clearness and efficiency; thus a previous research is conducted on the cost-effectiveness of already existing practices for territorial management. Citizens and volunteers of civil protection are then involved to test applications at pilot sites. This phase takes place in parallel to a dedicated training on app functioning. The app modules are to be later re-designed according to a methodological and technical feedback gained during pilot study. Training curricula for citizens that wish to be involved in the monitoring of the territory in the long run are then to be defined so to promote territorial knowledge and awareness, give information and practical skills on smart phone technologies and specific efficient jargon to communicate hazard relevant information. Overall, a user-friendly integration with existing monitoring on-site technique prevails on a deep new architecture. A synchronized platform would allow both the protection of private data from citizens and the identification of the users in case of misuse of the information sharing. The expected results of this project are: a) an easy-to-use "human-data" input on crisis management, b) the development of a multi-module smart phone application linking trained people and headquarters c) maximised utility of peer-produced mapping (e.g. damaged points, critical hotspots), d) the development of a strategy of disaster prevention based on development of human and social resources rather than structural mitigation options.

  7. Elementary School Children Contribute to Environmental Research as Citizen Scientists.

    PubMed

    Miczajka, Victoria L; Klein, Alexandra-Maria; Pufal, Gesine

    2015-01-01

    Research benefits increasingly from valuable contributions by citizen scientists. Mostly, participating adults investigate specific species, ecosystems or phenology to address conservation issues, but ecosystem functions supporting ecosystem health are rarely addressed and other demographic groups rarely involved. As part of a project investigating seed predation and dispersal as ecosystem functions along an urban-rural gradient, we tested whether elementary school children can contribute to the project as citizen scientists. Specifically, we compared data estimating vegetation cover, measuring vegetation height and counting seeds from a seed removal experiment, that were collected by children and scientists in schoolyards. Children counted seeds similarly to scientists but under- or overestimated vegetation cover and measured different heights. We conclude that children can be involved as citizen scientists in research projects according to their skill level. However, more sophisticated tasks require specific training to become familiarized with scientific experiments and the development of needed skills and methods.

  8. The Experiment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miranda, Maria Eugenia

    2009-01-01

    The City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School of Journalism is testing a new model for journalism with an innovative hyperlocal news project with The New York Times. CUNY is not only providing interactive media instruction to budding professional journalists, but some of its students are helping train citizen journalists to contribute…

  9. Geographically Distributed Citizen Scientist Training for the 2017 Citizen CATE Experiment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gelderman, Richard; Penn, Matt; Baer, Robert; Isberner, Fred; Pierce, Michael; Walter, Donald K.; Yanamandra-Fisher, Padma; Sheeley, Neil R.

    2016-01-01

    The solar eclipse of 21 August 2017 will be visible to over a half billion people across the entire North American continent. The roughly 100-mile wide path of totality, stretching from Oregon to South Carolina, will be the destination for tens of millions of people. In the decades since 1979, when the last total solar eclipse was visible from the continental USA, the phenomenon of Internet enabled citizen science has grown to be an accepted mode for science. The Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (Citizen CATE) experiment has been funded as one of the three 2017 eclipse related NASA STEM agreements to engage citizen scientists in a unique, cutting-edge solar physics experiment. Teams across the USA will be trained to use standardized refracting telescope and digital imager set-ups to observe the solar corona during the eclipse, acquiring multiple exposures to create one high dynamic range image. After observing during the eclipse, the CATE volunteers will upload the combined image to a cloud-storage site and the CATE team will then work to properly orient and align all the images collected from across the continent to produce a continuous 90-minutes movie. A time-compressed first cut of the entire sequence will be made available to media outlets on the same afternoon of the eclipse, with hope that high quality images will encourage the most accurate coverage of this Great American Eclipse. We discuss overall the project, as well as details of the initial tests of the prototype set-up (including in the Faroe Islands during the March 2015 total solar eclipse) and plans for the future night-time and day-time observing campaigns, and for a handful of observing teams positioned for overlapping observations of the March 2016 total solar eclipse in the South Pacific.

  10. Mobility of Eastern European Citizens: Training and Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kougias, Ioannis; Seremeti, Lambrini; Kalogeras, Dimitris

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore and present a higher education initiative towards the training and development of Eastern European citizens, who migrate to Greece, in pursuit of bettering their economic conditions and, simultaneously, become evolving social entities, adaptable to heterogeneous environments.…

  11. Rigor, Reliability, and Scientific Relevance: Citizen Science Lessons from COASST (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Parrish, J. K.

    2013-12-01

    Citizen science promises fine grain, broad extent data collected over decadal time scales, with co-benefits including increased scientific literacy and civic engagement. But does it only deliver non-standardized, unverifiable data collected episodically by individuals with little-to-no training? How do you know which projects to trust? What are the attributes of a scientifically sound citizen science project? The Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) is a 15 year old citizen science project currently involving ~800 participants from northern California north to Kotzebue, Alaska and west to the Commander Islands, Russia. After a single 5-hour training delivered in-community by an expert, volunteers have the knowledge and skill sets to accurately survey a coastal site for beached bird carcasses, which they will be able to identify to species correctly ~85% of the time. Data are collected monthly, and some volunteers remain with the program for years, contributing hundreds, even thousands, of survey hours. COASST trainings, data collection materials, and data entry web portal all reinforce 'evidence first, deduction second,' a maxim that allows volunteers to learn, and gives on-staff experts the ability to independently verify all birds found. COASST data go directly into science, as part of studies as diverse as fishery entanglement, historic native uses of seabirds as food sources, and the impacts of sudden shifts in upwelling; as well as into resource management, as part of decisions on fishing regulations, waterfowl hunting limits, and ESA-listed species management. Like professional science, COASST features a specific sampling design linked to questions of interest, verifiable data, statistical analysis, and peer-reviewed publication. In addition, COASST features before-and-after testing of volunteer knowledge, independent verification of all deductive data, and recruitment and retention strategies linked to geographic community norms. As a result, the program is successful at bridging from science to citizens and back. Citizen science is growing ~20x faster than the U.S. population, and about 8 times faster than professional biodiversity science, suggesting that many people are eager to participate in science, without necessarily becoming scientists themselves. Regardless of politics, education, career, economic status, gender, or age, citizens want to engage in projects that can deliver new, and meaningful, information and skills, and provide scaled-up patterns, stories, and studies that speak to environmental change.

  12. Teaching Citizen Science Skills Online: Implications for Invasive Species Training Programs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Newman, Greg; Crall, Alycia; Laituri, Melinda; Graham, Jim; Stohlgren, Tom; Moore, John C.; Kodrich, Kris; Holfelder, Kirstin A.

    2010-01-01

    Citizen science programs are emerging as an efficient way to increase data collection and help monitor invasive species. Effective invasive species monitoring requires rigid data quality assurances if expensive control efforts are to be guided by volunteer data. To achieve data quality, effective online training is needed to improve field skills…

  13. Citizen Science Study Design

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Community Air Monitoring Training in July 2015. Topics included motivaton, goals, data quality and quantity, recruitment of other citizen scientists, technology requirements, supporting materials, and evaluations.

  14. Advancing the Potential of Citizen Science for Urban Water Quality Monitoring: Exploring Research Design and Methodology in New York City

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hsueh, D.; Farnham, D. J.; Gibson, R.; McGillis, W. R.; Culligan, P. J.; Cooper, C.; Larson, L.; Mailloux, B. J.; Buchanan, R.; Borus, N.; Zain, N.; Eddowes, D.; Butkiewicz, L.; Loiselle, S. A.

    2015-12-01

    Citizen Science is a fast-growing ecological research tool with proven potential to rapidly produce large datasets. While the fields of astronomy and ornithology demonstrate particularly successful histories of enlisting the public in conducting scientific work, citizen science applications to the field of hydrology have been relatively underutilized. We demonstrate the potential of citizen science for monitoring water quality, particularly in the impervious, urban environment of New York City (NYC) where pollution via stormwater runoff is a leading source of waterway contamination. Through partnerships with HSBC, Earthwatch, and the NYC Water Trail Association, we have trained two citizen science communities to monitor the quality of NYC waterways, testing for a suite of water quality parameters including pH, turbidity, phosphate, nitrate, and Enterococci (an indicator bacteria for the presence of harmful pathogens associated with fecal pollution). We continue to enhance these citizen science programs with two additions to our methodology. First, we designed and produced at-home incubation ovens for Enterococci analysis, and second, we are developing automated photo-imaging for nitrate and phosphate concentrations. These improvements make our work more publicly accessible while maintaining scientific accuracy. We also initiated a volunteer survey assessing the motivations for participation among our citizen scientists. These three endeavors will inform future applications of citizen science for urban hydrological research. Ultimately, the spatiotemporally-rich dataset of waterway quality produced from our citizen science efforts will help advise NYC policy makers about the impacts of green infrastructure and other types of government-led efforts to clean up NYC waterways.

  15. Developing citizen science projects: Cut twigs for 'chilling' pupils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Menzel, Annette; Matiu, Michael; Laube, Julia

    2017-04-01

    Citizen science projects mainly involve two aims, science and education. Depending on the setting, either the data delivery part for answering questions raised by scientists or the educating part e.g. on scientific practices, crosscutting concepts, application of core science contents or awareness for environmental problems prevails. In this respect, spring phenology is a grateful topic because it addresses both aspects nearly symmetrically. In science, it remains unresolved which factors besides spring warming also trigger spring bud development, namely chilling / photoperiod / humidity / nutrient availability. The appearance of fresh leaves in spring has been fascinating for humans; it is linked to cultural heritage, festivals and has always attracted nature lovers, from young children to senior citizens. In our study, we set up a twig experiment to study the chilling effect on bud burst of Corylus avellana L. which was conducted by trained citizen scientists at their home. We asked the scientific question if the effects of chilling can be analysed by the twig method, and how sampling and experimental setting should be designed. Furthermore we tested if the twig method is feasible for citizen scientist projects, and report minimum requirements, successes and drawbacks.

  16. What can Citizen Science do for Ocean Science and Ocean Scientists?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Best, M.; Hoeberechts, M.; Mangin, A.; Oggioni, A.; Orcutt, J. A.; Parrish, J.; Pearlman, J.; Piera, J.; Tagliolato, P.

    2016-12-01

    The ocean represents over 70% of our planet's surface area, over 90% of the living space. Humans are not marine creatures, we therefore have fundamentally not built up knowledge of the ocean in the same way we have on land. The more we learn about the ocean, the more we understand it is the regulatory engine of our planet…How do we catch up? Answers to this question will need to come from many quarters; A powerful and strategic option to complement existing observation programs and infrastructure is Citizen Science. There has been significant and relevant discussion of the importance of Citizen Science to citizens and stakeholders. The missing effective question is sometimes what is the potential of citizen science for scientists? The answers for both scientists and society are: spatial coverage, remote locations, temporal coverage, event response, early detection of harmful processes, sufficient data volume for statistical analysis and identification of outliers, integrating local knowledge, data access in exchange for analysis (e.g. with industry) and cost-effective monitoring systems. Citizens can be involved in: instrument manufacture and maintenance, instrument deployment/sample collection, data collection and transmission, data analysis, data validation/verification, and proposals of new topics of research. Such opportunities are balanced by concern on the part of scientists about the quality, the consistency and the reliability of citizen observations and analyses. Experience working with citizen science groups continues to suggest that with proper training and mentoring, these issues can be addressed, understanding both benefits and limitations. How to do it- implementation and maintenance of citizen science: How to recruit, engage, train, and maintain Citizen Scientists. Data systems for acquisition, assessment, access, analysis, and visualisation of distributed data sources. Tools/methods for acquiring observations: Simple instruments, Smartphone Apps, DIY-Instruments Community Online Platforms: websites, social networks, discussion forums. Crowdsourcing Tools: image acquisition, web and smartphone applications, surveys/questionnaires. Information, Engagement, and Training Resources: webinars, public lectures, websites, public/museum displays.

  17. Educating Global Citizens: A Good "Idea" or an Organisational Practice?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lilley, Kathleen; Barker, Michelle; Harris, Neil

    2015-01-01

    Higher education emphasises training and skills for employment, yet while the "idea" of educating global citizens appears in university discourse, there is limited evidence demonstrating how the "idea" of the global citizen translates into practice. Recent research emphasises a desire for graduates to be local and global…

  18. Digital Citizenship

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Isman, Aytekin; Canan Gungoren, Ozlem

    2014-01-01

    Era in which we live is known and referred as digital age.In this age technology is rapidly changed and developed. In light of these technological advances in 21st century, schools have the responsibility of training "digital citizen" as well as a good citizen. Digital citizens must have extensive skills, knowledge, Internet and …

  19. Home-Grown Citizens

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Sarah; Gurnee, Anne

    2016-01-01

    While the purpose of K-12 education is largely to train students for college and career, free education in a democratic society has another purpose: to prepare citizens to rule themselves. In this article, Anderson and Gurnee explain how place-based learning equips students to be active citizens in their communities. In this model, school localize…

  20. Ubiquitous Connected Train Based on Train-to-Ground and Intra-Wagon Communications Capable of Providing on Trip Customized Digital Services for Passengers

    PubMed Central

    Salaberria, Itziar; Perallos, Asier; Azpilicueta, Leire; Falcone, Francisco; Carballedo, Roberto; Angulo, Ignacio; Elejoste, Pilar; Bahillo, Alfonso; Astrain, José Javier; Villadangos, Jesús

    2014-01-01

    During the last years, the application of different wireless technologies has been explored in order to enable Internet connectivity from vehicles. In addition, the widespread adoption of smartphones by citizens represents a great opportunity to integrate such nomadic devices inside vehicles in order to provide new and personalized on trip services for passengers. In this paper, a proposal of communication architecture to provide the ubiquitous connectivity needed to enhance the smart train concept is presented and preliminarily tested. It combines an intra-wagon communication system based on nomadic devices connected through a Bluetooth Piconet Network with a highly innovative train-to-ground communication system. In order to validate this communication solution, several tests and simulations have been performed and their results are described in this paper. PMID:24803192

  1. SPACE WARPS- II. New gravitational lens candidates from the CFHTLS discovered through citizen science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    More, Anupreeta; Verma, Aprajita; Marshall, Philip J.; More, Surhud; Baeten, Elisabeth; Wilcox, Julianne; Macmillan, Christine; Cornen, Claude; Kapadia, Amit; Parrish, Michael; Snyder, Chris; Davis, Christopher P.; Gavazzi, Raphael; Lintott, Chris J.; Simpson, Robert; Miller, David; Smith, Arfon M.; Paget, Edward; Saha, Prasenjit; Küng, Rafael; Collett, Thomas E.

    2016-01-01

    We report the discovery of 29 promising (and 59 total) new lens candidates from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) based on about 11 million classifications performed by citizen scientists as part of the first SPACE WARPS lens search. The goal of the blind lens search was to identify lens candidates missed by robots (the RINGFINDER on galaxy scales and ARCFINDER on group/cluster scales) which had been previously used to mine the CFHTLS for lenses. We compare some properties of the samples detected by these algorithms to the SPACE WARPS sample and find them to be broadly similar. The image separation distribution calculated from the SPACE WARPS sample shows that previous constraints on the average density profile of lens galaxies are robust. SPACE WARPS recovers about 65 per cent of known lenses, while the new candidates show a richer variety compared to those found by the two robots. This detection rate could be increased to 80 per cent by only using classifications performed by expert volunteers (albeit at the cost of a lower purity), indicating that the training and performance calibration of the citizen scientists is very important for the success of SPACE WARPS. In this work we present the SIMCT pipeline, used for generating in situ a sample of realistic simulated lensed images. This training sample, along with the false positives identified during the search, has a legacy value for testing future lens-finding algorithms. We make the pipeline and the training set publicly available.

  2. Building Leadership Programs for Community Colleges.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Oberst, Gayle

    As part of an effort to renew and rebuild the concept of community, Florida's Gulf Coast Community College has proposed the Citizen Leadership Training Program (CLTP). The CLTP is based on the premise that citizen leaders (CLs) exist in all communities and that by engaging citizens in a comprehensive curriculum, community colleges can assist…

  3. Crowdsourcing the General Public for Large Scale Molecular Pathology Studies in Cancer

    PubMed Central

    Candido dos Reis, Francisco J.; Lynn, Stuart; Ali, H. Raza; Eccles, Diana; Hanby, Andrew; Provenzano, Elena; Caldas, Carlos; Howat, William J.; McDuffus, Leigh-Anne; Liu, Bin; Daley, Frances; Coulson, Penny; Vyas, Rupesh J.; Harris, Leslie M.; Owens, Joanna M.; Carton, Amy F.M.; McQuillan, Janette P.; Paterson, Andy M.; Hirji, Zohra; Christie, Sarah K.; Holmes, Amber R.; Schmidt, Marjanka K.; Garcia-Closas, Montserrat; Easton, Douglas F.; Bolla, Manjeet K.; Wang, Qin; Benitez, Javier; Milne, Roger L.; Mannermaa, Arto; Couch, Fergus; Devilee, Peter; Tollenaar, Robert A.E.M.; Seynaeve, Caroline; Cox, Angela; Cross, Simon S.; Blows, Fiona M.; Sanders, Joyce; de Groot, Renate; Figueroa, Jonine; Sherman, Mark; Hooning, Maartje; Brenner, Hermann; Holleczek, Bernd; Stegmaier, Christa; Lintott, Chris; Pharoah, Paul D.P.

    2015-01-01

    Background Citizen science, scientific research conducted by non-specialists, has the potential to facilitate biomedical research using available large-scale data, however validating the results is challenging. The Cell Slider is a citizen science project that intends to share images from tumors with the general public, enabling them to score tumor markers independently through an internet-based interface. Methods From October 2012 to June 2014, 98,293 Citizen Scientists accessed the Cell Slider web page and scored 180,172 sub-images derived from images of 12,326 tissue microarray cores labeled for estrogen receptor (ER). We evaluated the accuracy of Citizen Scientist's ER classification, and the association between ER status and prognosis by comparing their test performance against trained pathologists. Findings The area under ROC curve was 0.95 (95% CI 0.94 to 0.96) for cancer cell identification and 0.97 (95% CI 0.96 to 0.97) for ER status. ER positive tumors scored by Citizen Scientists were associated with survival in a similar way to that scored by trained pathologists. Survival probability at 15 years were 0.78 (95% CI 0.76 to 0.80) for ER-positive and 0.72 (95% CI 0.68 to 0.77) for ER-negative tumors based on Citizen Scientists classification. Based on pathologist classification, survival probability was 0.79 (95% CI 0.77 to 0.81) for ER-positive and 0.71 (95% CI 0.67 to 0.74) for ER-negative tumors. The hazard ratio for death was 0.26 (95% CI 0.18 to 0.37) at diagnosis and became greater than one after 6.5 years of follow-up for ER scored by Citizen Scientists, and 0.24 (95% CI 0.18 to 0.33) at diagnosis increasing thereafter to one after 6.7 (95% CI 4.1 to 10.9) years of follow-up for ER scored by pathologists. Interpretation Crowdsourcing of the general public to classify cancer pathology data for research is viable, engages the public and provides accurate ER data. Crowdsourced classification of research data may offer a valid solution to problems of throughput requiring human input. PMID:26288840

  4. Icarus Investigations: A Model for Engaging Citizen Scientists to Solve Solar Big Data Challenges

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Winter, H. D., III; Loftus, K.

    2017-12-01

    Solar data is growing at an exponential rate. NASA's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) has produced a data volume of over 6 petabytes to date, and that volume is growing. The initial suite of instruments on DKIST are expected to generate approximately 25TB of data per day, with bursts up to 50TB. Making sense of this deluge of solar data is as formidable a task as collecting it. New techniques and new ways of thinking are needed in order to optimize the value of this immense amount of data. While machine learning algorithms are a natural tool to sift through Big Data, those tools need to be carefully constructed and trained in order to provide meaningful results. Trained volunteers are needed to provide a large volume of initial classifications in order to properly train machine learning algorithms. To retain a highly trained pool of volunteers to teach machine learning algorithms, we propose to host an ever-changing array of solar-based citizen science projects under a single collaborative project banner: Icarus Investigations. Icarus Investigations would build and retain a dedicated user base within Zooniverse, the most popular citizen science website with over a million registered users. Volunteers will become increasingly comfortable with solar images and solar features of interest as they work on projects that focus on a wide array of solar phenomena. Under a unified framework, new solar citizen science projects submitted to Icarus Investigations will build on the successes, and learn from the missteps, of their predecessors. In this talk we discuss the importance and benefits of engaging the public in citizen science projects and call for collaborators on future citizen science projects. We will also demonstrate the initial Icarus Investigations project, The Where of the Flare. This demonstration will allow us to highlight the workflow of a Icarus Investigations citizen science project with a concrete example.

  5. The role of automated feedback in training and retaining biological recorders for citizen science.

    PubMed

    van der Wal, René; Sharma, Nirwan; Mellish, Chris; Robinson, Annie; Siddharthan, Advaith

    2016-06-01

    The rapid rise of citizen science, with lay people forming often extensive biodiversity sensor networks, is seen as a solution to the mismatch between data demand and supply while simultaneously engaging citizens with environmental topics. However, citizen science recording schemes require careful consideration of how to motivate, train, and retain volunteers. We evaluated a novel computing science framework that allowed for the automated generation of feedback to citizen scientists using natural language generation (NLG) technology. We worked with a photo-based citizen science program in which users also volunteer species identification aided by an online key. Feedback is provided after photo (and identification) submission and is aimed to improve volunteer species identification skills and to enhance volunteer experience and retention. To assess the utility of NLG feedback, we conducted two experiments with novices to assess short-term (single session) and longer-term (5 sessions in 2 months) learning, respectively. Participants identified a specimen in a series of photos. One group received only the correct answer after each identification, and the other group received the correct answer and NLG feedback explaining reasons for misidentification and highlighting key features that facilitate correct identification. We then developed an identification training tool with NLG feedback as part of the citizen science program BeeWatch and analyzed learning by users. Finally, we implemented NLG feedback in the live program and evaluated this by randomly allocating all BeeWatch users to treatment groups that received different types of feedback upon identification submission. After 6 months separate surveys were sent out to assess whether views on the citizen science program and its feedback differed among the groups. Identification accuracy and retention of novices were higher for those who received automated feedback than for those who received only confirmation of the correct identification without explanation. The value of NLG feedback in the live program, captured through questionnaires and evaluation of the online photo-based training tool, likewise showed that the automated generation of informative feedback fostered learning and volunteer engagement and thus paves the way for productive and long-lived citizen science projects. © 2016 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  6. Creating a Successful Citizen Science Model to Detect and Report Invasive Species

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gallo, Travis; Waitt, Damon

    2011-01-01

    The Invaders of Texas program is a successful citizen science program in which volunteers survey and monitor invasive plants throughout Texas. Invasive plants are being introduced at alarming rates, and our limited knowledge about their distribution is a major cause for concern. The Invaders of Texas program trains citizen scientists to detect the…

  7. Does Participation in Citizen Science Improve Scientific Literacy? A Study to Compare Assessment Methods

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cronje, Ruth; Rohlinger, Spencer; Crall, Alycia; Newman, Greg

    2011-01-01

    This study investigated the use of a contextually sensitive instrument to assess the effect of invasive species monitoring training on the scientific literacy of citizen volunteers. The authors measured scientific literacy scores before and after 57 citizens participated in a 2-day event to learn to monitor invasive species with an instrument…

  8. THE MILKY WAY PROJECT: LEVERAGING CITIZEN SCIENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING TO DETECT INTERSTELLAR BUBBLES

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Beaumont, Christopher N.; Williams, Jonathan P.; Goodman, Alyssa A.

    We present Brut, an algorithm to identify bubbles in infrared images of the Galactic midplane. Brut is based on the Random Forest algorithm, and uses bubbles identified by >35,000 citizen scientists from the Milky Way Project to discover the identifying characteristics of bubbles in images from the Spitzer Space Telescope. We demonstrate that Brut's ability to identify bubbles is comparable to expert astronomers. We use Brut to re-assess the bubbles in the Milky Way Project catalog, and find that 10%-30% of the objects in this catalog are non-bubble interlopers. Relative to these interlopers, high-reliability bubbles are more confined to themore » mid-plane, and display a stronger excess of young stellar objects along and within bubble rims. Furthermore, Brut is able to discover bubbles missed by previous searches—particularly bubbles near bright sources which have low contrast relative to their surroundings. Brut demonstrates the synergies that exist between citizen scientists, professional scientists, and machine learning techniques. In cases where ''untrained' citizens can identify patterns that machines cannot detect without training, machine learning algorithms like Brut can use the output of citizen science projects as input training sets, offering tremendous opportunities to speed the pace of scientific discovery. A hybrid model of machine learning combined with crowdsourced training data from citizen scientists can not only classify large quantities of data, but also address the weakness of each approach if deployed alone.« less

  9. An Actuarial Model for Selecting Participants for a Special Medical Education Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walker-Bartnick, Leslie; And Others

    An actuarial model applied to the selection process of a special medical school program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine was tested. The 77 students in the study sample were admitted to the university's Fifth Pathway Program, which is designed for U.S. citizens who completed their medical school training, except for internship and…

  10. Alaska Native Weatherization Training and Jobs Program First Steps Toward Tribal Weatherization – Human Capacity Development

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wiita, Joanne

    The Alaska Native Weatherization Training and Jobs Project expanded weatherization services for tribal members’ homes in southeast Alaska while providing weatherization training and on the job training (OJT) for tribal citizens that lead to jobs and most probably careers in weatherization-related occupations. The program resulted in; (a) 80 Alaska Native citizens provided with skills training in five weatherization training units that were delivered in cooperation with University of Alaska Southeast, in accordance with the U.S. Department of Energy Core Competencies for Weatherization Training that prepared participants for employment in three weatherizationrelated occupations: Installer, Crew Chief, and Auditor; (b) 25 paidmore » OJT training opportunities for trainees who successfully completed the training course; and (c) employed trained personnel that have begun to rehab on over 1,000 housing units for weatherization.« less

  11. Investigating the Degree of Paying Attention to the Political Indicators of Lifestyle Based on Islamic-Iranian Model of Development in Training Teachers of Elementary Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shadfar, Houriyeh; Nasr, Ahmad Reza; Nili, Mohammad Reza; Hassemi, Vahid G.

    2016-01-01

    In the era of development when the needs of a society to its citizens with a political lifestyle based on the development proportional to their native culture seem necessary, updating training and creating changes in citizens' curricula proportional to political indicators of lifestyle is considered as a necessary issue. The objective of the…

  12. Managing the injury burden in Nepal.

    PubMed

    Karmacharya, P C; Singh, G K; Singh, M P; Gautam, V G; Par, Andrew; Banskota, A K; Bajracharya, A; Shreshtha, A B; Mahara, Deepak

    2008-10-01

    Nepal loses about 530,000 disability adjusted life years (DALYs) per year to injury, predominantly due to falls. It takes 30,000 Nepali rupees (NR), or approximately US$430 at 70 rupees per $US saved per DALY to achieve primary prevention and 6000 NR per DALY if we invest in hospitals, versus 1000 NR invested in prehospital care, because simpler less expensive actions performed early have a greater impact on outcome than more complex measures later. A system for prehospital services was planned for medical emergencies at a national level meeting at the Medical University of Nepal to promote healthcare to victims in inaccessible regions by empowered or enlightened citizens. Feasible actions for common emergencies were defined and a tutorial required to help the majority of such victims was created and packaged. The knowledge and attitude component of the tutorial will be delivered through a web site to citizens motivated to learn and help with emergencies. The knowledge will be tested through a net-based Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) test. Practical training in medical triage skills will be provided to those who qualify for the test at the University or its designated affiliates. A mobile phone-based information system will be created and used to make these enlightened citizens available to the victim at the site/time of the emergency.

  13. Transforming the Knowledge Gap for Local Planning Officials: Impacts of Continuing Education in a Master Citizen Planner Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beyea, Wayne; Menon, Rohit; Crawford, Pat

    2016-01-01

    In an era of increasing complexity, the majority of local land-use decisions in the United States are made by volunteer citizen planners. Often these elected or appointed volunteers enter their positions with a passion for their communities but without appropriate background training. The Michigan Citizen Planner Program was developed to address…

  14. MAppERS experience: natural processes and preparedness in the societal context

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Frigerio, Simone; Schenato, Luca; Bossi, Giulia; Mantovani, Matteo; Marcato, Gianluca; Pasuto, Alessandro

    2016-04-01

    Within natural processes responsibilities from central authorities to local levels as first actors of civil protection is a changing pattern. Prevention and preparedness in natural hazards are long-term goals based on capacities of professional volunteers, and improving the awareness of the citizens as local inhabitants. Local people have impacts on their lives but training and involvement towards specific techniques change their role within risk communication and emergency preparedness. A collaborative user environment is useful for emergency response and support in the wake of disasters, feeding updated information on the ground directly to on-site responders. MAppERS (Mobile Application for Emergency Response and Support) is a funded project (2013-2015 Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, ECHO A5) based on human role as "crowd-sourced mappers" through smart phone application able to share GPS-localised and detailed parameters. The feedback from testing and the training courses aim to raising public awareness and participation in a networked disaster response. The project implies design and test of smart phone linked with a real-time dashboard platform for rescue services citizens and volunteers of civil protection. Two pilot sites, including trainings on modules functioning control usability and quality of the product. The synchronized platform offers the activity of cloud data collection with a central data dashboard. Information is collected in a context of floods processes, with crowdsourcing action from local population, for proper awareness with own personal flood plan and long-term preparedness. A second context tested pre-emergency actions on field with rescue team, collecting state-of-art and condition of hazards.

  15. Can citizen science contribute to fish assemblages monitoring in understudied areas? The case study of Tunisian marine protected areas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ben Lamine, Emna; Di Franco, Antonio; Romdhane, Mohamed Salah; Francour, Patrice

    2018-01-01

    Resource monitoring is a key issue in ecosystem management especially for marine protected areas (MPAs), where information on the composition and structure of fish assemblages is crucial to design a sound management plan. Data on fish assemblage are usually collected using Underwater Visual Censuses (UVC). However, fish assemblages monitoring in MPAs usually calls for considerable resources in terms of costs, time and technical/scientific skills. Financial resources and trained scientific divers may, however, not be available in certain geographical areas, that are thus understudied. Therefore, involving citizen volunteer divers in fish assemblage monitoring and adopting easy-to-use underwater visual census methods could be an effective way to collect crucial data. Citizen science can be used only if it can provide information that is consistent with that collected using standard scientific monitoring. Here, we aim to: 1) compare the consistency of results from a Standard scientific UVC (S-UVC) and an Easy-to-use UVC (E-UVC) method in assessing fish assemblage spatial variability, and 2) test the consistency of data collected by Scientific Divers (SD) and Scientifically-Trained Volunteer divers (STV), using E-UVC. We used, in two consecutive years, three Tunisian future Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and adjacent areas as case studies. E-UVC and S-UVC data were consistent in highlighting the same spatial patterns for the three MPAs (between MPAs and, inside and outside each one). No significant difference was recorded between data collected by SD or STV. Our results suggest that E-UVC can provide information representing simplified proxies for describing fish assemblages and can therefore be a valuable tool for fish monitoring by citizen divers in understudied areas. This evidence could foster citizen science as an effective tool to raise environmental awareness and involve stakeholders in resource management.

  16. Why Citizen Science Without Usability Testing Will Underperform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Romano, C.; Gay, P.; Owens, R.; Burlea, G.

    2017-12-01

    Citizen science projects must undergo usability testing and optimization if they are to meet their stated goals. This presentation will include video of usability tests conducted upon citizen science websites. Usability testing is essential to the success of online interaction, however, citizen science projects have just begun to include this critical activity. Interaction standards in citizen science lag behind those of commercial interests, and published research on this topic is limited. Since online citizen science is by definition, an exchange of information, a clear understanding of how users experience an online project is essential to informed decision-making. Usability testing provides that insight. Usability testing collects data via direct observation of a person while she interacts with a digital product, such as a citizen science website. The test participant verbalizes her thoughts while using the website or application; the moderator follows the participant and captures quantitative measurement of the participant's confidence of success as she advances through the citizen science project. Over 15 years of usability testing, we have observed that users who do not report a consistent sense of progress are likely to abandon a website after as few as three unrewarding interactions. Since citizen science is also a voluntary activity, ensuring seamless interaction for users is mandatory. Usability studies conducted on citizen science websites demonstrate that project teams frequently underestimate a user's need for context and ease of use. Without usability testing, risks to online citizen science projects include high bounce rate (users leave the website without taking any action), abandonment (of the website, tutorials, registration), misunderstanding instructions (causing disorientation and erroneous conclusions), and ultimately, underperforming projects.

  17. Very brief training for laypeople in hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Effect of real-time feedback.

    PubMed

    González-Salvado, Violeta; Fernández-Méndez, Felipe; Barcala-Furelos, Roberto; Peña-Gil, Carlos; González-Juanatey, José Ramón; Rodríguez-Núñez, Antonio

    2016-06-01

    Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) improves survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, but rates and performance quality remain low. Although training laypeople is a primary educational goal, the optimal strategy is not well defined. This study aimed to determine whether a short training with real-time feedback was able to improve hands-only CPR among untrained citizens. On the occasion of the 2015 World Heart Day and the European Restart a Heart Day, a pilot study involving 155 participants (81 laypeople, 74 health care professionals) was conducted. Participants were invited to briefly practice hands-only CPR on a manikin and were after evaluated during a 2-minute chest compression (CC) test. During training brief instructions regarding hand position, compression rate and depth according to the current guidelines were given and real-time feedback was provided by a Laerdal SkillReporting System. Mean CC rate was significantly higher among health care professionals than among laypeople (119.07 ± 12.85 vs 113.02 ± 13.90 min(-1); P = .006), although both met the 100-120 CC min(-1) criterion. Laypeople achieved noninferior results regarding % of CC at adequate rate (51.46% ± 35.32% vs health care staff (55.97% ± 36.36%; P = .43) and depth (49.88% ± 38.58% vs 50.46% ± 37.17%; P = .92), % of CC with full-chest recoil (92.77% ± 17.17% vs 0.91% ± 18.84; P = .52), and adequate hand position (96.94% ± 14.78% vs 99.74 ± 1.98%; P = .11). The overall quality performance was greater than 70%, noninferior for citizens (81.23% ± 20.10%) vs health care staff (85.95% ± 14.78%; P = .10). With a very brief training supported by hands-on instructor-led advice and visual feedback, naïve laypeople are able to perform good-quality CC-CPR. Simple instructions, feedback, and motivation were the key elements of this strategy, which could make feasible to train big numbers of citizens. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. MappERS-C and MappERS-V. The crowd source for prevention and crisis support

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Frigerio, Simone; Schenato, Luca; Bianchizza, Chiara; Del Bianco, Daniele

    2015-04-01

    The responsibilities within natural hazards at local/regional levels involve citizens and volunteers as first actors of civil protection and territorial management. The prevention implicates the capacities of professional operators and technical volunteers, but the priority implies now the involvement and awareness of the citizens over the territory they inhabit. The involvement of population creates context-specific strategies of territorial surveillance and management, skipping the limit to face risks only when they have to bear impacts on their lives. MAppERS (Mobile Application for Emergency Response and Support) is a EU project (funded under programme 2013-2015 Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, ECHO A5) which empowers "crowd-sourced mappers" through smart phone applications and sensors, with geo-tagged information, detailed gathered parameters, field-check survey in a contest of geospatial response. The process of development includes feedback from citizens, involving them in training courses on the monitoring as long term objective (raising public awareness and participation). The project deals with the development and testing of the smart phone applications (module MAppERS-V for volunteers, module MAppERS-C for citizens) according to Android SDK environment. A first research described a desk-based investigation on consequences of disasters impacts and costs of prevention strategies in pilot countries. Furthermore a review of state-of-the-art of database management systems (DBMS) in pilot countries and involvement of volunteers/citizens in data collection/monitoring collected basic info on data structure for the development. A desk-based research proposed communication methods/graphic solutions within mobile technologies for disaster management in pilot countries and available smartphone applications linked to centralized web/server database. A technical review is compulsory for a useful design-line for MappERS development, and it is linked with on-site feedback about volounteers and citizens needs within pilot groups activities. The app modules will be later re-designed according to the methodological and technical feedback gained during pilot study. Training curricula for citizens are planned to increase awareness, skills on smart phone utilities and efficient jargon for hazard contest. The expected results are: a) an easy-to-use interface for "human-data" in crisis support, b) a maximised utility of peer-produced data gathering, c) the development of human resources as technical tools d) a self-based awareness improvement.

  19. INSA Hand Puppet Training Manual: Involving U.S. Citizens in a Puppetmaking Project To Enhance the Use of Educational Puppet Theater in Developing Nations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carter, David A.

    Designed to help U.S. citizens become aware of the needs of people living in developing countries, this puppet project is an action oriented education program implemented by the International Service Association for Health, Inc. (INSA). The program's primary purpose is to inform citizens about global concerns and issues while enlisting public…

  20. Citizen Science as a Tool for Mosquito Control.

    PubMed

    Jordan, Rebecca C; Sorensen, Amanda E; Ladeau, Shannon

    2017-09-01

    In this paper, we share our findings from a 2-year citizen science program called Mosquito Stoppers. This pest-oriented citizen science project is part of a larger coupled natural-human systems project seeking to understand the fundamental drivers of mosquito population density and spatial variability in potential exposure to mosquito-borne pathogens in a matrix of human construction, urban renewal, and individual behaviors. Focusing on residents in West Baltimore, participants were recruited through neighborhood workshops and festivals. Citizen scientists participated in yard surveys of potential mosquito habitat and in evaluating mosquito nuisance. We found that citizen scientists, with minimal education and training, were able to accurately collect data that reflect trends found in a comparable researcher-generated database.

  1. CATE 2016 Indonesia: Science goals and student training for 2017

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Penn, M. J.; McKay, M. A.; Kovac, S. A.; Jensen, L.; Hare, H. S.; Mitchell, A. M.; Bosh, R.; Watson, Z.; Baer, R.; Pierce, M.; Gelderman, R.; Walter, D. K.

    2016-12-01

    The Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) Experiment for 2017 is being developed at the National Solar Observatory in partnership with universities, schools, astronomy clubs, and corporations. The CATE experiment will use more than 60 identical telescopes equipped with digital cameras from Oregon to South Carolina to image the solar corona. The project will then splice these images together to show the corona during a 90-minute period, revealing for the first time the plasma dynamics of the inner solar corona. The goals for the CATE experiment range from providing an authentic STEM research experience for students and lifelong learners, to making state-of-the-art solar coronal observations of the plasma dynamics of coronal polar plumes, to increasing the US scientific literacy. Private funds are being raised for the CATE equipment, and so the telescopes will stay with the volunteers after the eclipse and be used in follow-on citizen science astronomy projects. The 2017 eclipse will be viewed by hundreds of millions of people. Four sets of undergraduate students in the path of the 2017 eclipse have become local experts for the eclipse and trainers for the CATE volunteers. These students traveled to the 2016 March eclipse in Indonesia and collected observations with prototype CATE telescopes; science results from these 2016 observations will be discussed. Training videos for use in 2017 were developed and tested on volunteers. Finally several high school groups along the path of totality have been engaged in the CATE project and will participate in the eclipse data collection. This work was supported by the NSO "Training for the 2017 Citizen CATE Experiment" funded by NASA (NASA NNX16AB92A). The National Solar Observatory is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the NSF.

  2. General surgery residency after graduation from U.S. medical schools: visa-related challenges for the international citizen.

    PubMed

    Datta, Jashodeep; Zaydfudim, Victor; Terhune, Kyla P

    2013-03-01

    International-United States medical graduates (I-USMGs) are non-US citizen graduates of U.S. medical schools. Although academically equivalent to US-citizen peers, they are subject to the same visa requirements as non-US citizen international medical graduates. We hypothesized that visa sponsorship policies of general surgery programs (GSPs) may be discordant with the enrollment patterns of I-USMGs. A total of 196 GSPs participated in a telephone survey regarding visa sponsorship policies. Whereas GSPs preferred J-1 to H-1B sponsorship (64.2% vs. 32.6%), I-USMG enrollment favored programs supporting H-1B sponsorship (72.1% vs. 7.5%) (P = .01). University-affiliated programs were more likely to sponsor H1-Bs than independent programs (39.6% vs. 24.4%) (P = .03) and trained a greater proportion of I-USMGs than independent programs (40.6% vs. 14.0%) (P < .01). Restrictive policies against H-1B sponsorship may limit GSPs' I-USMG applicant pool and restrict I-USMGs' surgical training options.

  3. Drinking Water Training

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The Drinking Water Academy provides online training and information to ensure that water professionals, public officials, and involved citizens have the knowledge and skills necessary to protect our drinking water supply.

  4. Testing Times: The Place of the Citizenship Test in the UK Immigration Regime and New Citizens’ Responses to it

    PubMed Central

    Byrne, Bridget

    2016-01-01

    Citizenship tests are designed to ensure that new citizens have the knowledge required for successful ‘integration’. This article explores what those who have taken the test thought about its content. It argues that new citizens had high levels of awareness of debates about immigration and anti-immigration sentiment. Considering new citizens’ views of the test, the article shows how many of them are aware of the role of the test in reassuring existing citizens of their fitness to be citizens. However, some new citizens contest this positioning in ‘acts of citizenship’ where they assert claims to citizenship which are not necessarily those constructed by the state and implied in the tests. The article will argue that the tests and the nature of the knowledge required to pass them serve to retain new citizens in a position of less-than-equal citizenship which is at risk of being discursively (if less often legally) revoked. PMID:28490819

  5. Current Approaches in Implementing Citizen Science in the Classroom

    PubMed Central

    Shah, Harsh R.; Martinez, Luis R.

    2016-01-01

    Citizen science involves a partnership between inexperienced volunteers and trained scientists engaging in research. In addition to its obvious benefit of accelerating data collection, citizen science has an unexplored role in the classroom, from K–12 schools to higher education. With recent studies showing a weakening in scientific competency of American students, incorporating citizen science initiatives in the curriculum provides a means to address deficiencies in a fragmented educational system. The integration of traditional and innovative pedagogical methods to reform our educational system is therefore imperative in order to provide practical experiences in scientific inquiry, critical thinking, and problem solving for school-age individuals. Citizen science can be used to emphasize the recognition and use of systematic approaches to solve problems affecting the community. PMID:27047583

  6. Current Approaches in Implementing Citizen Science in the Classroom.

    PubMed

    Shah, Harsh R; Martinez, Luis R

    2016-03-01

    Citizen science involves a partnership between inexperienced volunteers and trained scientists engaging in research. In addition to its obvious benefit of accelerating data collection, citizen science has an unexplored role in the classroom, from K-12 schools to higher education. With recent studies showing a weakening in scientific competency of American students, incorporating citizen science initiatives in the curriculum provides a means to address deficiencies in a fragmented educational system. The integration of traditional and innovative pedagogical methods to reform our educational system is therefore imperative in order to provide practical experiences in scientific inquiry, critical thinking, and problem solving for school-age individuals. Citizen science can be used to emphasize the recognition and use of systematic approaches to solve problems affecting the community.

  7. 49 CFR 1552.3 - Flight training.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    .... citizens and nationals and Department of Defense endorsees. A flight school must determine whether an individual is a citizen or national of the United States, or a Department of Defense endorsee, prior to...) Department of Defense endorsees. To establish that an individual has been endorsed by the U.S. Department of...

  8. 49 CFR 1552.3 - Flight training.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    .... citizens and nationals and Department of Defense endorsees. A flight school must determine whether an individual is a citizen or national of the United States, or a Department of Defense endorsee, prior to...) Department of Defense endorsees. To establish that an individual has been endorsed by the U.S. Department of...

  9. Responsibility and School Governance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allen, Ann; Mintrom, Michael

    2010-01-01

    The concept of responsibility is highly relevant to the organization of public schooling. Through public schools, adult citizens allow for the formal nurture and training of children to become full citizens, able to participate in our shared social, economic, and political life. With growing awareness of the importance of effective schooling to…

  10. The State of California Community Colleges, 1997.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nussbaum, Thomas J.

    Four important changes for the community colleges of California are proposed. First, legislation should be developed that establishes the basic framework for enabling community colleges to restore a level of access to community college education and training for more citizens. This would provide economic and social opportunity for more citizens,…

  11. Monitoring water quality in Toronto's urban stormwater ponds: Assessing participation rates and data quality of water sampling by citizen scientists in the FreshWater Watch.

    PubMed

    Scott, Andrew B; Frost, Paul C

    2017-08-15

    From 2013 to 2015, citizen scientist volunteers in Toronto, Canada were trained to collect and analyze water quality in urban stormwater ponds. This volunteer sampling was part of the research program, FreshWater Watch (FWW), which aimed to standardize urban water sampling efforts from around the globe. We held training sessions for new volunteers twice yearly and trained a total of 111 volunteers. Over the course of project, ~30% of volunteers participated by collecting water quality data after the training session with 124 individual sampling events at 29 unique locations in Toronto, Canada. A few highly engaged volunteers were most active, with 50% of the samples collected by 5% of trainees. Stormwater ponds generally have poor water quality demonstrated by elevated phosphate concentrations (~30μg/L), nitrate (~427μg/L), and turbidity relative to Canadian water quality standards. Compared to other urban waterbodies in the global program, nutrient concentrations in Toronto's urban stormwater ponds were lower, while turbidity was not markedly different. Toronto FWW (FWW-TO) data was comparable to that measured by standard lab analyses and matched results from previous studies of stormwater ponds in Toronto. Combining observational and chemical data acquired by citizen scientists, macrophyte dominated ponds had lower phosphate concentrations while phytoplankton dominated ponds had lower nitrate concentrations, which indicates a potentially important and unstudied role of internal biogeochemical processes on pond nutrient dynamics. This experience in the FWW demonstrates the capabilities and constraints of citizen science when applied to water quality sampling. While analytical limits on in-field analyses produce higher uncertainty in water quality measurements of individual sites, rapid data collection is possible but depends on the motivation and engagement of the group of volunteers. Ongoing efforts in citizen science will thus need to address sampling effort and analytical limits to fully realize the potential value of engaging citizen scientists in water quality sampling. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Reading, Pa.: Training Local People.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Connell, Eileen

    1978-01-01

    Describes the training process for the local takeover of the New York University--Reading (Pennsylvania) Consortium interactive cable television project for the delivery of social services to senior citizens. The process included hiring and training of staff, training of users, and creation and staffing of the organization needed to operate the…

  13. Using Citizen Scientists to Gather, Analyze, and Disseminate Information About Neighborhood Features That Affect Active Living.

    PubMed

    Winter, Sandra J; Goldman Rosas, Lisa; Padilla Romero, Priscilla; Sheats, Jylana L; Buman, Matthew P; Baker, Cathleen; King, Abby C

    2016-10-01

    Many Latinos are insufficiently active, partly due to neighborhoods with little environmental support for physical activity. Multi-level approaches are needed to create health-promoting neighborhoods in disadvantaged communities. Participant "citizen scientists" were adolescent (n = 10, mean age = 12.8 ± 0.6 years) and older adult (n = 10, mean age = 71.3 ± 6.5 years), low income Latinos in North Fair Oaks, California. Citizen scientists conducted environmental assessments to document perceived barriers to active living using the Stanford Healthy Neighborhood Discovery Tool, which records GPS-tracked walking routes, photographs, audio narratives, and survey responses. Using a community-engaged approach, citizen scientists subsequently attended a community meeting to engage in advocacy training, review assessment data, prioritize issues to address and brainstorm potential solutions and partners. Citizen scientists each conducted a neighborhood environmental assessment and recorded 366 photographs and audio narratives. Adolescents (n = 4), older adults (n = 7) and community members (n = 4) collectively identified reducing trash and improving personal safety and sidewalk quality as the priority issues to address. Three adolescent and four older adult citizen scientists volunteered to present study findings to key stakeholders. This study demonstrated that with minimal training, low-income, Latino adolescent and older adult citizen scientists can: (1) use innovative technology to gather information about features of their neighborhood environment that influence active living, (2) analyze their information and identify potential solutions, and (3) engage with stakeholders to advocate for the development of healthier neighborhoods.

  14. Using Citizen Scientists to Gather, Analyze, and Disseminate Information about Neighborhood Features that Affect Active Living

    PubMed Central

    Winter, Sandra J; Rosas, Lisa Goldman; Romero, Priscilla Padilla; Sheats, Jylana L; Buman, Matthew P; Baker, Cathleen; King, Abby C

    2015-01-01

    Background Many Latinos are insufficiently active, partly due to neighborhoods with little environmental support for physical activity. Multi-level approaches are needed to create health-promoting neighborhoods in disadvantaged communities. Methods Participant “citizen scientists” were adolescent (n=10, mean age=12.8±0.6 years) and older adult (n=10, mean age=71.3±6.5 years), low income Latinos in North Fair Oaks, California. Citizen scientists conducted environmental assessments to document perceived barriers to active living using the Stanford Healthy Neighborhood Discovery Tool, which records GPS-tracked walking routes, photographs, audio narratives, and survey responses. Using a community-engaged approach, citizen scientists subsequently attended a community meeting to engage in advocacy training, review assessment data, prioritize issues to address and brainstorm potential solutions and partners. Results Citizen scientists each conducted a neighborhood environmental assessment and recorded 366 photographs and audio narratives. Adolescents (n=4), older adults (n=7) and community members (n=4) collectively identified reducing trash and improving personal safety and sidewalk quality as the priority issues to address. Three adolescent and four older adult citizen scientists volunteered to present study findings to key stakeholders. Conclusions This study demonstrated that with minimal training, low-income, Latino adolescent and older adult citizen scientists can: 1) use innovative technology to gather information about features of their neighborhood environment that influence active living, 2) analyze their information and identify potential solutions, and 3) engage with stakeholders to advocate for the development of healthier neighborhoods. PMID:26184398

  15. Focal Plant Observations as a Standardised Method for Pollinator Monitoring: Opportunities and Limitations for Mass Participation Citizen Science.

    PubMed

    Roy, Helen E; Baxter, Elizabeth; Saunders, Aoine; Pocock, Michael J O

    2016-01-01

    Recently there has been increasing focus on monitoring pollinating insects, due to concerns about their declines, and interest in the role of volunteers in monitoring pollinators, particularly bumblebees, via citizen science. The Big Bumblebee Discovery was a one-year citizen science project run by a partnership of EDF Energy, the British Science Association and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology which sought to assess the influence of the landscape at multiple scales on the diversity and abundance of bumblebees. Timed counts of bumblebees (Bombus spp.; identified to six colour groups) visiting focal plants of lavender (Lavendula spp.) were carried out by about 13 000 primary school children (7-11 years old) from over 4000 schools across the UK. 3948 reports were received totalling 26 868 bumblebees. We found that while the wider landscape type had no significant effect on reported bumblebee abundance, the local proximity to flowers had a significant effect (fewer bumblebees where other flowers were reported to be >5m away from the focal plant). However, the rate of mis-identifcation, revealed by photographs uploaded by participants and a photo-based quiz, was high. Our citizen science results support recent research on the importance of local flocal resources on pollinator abundance. Timed counts of insects visiting a lure plant is potentially an effective approach for standardised pollinator monitoring, engaging a large number of participants with a simple protocol. However, the relatively high rate of mis-identifications (compared to reports from previous pollinator citizen science projects) highlights the importance of investing in resources to train volunteers. Also, to be a scientifically valid method for enquiry, citizen science data needs to be sufficiently high quality, so receiving supporting evidence (such as photographs) would allow this to be tested and for records to be verified.

  16. Citizen Sky, IYA 2009 and What's To Come

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Turner, Rebecca; Price, A.; Henden, A.

    2010-01-01

    Citizen Sky is a multi-year, NSF funded citizen science project involving the bright and mysterious variable star eps Aur. The project was conceived by the IYA 2009 working group on Research Experiences for Students, Teachers, and Citizen-Scientists. Citizen Sky is going beyond simple observing to include a major data analysis component. The goal is to introduce the participant to the full scientific process from background research to paper writing for a peer-reviewed journal. During IYA 2009 the Citizen Sky team was fully assembled, the website was developed and put online, and the first of two participant workshops was held. However, Citizen Sky does not stop or even slow down with the conclusion of IYA 2009. The project will continue to grow in the coming years. New participants are being recruited and trained as the observing phase of the project continues, a second participant workshop is planned for 2010, and the data analysis phase of the project will begin in earnest.

  17. Citizen Sky, Solving the Mystery of epsilon Aurigae

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Turner, Rebecca; Price, A.; Kloppenborg, B.; Henden, A.

    2010-01-01

    Citizen Sky is a multi-year, NSF funded citizen science project involving the bright star eps Aur. The project was conceived by the IYA 2009 working group on Research Experiences for Students, Teachers, and Citizen-Scientists. Citizen Sky goes beyond simple observing to include a major data analysis component. The goal is to introduce the participant to the full scientific process from background research to paper writing for a peer-reviewed journal. It begins with a 10 Star Training Program of several types of binary and transient variable stars that are easy to observe from suburban locations with the naked eye. Participants then move on to monitoring the rare and mysterious 2009-2011 eclipse (already underway) of epsilon Aurigae. This object undergoes eclipses only every 27.1 years and each eclipse lasts nearly two years. The star is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye from most urban areas. Training will be provided in observing techniques as well as basic data analysis of photometric and visual datasets (light curve and period analysis). The project also involves two public workshops, one on observing (already held in August of 2009) and one on data analysis and scientific paper writing (to be held in 2010.) This project has been made possible by the National Science Foundation.

  18. Training Future Schoolteachers to Teach Patriotism to Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zdereva, G. V.

    2005-01-01

    In this article, the author features the state program "The Patriotic Education of Citizens of the Russian Federation in 2001-5," in which the stated purpose is to develop the kind of system of patriotic education for citizens that will be able to accomplish the tasks of consolidating society, maintaining civic and economic stability,…

  19. 75 FR 32255 - Airworthiness Directives; Learjet Inc. Model 60 Airplanes

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-06-08

    ... Safety Board (NTSB), and Mike Waggoner, a private citizen, support the NPRM. The NTSB states that it... that we withdraw the NPRM. Cloud Nine Aviation states that the AFM requirement of a pre-flight pressure..., a private citizen, suggest that training is needed. Aviation Properties asks if there is a plan to...

  20. Learning from Older Citizens' Research Groups

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Munn-Giddings, Carol; McVicar, Andy; Boyce, Melanie; O'Brien, Niamh

    2016-01-01

    This article adds to an ongoing conversation in gerontology about the importance of training and involving older people in research. Currently, the literature rarely distinguishes between the one-off involvement of older citizens in research projects and the development of research groups led by older people that sustain over time as well as the…

  1. Assessment and Evaluation of the Utah Master Naturalist Program: Implications for Targeting Audiences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Larese-Casanova, Mark

    2011-01-01

    The Utah Master Naturalist Program trains citizens who provide education, outreach, and service to promote citizen stewardship of natural resources within their communities. In 2007-2008, the Watersheds module of the program was evaluated for program success, and participant knowledge was assessed. Assessment and evaluation results indicated that…

  2. Community Air Monitoring Training

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    EPA hosted a training workshop to share tools used to conduct citizen science projects involving Next Generation Air Monitoring (NGAM) technology and to educate interested groups and individuals on best practices for successful air monitoring projects.

  3. Teaching citizen science skills online: Implications for invasive species training programs

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Newman, G.; Crall, A.; Laituri, M.; Graham, J.; Stohlgren, T.; Moore, J.C.; Kodrich, K.; Holfelder, K.A.

    2010-01-01

    Citizen science programs are emerging as an efficient way to increase data collection and help monitor invasive species. Effective invasive species monitoring requires rigid data quality assurances if expensive control efforts are to be guided by volunteer data. To achieve data quality, effective online training is needed to improve field skills and reach large numbers of remote sentinel volunteers critical to early detection and rapid response. The authors evaluated the effectiveness of online static and multimedia tutorials to teach citizen science volunteers (n = 54) how to identify invasive plants; establish monitoring plots; measure percent cover; and use Global Positioning System (GPS) units. Participants trained using static and multimedia tutorials provided less (p <.001) correct species identifications (63% and 67%) than did professionals (83%) across all species, but they did not differ (p =.125) between each other. However, their ability to identify conspicuous species was comparable to that of professionals. The variability in percent plant cover estimates between static (??10%) and multimedia (??13%) participants did not differ (p =.86 and.08, respectively) from those of professionals (??9%). Trained volunteers struggled with plot setup and GPS skills. Overall, the online approach used did not influence conferred field skills and abilities. Traditional or multimedia online training augmented with more rigorous, repeated, and hands-on, in-person training in specialized skills required for more difficult tasks will likely improve volunteer abilities, data quality, and overall program effectiveness. ?? Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

  4. HOW DO THE CITIZENS EVALUATE PUBLIC AGENCY REPRESENTATIVE'S COMMUNICATION?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hyuga, Nami; Terabe, Shintaro

    A public involvement (PI) process recently introduced into road planning and various infrastructure planning processes requires that public agency re presentative communicate with the public about planning information. Although many public and open house meetings are led by trained consultants and facilitators, public agency representative also frequently have the opportunity to communicate directly with citizens at such events. However, du e to a lack of communication traini ng, they may not be able to communicate ideas clearly to citizens. In this study, the authors analyzed the nature of public agency representative responses to citizen questions typically asked at a public meeting. As a result of this study, "good manner" was judged to be the most influen tial factor for a good evaluation by citizens and the presence or absence of the "technical terms" was judged to be the second most influential factor for citizens behind "good manner".Thus, public agency representative should convey information to citizens in a "good manner" and without using "technical terms" as described herein so as to discuss issues clearly. The findings of this study will promote better communication with citizens engaged in PI.

  5. In Their Own Words: The Significance of Participant Perceptions in Assessing Entomology Citizen Science Learning Outcomes Using a Mixed Methods Approach

    PubMed Central

    Lynch, Louise I.; Dauer, Jenny M.; Babchuk, Wayne A.; Heng-Moss, Tiffany

    2018-01-01

    A mixed methods study was used to transcend the traditional pre-, post-test approach of citizen science evaluative research by integrating adults’ test scores with their perceptions. We assessed how contributory entomology citizen science affects participants’ science self-efficacy, self-efficacy for environmental action, nature relatedness and attitude towards insects. Pre- and post-test score analyses from citizen scientists (n = 28) and a control group (n = 72) were coupled with interviews (n = 11) about science experiences and entomological interactions during participation. Considering quantitative data alone, no statistically significant changes were evident in adults following participation in citizen science when compared to the control group. Citizen scientists’ pre-test scores were significantly higher than the control group for self-efficacy for environmental action, nature relatedness and attitude towards insects. Interview data reveal a notable discrepancy between measured and perceived changes. In general, citizen scientists had an existing, long-term affinity for the natural world and perceived increases in their science self-efficacy, self-efficacy for environmental action, nature relatedness and attitude towards insects. Perceived influences may act independently of test scores. Scale instruments may not show impacts with variances in individual’s prior knowledge and experiences. The value of mixed methods on citizen science program evaluation is discussed. PMID:29415522

  6. In Their Own Words: The Significance of Participant Perceptions in Assessing Entomology Citizen Science Learning Outcomes Using a Mixed Methods Approach.

    PubMed

    Lynch, Louise I; Dauer, Jenny M; Babchuk, Wayne A; Heng-Moss, Tiffany; Golick, Doug

    2018-02-06

    A mixed methods study was used to transcend the traditional pre-, post-test approach of citizen science evaluative research by integrating adults' test scores with their perceptions. We assessed how contributory entomology citizen science affects participants' science self-efficacy, self-efficacy for environmental action, nature relatedness and attitude towards insects. Pre- and post-test score analyses from citizen scientists ( n = 28) and a control group ( n = 72) were coupled with interviews ( n = 11) about science experiences and entomological interactions during participation. Considering quantitative data alone, no statistically significant changes were evident in adults following participation in citizen science when compared to the control group. Citizen scientists' pre-test scores were significantly higher than the control group for self-efficacy for environmental action, nature relatedness and attitude towards insects. Interview data reveal a notable discrepancy between measured and perceived changes. In general, citizen scientists had an existing, long-term affinity for the natural world and perceived increases in their science self-efficacy, self-efficacy for environmental action, nature relatedness and attitude towards insects. Perceived influences may act independently of test scores. Scale instruments may not show impacts with variances in individual's prior knowledge and experiences. The value of mixed methods on citizen science program evaluation is discussed.

  7. [Characteristics of social activity of the elderly who belong to senior citizens].

    PubMed

    Takahashi, Mihoko; Shibazaki, Satomi; Nagai, Masaki

    2003-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to clarify environmental conditions determining the social activities of the elderly, by analyzing levels of activity in individuals belonging to clubs for senior citizens. In 1998, we conducted a survey of over 10,000 elderly subjects, 65 years of age or older, who belonged to 228 clubs for senior citizens in a region of Saitama Prefecture, using a 'Check list' developed for self-evaluation of social activities. The proportions of 'active' and 'inactive' seniors, as judged by the 'Check list' for each of the four different aspects of social activities (1. individual activities, 2. social participation/volunteering, 3. education/training, 4. employment), were compared with those of the standard elderly population. Two hundred and seven clubs for senior citizens (90.8%) participated in this study. About 82.0% of the members of each club filled out the 'Check list'. High levels as compared to the standard population were demonstrated for two aspects of social activity: individual activity and social participation/volunteering. Women had higher levels of both types of social activity than men. Men aged 74 years or younger had lower than average levels for three aspects of social activity: social participation/volunteering, education/training, and employment. Members who resided in urban areas with easy access had higher levels of individual activity, social participation/volunteering and education/training. On the other hand, those residing in suburbs with large spaces for agriculture had higher levels for employment. Our results for social activities of elderly subjects belonging to clubs for senior citizens indicate that strong correlations exist with environmental conditions, including communication facilities and local or industrial structure.

  8. Crowdsourcing Science to Promote Human Health: New Tools to Promote Sampling of Mosquito Populations by Citizen Scientists

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boger, R. A.; Low, R.; Jaroensutasinee, M.; Jaroensutasinee, K.; Sparrow, E. B.; Costosa, J. I.; Medina, J.; Randolph, G.

    2015-12-01

    GLOBE in Thailand and GLOBE in Africa independently developed citizen science protocols for collecting and analyzing mosquito larvae. These protocols have been piloted in several workshops and implemented in schools. Data collected have been used for several secondary, undergraduate and graduate student research studies. Over this past year, 2015, these protocols have been synthesized into one protocol that will be made available to the world-wide community through the GLOBE website (www.globe.gov). This new protocol is designed to be flexible in the mosquito species that can be collected and the types of environments sampled (e.g., containers in and around the house, ponds, irrigation ditches in a rice paddy field). Plans are underway to enable web-based data entry and mobile apps for data collection and submission. Once everything is finalized, a GLOBE field campaign will be initiated for citizen scientists to collect meaningful data on where different types of mosquito larvae are found and how the abundance and distribution is changing seasonally. To assist in the standardization of data collection and quality control, training slides are being developed and will be made available in early 2016. This will enable a wider participation of citizen scientists to participate in this effort to collect mosquito data by making it easier to become part of the GLOBE community. As with mosquito larvae, training slides are being created for hydrosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, and pedosphere GLOBE measurement protocols. The development of the mosquito protocol and the training slides are in direct response to the GLOBE community's desire to increase citizen science participation beyond primary and secondary schools, in observing and measuring environmental change.

  9. An exploration of citizen science for population health research in retail food environments.

    PubMed

    Pomeroy, Stephanie J; Minaker, Leia M; Mah, Catherine L

    2018-01-22

    Public engagement is an essential component of public health research, practice, knowledge exchange processes, and decision making. Citizen science was first documented in the early 1900s as an approach to public engagement and there is growing interest in how it can be used in health research. This commentary describes how citizen science approaches were incorporated into a public engagement activity as part of a population health intervention research project on the retail food environment, a workshop we hosted called The Food In This Place in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. We used citizen science methods and approaches to train and support participants to critically analyze a sample of everyday local retail food environments.

  10. Bridging the Generation Gap across the Digital Divide: Teens Teaching Internet Skills to Senior Citizens.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kolodinsky, Jane; Cranwell, Michele; Rowe, Ellen

    2002-01-01

    The Teens Teaching Internet Skills Pilot Project engaged youth from 4-H Technology Teams in training senior citizens to obtain information from the Medicare website. The teens perceived an improvement in working with seniors, project management, teaching, public speaking, and leadership. The workshops had a positive effect on seniors' comfort and…

  11. Citizen Sky, An Update on the AAVSO's New Citizen Science Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Turner, Rebecca; Price, A.; Henden, A.; Stencel, R.; Kloppenborg, B.

    2011-01-01

    Citizen Sky is a multi-year, NSF-funded, citizen science project focusing on the bright variable star, epsilon Aurigae. Citizen Sky goes beyond simple observing to include a major data analysis component. The goal is to introduce the participant to the full scientific process from background research to paper writing for a peer-reviewed journal. The first year of the project, 2009-10, was dedicated to developing project infrastructure, educating participants about epsilon Aurigae, and training these participants to observe the star and report their data. Looking forward, years two and three of the project will focus on assembling teams of participants to work on their own analysis and research. Results will be published in a special issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of the AAVSO. This project has been made possible by the National Science Foundation.

  12. CosmoQuest: Measuring Audience Needs to Obtain Better Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buxner, Sanlyn; Bakerman, Maya; Gay, Pamela; Reiheld, Alison; CosmoQuest Team

    2018-01-01

    The CosmoQuest Virtual Research Facility provides a place for scientists to recruit people to aid in their science projects via citizen science. Just as students need training to be effective researchers, so do citizen scientists, but their needs are different. In this presentation, we present the results of surveys of members of the CosmoQuest community, including both citizen scientists and educators using citizen science in their classrooms. For all members of the community, we investigated the types of projects that respondents enjoyed doing, the level of difficulty they were willing to engage in, and the amount of time they spent doing citizen science projects. We also investigated what other science-related activities respondents were engaged in, other opportunities they were interested in, and what support and resources they needed to be successful in completing projects. For educators, we investigated the types of projects they wanted to engage in with their students, the ideal length of time for citizen science projects to be used in their classrooms, and the resources they needed to be able to engage students in citizen science projects effectively.

  13. The Power of Engaging Citizen Scientists for Scientific Progress

    PubMed Central

    Garbarino, Jeanne; Mason, Christopher E.

    2016-01-01

    Citizen science has become a powerful force for scientific inquiry, providing researchers with access to a vast array of data points while connecting nonscientists to the authentic process of science. This citizen-researcher relationship creates an incredible synergy, allowing for the creation, execution, and analysis of research projects that would otherwise prove impossible in traditional research settings, namely due to the scope of needed human or financial resources (or both). However, citizen-science projects are not without their challenges. For instance, as projects are scaled up, there is concern regarding the rigor and usability of data collected by citizens who are not formally trained in research science. While these concerns are legitimate, we have seen examples of highly successful citizen-science projects from multiple scientific disciplines that have enhanced our collective understanding of science, such as how RNA molecules fold or determining the microbial metagenomic snapshot of an entire public transportation system. These and other emerging citizen-science projects show how improved protocols for reliable, large-scale science can realize both an improvement of scientific understanding for the general public and novel views of the world around us. PMID:27047581

  14. The Formation of the Willing Citizen -- Tracing Reactive Nihilism in Late Capitalist Adult Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Olson, Maria; Dahlstedt, Magnus; Fejes, Andreas; Sandberg, Fredrik

    2018-01-01

    The role of education in citizen training has been well mapped out in youth education. What has been less studied is how this role comes into being in adult education. By providing illustrative empirical examples from a recently completed study of adult students enrolled in adult education, this article aims to offer a theoretical response to the…

  15. Training in the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. The User Manual Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Broadhurst, Diane D.; MacDicken, Robert A.

    Intended primarily for persons or agencies responsible for providing training to professionals and interested citizens involved in delivery of services to abusive and neglectful families, the manual addresses the importance of training in the identification, reporting, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of child abuse and neglect. Chapters focus…

  16. Frequently Asked Questions from EPA's Community Air Monitoring Training Event, July 2015

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    EPA's Community Air Monitoring Training Event on July 9, 2015 in RTP, NC. Forty citizen scientists attended in person while over 500 others attended the live webinar. Several attendees posted questions, which EPA scientists have addressed here.

  17. Online Localization of "Zooniverse" Citizen Science Projects--On the Use of Translation Platforms as Tools for Translator Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Michalak, Krzysztof

    2015-01-01

    This paper aims at describing the way in which online translation platforms can facilitate the process of training translators. "Zooniverse," a website hosting a variety of citizen science projects in which everyone can take part, was used as an example of such a concept. The first section of this paper is focused on the history, idea…

  18. Pawtucket R.I. Group Selected for EPA Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Program Grant

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Groundwork Rhode Island, a Pawtucket-based organization, was one of 17 groups selected today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to share $3.3 million to operate environmental job training programs for local citizens.

  19. Focal Plant Observations as a Standardised Method for Pollinator Monitoring: Opportunities and Limitations for Mass Participation Citizen Science

    PubMed Central

    Roy, Helen E.; Baxter, Elizabeth; Saunders, Aoine; Pocock, Michael J. O.

    2016-01-01

    Background Recently there has been increasing focus on monitoring pollinating insects, due to concerns about their declines, and interest in the role of volunteers in monitoring pollinators, particularly bumblebees, via citizen science. Methodology / Principal Findings The Big Bumblebee Discovery was a one-year citizen science project run by a partnership of EDF Energy, the British Science Association and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology which sought to assess the influence of the landscape at multiple scales on the diversity and abundance of bumblebees. Timed counts of bumblebees (Bombus spp.; identified to six colour groups) visiting focal plants of lavender (Lavendula spp.) were carried out by about 13 000 primary school children (7–11 years old) from over 4000 schools across the UK. 3948 reports were received totalling 26 868 bumblebees. We found that while the wider landscape type had no significant effect on reported bumblebee abundance, the local proximity to flowers had a significant effect (fewer bumblebees where other flowers were reported to be >5m away from the focal plant). However, the rate of mis-identifcation, revealed by photographs uploaded by participants and a photo-based quiz, was high. Conclusions / Significance Our citizen science results support recent research on the importance of local flocal resources on pollinator abundance. Timed counts of insects visiting a lure plant is potentially an effective approach for standardised pollinator monitoring, engaging a large number of participants with a simple protocol. However, the relatively high rate of mis-identifications (compared to reports from previous pollinator citizen science projects) highlights the importance of investing in resources to train volunteers. Also, to be a scientifically valid method for enquiry, citizen science data needs to be sufficiently high quality, so receiving supporting evidence (such as photographs) would allow this to be tested and for records to be verified. PMID:26985824

  20. [First aid and defibrillation in the workplace: a helpful decision for the public].

    PubMed

    Calicchia, S; Cangiano, G; Papaleo, B

    2012-01-01

    Immediate activation of the chain of survival and the CPR training of the lay population, including prompt use of a semiautomatic defibrillator (AED), has been amply shown to reduce mortality due to cardiac arrest, which causes 60,000 deaths per year in Italy alone. This paper proposes a revision of the Italian regulation D.M. 388/03 on First Aid (FA), starting from the assumption that action in the workplace significantly improves the safety not only of workers but of citizens as a whole, especially in places attended by large numbers of people. The proposals, reflecting the recent regulation on early defibrillation, are based on field work done by the ISPESL Training Center (actually merged in INAIL), in cooperation with other institutions, and on a review of the literature and international guidelines. New training models have been tested and introduced in company FA systems, with fresh course content for FA workers and instructors.

  1. CosmoQuest: Building a Community of Skilled Citizen Science Contributors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gay, P.; Lehan, C.; Bracey, G.; Durrell, P.; Komatsu, T.; Yamani, A.; Francis, M. R.

    2016-12-01

    The CosmoQuest Virtual Research Facility invites the public to participate in NASA Science Mission Directorate related research that leads to publishable results and data catalogues. CosmoQuest projects range in difficulty from simple crater and transient marking tasks to more complicated mapping tasks. To successfully engage contributors in creating usable results, training and validation are required. This is accomplished through activities that are designed to mirror the experiences students would have in a university, and include mentoring by team scientists, feedback on contributor efforts, seminars to learn about new science, and even formal classes to provide needed background. Recruitment is accomplished using new and social media, and planetarium and Science on the Sphere™ trailers and shows, and community is built through online and real-world collaboration spaces and events. In this presentation, we detail CosmoQuest's four-pronged approach of media recruitment, science education, citizen science, and community collaboration. We also discuss how it is leveraged to create a skilled collaboration of citizen scientists. Training and data validation activities will be be emphasized, with examples of both what can go right and lessons learned from when things go wrong. We conclude with strategies on how to utilize best practices in user interface design to create virtual experiences that allow major citizen science efforts to be scalable to large audiences.

  2. The Zooniverse

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Borne, K. D.; Fortson, L.; Gay, P.; Lintott, C.; Raddick, M. J.; Wallin, J.

    2009-12-01

    The remarkable success of Galaxy Zoo as a citizen science project for galaxy classification within a terascale astronomy data collection has led to the development of a broader collaboration, known as the Zooniverse. Activities will include astronomy, lunar science, solar science, and digital humanities. Some features of our program include development of a unified framework for citizen science projects, development of a common set of user-based research tools, engagement of the machine learning community to apply machine learning algorithms on the rich training data provided by citizen scientists, and extension across multiple research disciplines. The Zooniverse collaboration is just getting started, but already we are implementing a scientifically deep follow-on to Galaxy Zoo. This project, tentatively named Galaxy Merger Zoo, will engage users in running numerical simulations, whose input parameter space is voluminous and therefore demands a clever solution, such as allowing the citizen scientists to select their own sets of parameters, which then trigger new simulations of colliding galaxies. The user interface design has many of the engaging features that retain users, including rapid feedback, visually appealing graphics, and the sense of playing a competitive game for the benefit of science. We will discuss these topics. In addition, we will also describe applications of Citizen Science that are being considered for the petascale science project LSST (Large Synoptic Survey Telescope). LSST will produce a scientific data system that consists of a massive image archive (nearly 100 petabytes) and a similarly massive scientific parameter database (20-40 petabytes). Applications of Citizen Science for such an enormous data collection will enable greater scientific return in at least two ways. First, citizen scientists work with real data and perform authentic research tasks of value to the advancement of the science, providing "human computation" capabilities and resources to review, annotate, and explore aspects of the data that are too overwhelming for the science team. Second, citizen scientists' inputs (in the form of rich training data and class labels) can be used to improve the classifiers that the project team uses to classify and prioritize new events detected in the petascale data stream. This talk will review these topics and provide an update on the Zooniverse project.

  3. Manual for the Training of United States Fisheries Observer Corps Atlantic Region. Marine Bulletin 33.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Merdinyan, Mark E.; Mortimer, Christine D.

    This manual has been produced for use in a four-week training program developed by University of Rhode Island fisheries educators for the training of United States citizens in the duties and responsibilities of observers placed on foreign fishing vessels operating in the Fisheries Conservation Zone in the Atlantic Region. The program combines…

  4. Training 21st-Century Workers: Facts, Fiction and Memory Illusions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abadzi, Helen

    2016-01-01

    Technological achievements require complex skills for the workplace, along with creativity, communication, and critical thinking. To compete effectively in the global economy, governments must provide their citizens with relevant education and training. To help close the skills gap, international agencies often advise governments of developing…

  5. GoPros™ as an underwater photogrammetry tool for citizen science

    PubMed Central

    David, Peter A.; Dupont, Sally F.; Mathewson, Ciaran P.; O’Neill, Samuel J.; Powell, Nicholas N.; Williamson, Jane E.

    2016-01-01

    Citizen science can increase the scope of research in the marine environment; however, it suffers from necessitating specialized training and simplified methodologies that reduce research output. This paper presents a simplified, novel survey methodology for citizen scientists, which combines GoPro imagery and structure from motion to construct an ortho-corrected 3D model of habitats for analysis. Results using a coral reef habitat were compared to surveys conducted with traditional snorkelling methods for benthic cover, holothurian counts, and coral health. Results were comparable between the two methods, and structure from motion allows the results to be analysed off-site for any chosen visual analysis. The GoPro method outlined in this study is thus an effective tool for citizen science in the marine environment, especially for comparing changes in coral cover or volume over time. PMID:27168973

  6. GoPros™ as an underwater photogrammetry tool for citizen science.

    PubMed

    Raoult, Vincent; David, Peter A; Dupont, Sally F; Mathewson, Ciaran P; O'Neill, Samuel J; Powell, Nicholas N; Williamson, Jane E

    2016-01-01

    Citizen science can increase the scope of research in the marine environment; however, it suffers from necessitating specialized training and simplified methodologies that reduce research output. This paper presents a simplified, novel survey methodology for citizen scientists, which combines GoPro imagery and structure from motion to construct an ortho-corrected 3D model of habitats for analysis. Results using a coral reef habitat were compared to surveys conducted with traditional snorkelling methods for benthic cover, holothurian counts, and coral health. Results were comparable between the two methods, and structure from motion allows the results to be analysed off-site for any chosen visual analysis. The GoPro method outlined in this study is thus an effective tool for citizen science in the marine environment, especially for comparing changes in coral cover or volume over time.

  7. Training Volunteers in Community Education: A Manual for Staff Members in Community Decision-Making Settings.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Slotnik, William J.; And Others

    Methods for encouraging community involvement and training community volunteers for decision making positions in community schools are described. The functions of community schools are to provide a broad diversity of learning opportunities and to involve citizens in assessing community needs, evaluating services, and advocating…

  8. Exploring Factors That Affect Adoption of Computer Security Practices among College Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alqarni, Amani

    2017-01-01

    Cyber-attacks threaten the security of computer users' information, networks, machines, and privacy. Studies of computer security education, awareness, and training among ordinary computer users, college students, non-IT-oriented user groups, and non-technically trained citizens are limited. Most research has focused on computer security standards…

  9. A-Train Education Activities: Partnerships to Engage Citizens with Atmospheric Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ellis, T. D.; Taylor, J.; Chambers, L. H.; Graham, S.; Butcher, G. J.

    2016-12-01

    Since the launch of Aqua in 2002, the A-Train satellites have been at the forefront of observing Earth's atmosphere using the wide variety of instruments on the spacecraft in the formation. Similarly, the A-Train missions have also taken a variety of perspectives on engaging the general public with NASA science. These approaches have included a range of formal education partnerships featuring the GLOBE program (including a cloud observation network through CloudSat, several initiatives to understand and measure aerosols, and development of a new elementary story book), unique citizen-science activities such as Students' Cloud Observations On Line (S'COOL), connections with the PBS Kids SciGirls program, and much more. An education component was also featured at the first A-Train symposium in New Orleans, engaging local educators to learn about the many education resources available from the A-Train missions. Increasingly, the mission education teams have been working together to drive home thematic science content, such as the roles of clouds in our climate system and regular measurements of Earth's radiant energy balance. This paper describes the evolution of A-Train education efforts over the past decade, highlights key achievements, and presents information on new initiatives to continue to engage the public with A-Train science.

  10. Reading, Writing, and Rhetoric: The Three R's of Civic Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hart, D. Alexis

    This paper contends that modern compositionist courses have successfully met the goal of training students to become socially productive citizens by teaching them to be proficient "readers" who critically examine the sources and dissemination of knowledge, but that the field has fallen short of its goal of training students to actively…

  11. Internet-based brain training games, citizen scientists, and big data: ethical issues in unprecedented virtual territories.

    PubMed

    Purcell, Ryan H; Rommelfanger, Karen S

    2015-04-22

    Internet brain training programs, where consumers serve as both subjects and funders of the research, represent the closest engagement many individuals have with neuroscience. Safeguards are needed to protect participants' privacy and the evolving scientific enterprise of big data. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. The Effect of Alternative Training Methods on the Trouble-Shooting Performances of Maintenance Technicians.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schorgmayer, Helmut; Swanson, Richard A.

    Results of a study to determine the effects of conceptual versus specific (traditional) training techniques on the trouble-shooting performance of maintenance technicians are presented. The research subjects were students at Bowling Green State University and citizens in Northwest Ohio with no post high school technical coursework. Those that…

  13. The effectiveness of ultrabrief and brief educational videos for training lay responders in hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation: implications for the future of citizen cardiopulmonary resuscitation training.

    PubMed

    Bobrow, Bentley J; Vadeboncoeur, Tyler F; Spaite, Daniel W; Potts, Jerald; Denninghoff, Kurt; Chikani, Vatsal; Brazil, Paula R; Ramsey, Bob; Abella, Benjamin S

    2011-03-01

    Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) improves survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) but often is not performed. We hypothesized that subjects viewing very short Hands-Only CPR videos will (1) be more likely to attempt CPR in a simulated OHCA scenario and (2) demonstrate better CPR skills than untrained individuals. This study is a prospective trial of 336 adults without recent CPR training randomized into 4 groups: (1) control (no training) (n=51); (2) 60-second video training (n=95); (3) 5-minute video training (n=99); and (4) 8-minute video training, including manikin practice (n=91). All subjects were tested for their ability to perform CPR during an adult OHCA scenario using a CPR-sensing manikin and Laerdal PC SkillReporting software. One half of the trained subjects were randomly assigned to testing immediately and the other half after a 2-month delay. Twelve (23.5%) controls did not even attempt CPR, which was true of only 2 subjects (0.7%; P=0.01) from any of the experimental groups. All experimental groups had significantly higher average compression rates (closer to the recommended 100/min) than the control group (P<0.001), and all experimental groups had significantly greater average compression depth (>38 mm) than the control group (P<0.0001). Laypersons exposed to very short Hands-Only CPR videos are more likely to attempt CPR and show superior CPR skills than untrained laypersons. Clinical Trial Registration- URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01191736.

  14. "Teacher in Space" Participants - Space Food Testing - Orientation Session - JSC

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1985-09-25

    S85-39979 (10 Sept. 1985) --- Two teachers training for participation in the STS-51L flight get their first introduction to space food during an orientation session in the life sciences building at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). Sharon Christa McAuliffe (left) chews on a morsel while Barbara R. Morgan reaches for a bite. Dr. C.T. Bourland of Technology, Incorporated, looks on. McAuliffe was chosen from among ten finalists as prime citizen observer payload specialist and Morgan was named as backup for the STS-51L flight. Photo credit: NASA

  15. Conservation and monitoring of a persecuted African lion population by Maasai warriors.

    PubMed

    Dolrenry, Stephanie; Hazzah, Leela; Frank, Laurence G

    2016-06-01

    Although Africa has many threatened species and biological hot spots, there are few citizen science schemes, particularly in rural communities, and there has been limited evaluation of existing programs. We engaged traditional Maasai warriors (pastoralist men aged 15 to 35) in community-based conservation and demographic monitoring of a persecuted African lion (Panthera leo) population. Through direct engagement, we investigated whether a citizen science approach employing local warriors, who had no formal education, could produce reliable data on the demographics, predation, and movements of a species with which their communities have been in conflict for generations. Warriors were given benefits such as literacy training and skill enhancement and engaged in the monitoring of the lions. The trained warriors reported on lion sign across an area nearly 4000 km(2) . Scientists worked together with the warriors to verify their reports and gather observations on the lion population. Using the verified reports and collected observations, we examined our scientific knowledge relative to the lion population preceding and during the citizen science program. Our observations showed that data quality and quantity improved with the involvement and training of the participants. Furthermore, because they engaged in conservation and gained personal benefits, the participants came to appreciate a species that was traditionally their foe. We believe engaging other local communities in biodiversity conservation and monitoring may be an effective conservation approach in rural Africa. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  16. Citizen CATE: Evaluating Outcomes of a Solar Eclipse Citizen Science Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Penn, M. J.; Haden, C.

    2017-12-01

    On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will be visible along a path of totality from Oregon to South Carolina. The Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse Experiment (CATE) will use scientists, students and volunteers to take images of the solar corona using 68 identical telescopes, software and instrument packages along the 2,500-mile path of totality. CATE partners include National Solar Observatory scientists, university faculty and students, high school students, and professional and amateur astronomers. NASA funded CATE educational components including training undergraduates and volunteers on solar imaging software and equipment. The National Science Foundation and corporations including DayStar, MathWorks, Celestron and ColorMaker funded equipment. Undergraduates participated in summer research experiences to build their capacity for gathering eclipse data, and subsequently trained volunteers across the U.S. Aligned to NASA education goals, CATE goals range from providing an authentic research experience for students and lifelong learners, to making state-of-the-art solar coronal observations, to increasing scientific literacy of the public. While project investigators are examining the wealth of scientific data that will come from CATE, evaluators are examining impacts on participants. Through mixed methods, evaluators are examining outcomes related to changes in volunteers' knowledge, skills and attitudes. Additionally, the study will examine how citizen science astronomy using CATE equipment will continue after the eclipse to sustain project impacts. Preliminary findings for undergraduates indicate that they are gaining knowledge and skills related to studying solar coronal phenomena, conducting rigorous scientific research, and interfacing with the public to conduct outreach. Preliminary findings for citizen scientists indicate a high level of engagement in the research, and that they are gaining new knowledge and skills related to solar science and eclipses. Volunteers also reported learning a great deal about safety while observing the Sun. This evaluation study will add to the body of knowledge about the effectiveness and utility of citizen science programs. Findings will be updated with data collected during and immediately after the eclipse events.

  17. Crowdsourced Science: Citizen Science Using the Globe Observer Mobile App

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Low, R.; Riebeek Kohl, H.

    2016-12-01

    Field-based citizen science programs broaden public understanding of the Earth's system and connect users personally in seeing and understanding the changes that are taking place on our planet. GLOBE Observer (GO) is a new initiative for citizen scientists of all ages and connects users to NASA science via a simple smartphone app. Version 1.0 includes GLOBE Clouds, which guides users in photographing clouds and recording sky observations. Citizen scientist cloud observations are compared with NASA satellite images, and provide critical ground validation of satellite data so we better understand the Earth and its environment. The GLOBE Observer mobile app is equipped with data collection capabilities and visualization opportunities that lower the barrier for public participation in data collection and analysis efforts. Future releases of the GLOBE Observer app will support public engagement in investigations of the hydrosphere and biosphere. Some of the exciting developments on the horizon include in-app training games to build skills, in-app push messaging, which challenge a citizen scientist to participate data collection missions, and automated data validation capabilities.

  18. Psychological first-aid training for paraprofessionals: a systems-based model for enhancing capacity of rural emergency responses.

    PubMed

    McCabe, O Lee; Perry, Charlene; Azur, Melissa; Taylor, Henry G; Bailey, Mark; Links, Jonathan M

    2011-08-01

    Ensuring the capacity of the public health, emergency preparedness system to respond to disaster-related need for mental health services is a challenge, particularly in rural areas in which the supply of responders with relevant expertise rarely matches the surge of demand for services. This investigation established and evaluated a systems-based partnership model for recruiting, training, and promoting official recognition of community residents as paraprofessional members of the Maryland Medical Professional Volunteer Corps. The partners were leaders of local health departments (LHDs), faith-based organizations (FBOs), and an academic health center (AHC). A one-group, quasi-experimental research design, using both post-test only and pre-/post-test assessments, was used to determine the feasibility, effectiveness, and impact of the overall program and of a one-day workshop in Psychological First Aid (PFA) for Paraprofessionals. The training was applied to and evaluated for 178 citizens drawn from 120 Christian parishes in four local health jurisdictions in rural Maryland. Feasibility-The model was demonstrated to be practicable, as measured by specific criteria to quantify partner readiness, willingness, and ability to collaborate and accomplish project aims. Effectiveness-The majority (93-99%) of individual participants "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that, as a result of the intervention, they understood the conceptual content of PFA and were confident about ("perceived self-efficacy") using PFA techniques with prospective disaster survivors. Impact-Following PFA training, 56 of the 178 (31.5%) participants submitted same-day applications to be paraprofessional responders in the Volunteer Corps. The formal acceptance of citizens who typically do not possess licensure in a health profession reflects a project-engendered policy change by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. These findings are consistent with the conclusion that it is feasible to consider LHDs, FBOs, and AHCs as partners to work effectively within the span of a six-month period to design, promote, conduct, and evaluate a model of capacity/capability building for public mental health emergency response based on a professional "extender" rationale. Moreover, consistently high levels of perceived self-efficacy as PFA responders can be achieved with lay members of the community who receive a specially-designed, one-day training program in crisis intervention and referral strategies for disaster survivors.

  19. Novel use of geochemical models in evaluating treatment trains for aqueous radioactive waste streams

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Abitz, R.J.

    1996-12-31

    Thermodynamic geochemical models have been applied to assess the relative effectiveness of a variety of reagents added to aqueous waste streams for the removal of radioactive elements. Two aqueous waste streams were examined: effluent derived from the processing of uranium ore and irradiated uranium fuel rods. Simulations of the treatment train were performed to estimate the mass of reagents needed per kilogram of solution, identify pH regions corresponding to solubility minimums, and predict the identity and quantity of precipitated solids. Results generated by the simulations include figures that chart the chemical evolution of the waste stream as reagents are addedmore » and summary tables that list mass balances for all reagents and radioactive elements of concern. Model results were used to set initial reagent levels for the treatment trains, minimizing the number of bench-scale tests required to bring the treatment train up to full-scale operation. Additionally, presentation of modeling results at public meetings helps to establish good faith between the federal government, industry, concerned citizens, and media groups. 18 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.« less

  20. Outreach Through Action: Using Citizen Science Pathways to Educate and Engage the Public While Collecting Real Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wickline, A.

    2016-02-01

    Citizens in Lewes, DE monitor local waterways by collecting physical and chemical data and checking for harmful algal blooms since 1991 through the University of Delaware Citizen Monitoring Program (UD CMP). This effort has produced lengthy time series for some sites dating back to 1991, as well as an engaged cohort of local citizens interested in coastal and estuarine processes. Though their primary goal is to monitor for conditions that could potentially be harmful to human and aquatic health, we saw an opportunity to reach out and expand their efforts by asking these citizens to sample the zooplankton community, providing more ecological context for their data. Over the past year, we have worked to engage this group through a series of talks and trainings. We explained the basics of zooplankton dynamics in our region, recruited volunteers to collect zooplankton at their sites, and worked with them to analyze their data. This small pilot project exemplifies the dual benefits of citizen science programs: collecting credible data while provided people with non-science backgrounds a chance to learn science through a hands-on project. The interactions with researchers and opportunities to work with real data offer citizens the one of the most robust science experiences, going beyond those provided by attending lab open houses or listening to talks.

  1. Soundscapes to Landscapes (S2L): Monitoring Animal Biodiversity from Space Using Citizen Scientists

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clark, M. L.; Salas, L.; Goetz, S. J.

    2017-12-01

    Soundscapes to Landscapes (S2L) is a citizen science project with the broad goal of advancing scientific understanding of biodiversity and conservation using a combination of new and existing spaceborne sensors. The prototype phase of this project is focused on modeling bird diversity at the watershed scale in Sonoma County, California. The main objectives are to: 1) involve citizen scientists in the collection of in situ field information on bird diversity; 2) assess the accuracy and precision of bioacoustics for the detection and monitoring of individual species and richness; 3) test the predictive strength of spaceborne imaging spectroscopy, lidar, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors for spatial modeling of species occupancy and overall species richness; and 4) use occupancy/richness maps to better understand factors related to conserving animal diversity. In the prototype field campaign, citizen scientists (birders, undergraduate students) deployed portable sound recorders for 3-4 days in various habitats in a local watershed. Over 50,200 minutes (866 hours) of "soundscape" recordings were collected over 3 months. Through a series of "bird blitzes", citizen scientists used the ARBIMON II web-based system to listen to spectrograms (time vs. frequency) of 1-minute recordings, tag bird calls for identifiable species, validate presence/absence of bird species, draw training-set boxes around well-formed calls, and help evaluate Random Forests machine-learning model performance. Bird-call models were applied to all soundscapes to identify presence/absence of 10 indicator species. Another phase of this project involves species distribution modeling in conjunction with C- and L-band SAR imagery, simulated Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI) and Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) large-footprint lidar data. Metrics derived from these data provide unique, wall-to-wall information on vegetation chemistry (HyspIRI) and three-dimensional structure (GEDI, SAR) that are linked with soundscape-derived bird data to model species occupancy and overall richness at the landscape scale.

  2. CATE 2016 Indonesia: Image Calibration, Intensity Calibration, and Drift Scan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hare, H. S.; Kovac, S. A.; Jensen, L.; McKay, M. A.; Bosh, R.; Watson, Z.; Mitchell, A. M.; Penn, M. J.

    2016-12-01

    The citizen Continental America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) experiment aims to provide equipment for 60 sites across the path of totality for the United States August 21st, 2017 total solar eclipse. The opportunity to gather ninety minutes of continuous images of the solar corona is unmatched by any other previous eclipse event. In March of 2016, 5 teams were sent to Indonesia to test CATE equipment and procedures on the March 9th, 2016 total solar eclipse. Also, a goal of the trip was practice and gathering data to use in testing data reduction methods. Of the five teams, four collected data. While in Indonesia, each group participated in community outreach in the location of their site. The 2016 eclipse allowed CATE to test the calibration techniques for the 2017 eclipse. Calibration dark current and flat field images were collected to remove variation across the cameras. Drift scan observations provided information to rotationally align the images from each site. These image's intensity values allowed for intensity calibration for each of the sites. A GPS at each site corrected for major computer errors in time measurement of images. Further refinement of these processes is required before the 2017 eclipse. This work was made possible through the NSO Training for the 2017 Citizen CATE Experiment funded by NASA (NASA NNX16AB92A).

  3. Knowledge gain and behavioral change in citizen-science programs.

    PubMed

    Jordan, Rebecca C; Gray, Steven A; Howe, David V; Brooks, Wesley R; Ehrenfeld, Joan G

    2011-12-01

    Citizen-science programs are often touted as useful for advancing conservation literacy, scientific knowledge, and increasing scientific-reasoning skills among the public. Guidelines for collaboration among scientists and the public are lacking and the extent to which these citizen-science initiatives change behavior is relatively unstudied. Over two years, we studied 82 participants in a three-day program that included education about non-native invasive plants and collection of data on the occurrence of those plants. Volunteers were given background knowledge about invasive plant ecology and trained on a specific protocol for collecting invasive plant data. They then collected data and later gathered as a group to analyze data and discuss responsible environmental behavior with respect to invasive plants. We tested whether participants without experience in plant identification and with little knowledge of invasive plants increased their knowledge of invasive species ecology, participation increased knowledge of scientific methods, and participation affected behavior. Knowledge of invasive plants increased on average 24%, but participation was insufficient to increase understanding of how scientific research is conducted. Participants reported increased ability to recognize invasive plants and increased awareness of effects of invasive plants on the environment, but this translated into little change in behavior regarding invasive plants. Potential conflicts between scientific goals, educational goals, and the motivation of participants must be considered during program design. ©2011 Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. Citizens' Perspectives on Disinvestment from Publicly Funded Pathology Tests: A Deliberative Forum.

    PubMed

    Street, Jackie M; Callaghan, Peta; Braunack-Mayer, Annette J; Hiller, Janet E

    2015-12-01

    Deliberative forums can be useful tools in policy decision making for balancing citizen voice and community values against dominant interests. To describe the use of a deliberative forum to explore community perspectives on a complex health problem-disinvestment. A deliberative forum of citizens was convened in Adelaide, South Australia, to develop criteria to support disinvestment from public funding of ineffective pathology tests. The case study of potential disinvestment from vitamin B12/folate pathology testing was used to shape the debate. The forum was informed by a systematic review of B12/folate pathology test effectiveness and expert testimony. The citizens identified seven criteria: cost of the test, potential impact on individual health/capacity to benefit, potential cost to society, public good, alternatives to testing, severity of the condition, and accuracy of the test. The participants not only saw these criteria as an interdependent network but also questioned "the authority" of policymakers to make these decisions. Coherence between the criteria devised by the forum and those described by an expert group was considerable, the major differences being that the citizens did not consider equity issues and the experts neglected the "cost" of social and emotional impact of disinvestment on users and the society. Copyright © 2015 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Teaching Evidence-Based Practice in Service-Learning: A Model for Education and Service

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Terry, John D.; Smith, Bradley H.; McQuillin, Samuel D.

    2014-01-01

    Evidence-based practice (EBP) is strongly emphasized in many professions and should be taught as part of pre-professional training or to promote the development of enlightened citizens who utilize professional services. Service-learning (SL) classes provide an excellent opportunity to provide meaningful training in how EBP relates to education,…

  6. Advanced Training of Labour Force: The USA Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sushentsev, Artem

    2014-01-01

    The importance of professional development of labor force directly in the workplace has been proved. It's revealed that this is due not only to questions of advanced training, but also to the improvement of the situation on the labor market of unskilled groups of citizen. The current labor market recognizes the value and importance of people.…

  7. Vocational Education to Meet the Needs of a Changing Saudi Arabia.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Campbell, Clifton P.

    Faced with sizable oil revenues and the need and desire to expand and diversify its industrial potential, Saudi Arabia is improving its vocational training efforts and attempting to involve as many of its citizens in vocational training programs as possible. At present, Saudi Arabia is having to import skilled workers to keep up with necessary…

  8. 5 CFR 332.312 - Applicants in military or overseas service.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... REGULATIONS RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION THROUGH COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION Period of Competition and Eligibility... is designated for training purposes; and (c) A United States citizen who could not file an...

  9. The diversity and evolution of ecological and environmental citizen science.

    PubMed

    Pocock, Michael J O; Tweddle, John C; Savage, Joanna; Robinson, Lucy D; Roy, Helen E

    2017-01-01

    Citizen science-the involvement of volunteers in data collection, analysis and interpretation-simultaneously supports research and public engagement with science, and its profile is rapidly rising. Citizen science represents a diverse range of approaches, but until now this diversity has not been quantitatively explored. We conducted a systematic internet search and discovered 509 environmental and ecological citizen science projects. We scored each project for 32 attributes based on publicly obtainable information and used multiple factor analysis to summarise this variation to assess citizen science approaches. We found that projects varied according to their methodological approach from 'mass participation' (e.g. easy participation by anyone anywhere) to 'systematic monitoring' (e.g. trained volunteers repeatedly sampling at specific locations). They also varied in complexity from approaches that are 'simple' to those that are 'elaborate' (e.g. provide lots of support to gather rich, detailed datasets). There was a separate cluster of entirely computer-based projects but, in general, we found that the range of citizen science projects in ecology and the environment showed continuous variation and cannot be neatly categorised into distinct types of activity. While the diversity of projects begun in each time period (pre 1990, 1990-99, 2000-09 and 2010-13) has not increased, we found that projects tended to have become increasingly different from each other as time progressed (possibly due to changing opportunities, including technological innovation). Most projects were still active so consequently we found that the overall diversity of active projects (available for participation) increased as time progressed. Overall, understanding the landscape of citizen science in ecology and the environment (and its change over time) is valuable because it informs the comparative evaluation of the 'success' of different citizen science approaches. Comparative evaluation provides an evidence-base to inform the future development of citizen science activities.

  10. 5 Star Wetland and Urban Waters Restoration Grants

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The Five Star Restoration Program brings together students, conservation corps, other youth groups, citizen groups, corporations, landowners and government agencies to provide environmental education and training through projects that restore wetlands

  11. Training for Environmental Law Enforcement in Sweden: The role of NGOs. Discussion Paper No. 105.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gillberg, Bjorn O.; Tamplin, Arthur R.

    This discussion paper examines the training citizen groups need in order to confront a wide variety of industries and types of pollution. Section I of the paper focuses on the interaction of three groups: (1) industry: this group includes distributors of environmental pollutants as well as manufactures of pollution control equipment; (2)…

  12. United States Army Reserve in Operation Desert Storm. Enemy Prisoner of War Operations: The 800th Military Police Brigade

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1992-06-12

    to be somewhat lower than these, but this gives an idea of the allocation of MPs among the various organizations and components. 8 Trained atun Ready...48 Trained atun Ready Twice the Citizen Figure 24. Assignment of MP Units to Customs Inspection Duties (15 April 1991) UNIT LOCATION Task Force

  13. Crowdsourcing engagement and applications for communities within crisis events

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Frigerio, Simone; Schenato, Luca; Bossi, Giulia; Mantovani, Matteo; Crema, Stefano; Cavalli, Marco; Marcato, Gianluca; Pasuto, Alessandro

    2017-04-01

    Civil protection attitude is a changing pattern within natural hazards, deploying responsibilities from central government to local authorities. The competence of volunteers and the awareness and involvement of local inhabitants are key points for prevention and preparedness. Citizens and volunteers become first actors of civil protection, toward context-specific strategies of surveillance and territorial surveys. The crowd-mapping technology includes a mobile solution tested insight trained communities, as participation within disaster response. The platform includes also a user-friendly dashboard for data gathering and analysis in multi-hazard realities, tested with pilot case studies. Usability and gradual innovation of platform are continuous granted by cloud dataset and bugfixing controls. The first module focuses on flood processes gathering data from local and trained population, for awareness and long-term preparedness. The second module integrates field survey of several volunteers within rescue squads, combining geolocations and comparing dataset collected in pre-emergency steps in urban case studies. The results include an easy-to-use data interface for crisis management, a tested support within crisis combined with personal awareness, continuously updated and customized. The development provides a version for Android 4.0 onward, the web application combines a cloud architecture with a relational database and web services, integrated with SDK cloud notification. The wireframes planned two accesses for a Citizens Kit and a Volunteers Kit, synchronized with a common dashboard. The follow up includes the integration between mobile solutions with sensors for dynamic update and data export for GIS analysis. The location-based services uses location data to monitor parameters and control features within natural hazard. A human sensor network is the aim, integrating sensor measurements with external observation as baseline of future modelling. Point data like humidity, temperature and pressure are geolocated and real-time. Human sensors reveal a massive approach of crowdsourcing, and user-friendly dashboards appears as solid control of data management to support resilience and quality of risk assessment.

  14. CosmoQuest: A Glance at Citizen Science Building

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Richardson, Matthew; Grier, Jennifer; Gay, Pamela; Lehan, Cory; Buxner, Sanlyn; CosmoQuest Team

    2018-01-01

    CosmoQuest is a virtual research facility focused on engaging people - citizen scientists - from across the world in authentic research projects designed to enhance our knowledge of the cosmos around us. Using image data acquired by NASA missions, our citizen scientists are first trained to identify specific features within the data and then requested to identify those features across large datasets. Responses submitted by the citizen scientists are then stored in our database where they await for analysis and eventual publication by CosmoQuest staff and collaborating professional research scientists.While it is clear that the driving power behind our projects are the eyes and minds of our citizen scientists, it is CosmoQuest’s custom software, Citizen Science Builder (CSB), that enables citizen science to be accomplished. On the front end, CosmoQuest’s CSB software allows for the creation of web-interfaces that users can access to perform image annotation through both drawing tools and questions that can accompany images. These tools include: using geometric shapes to identify regions within an image, tracing image attributes using freeform line tools, and flagging features within images. Additionally, checkboxes, dropdowns, and free response boxes may be used to collect information. On the back end, this software is responsible for the proper storage of all data, which allows project staff to perform periodic data quality checks and track the progress of each project. In this poster we present these available tools and resources and seek potential collaborations.

  15. Enhancing Connectedness Through Peer Training for Community-Dwelling Older People: A Person Centred Approach.

    PubMed

    Burmeister, Oliver K; Bernoth, Maree; Dietsch, Elaine; Cleary, Michelle

    2016-06-01

    Social interaction and connectedness is important to the mental health and wellbeing of older people. The aim of this research study was to facilitate and increase opportunities for social connectedness for older people living in regional areas through the use of technology training. Weekly technology training sessions were conducted at a Seniors Citizen's Club with a peer trainer (an experienced, retired computer teacher) and sessions were attended not only by the six study participants, but also by other club members, with up to 15 club members participating in sessions. Data analysis involved all documents generated by the project, including the individual interviews, researcher observations of training sessions, reports from the peer trainer and weekly diaries maintained by participants. Findings demonstrated that computer training at the Senior Citizens Club helped participants build group cohesion and to form tiered connections with partners, family, and friends with whom they no longer live. When the trainer is seen as a peer, and training is person-centred, older people are more receptive to learning, exploring, and experimenting with technology. Although only six people were involved in the in-depth evaluation part of the study, voluntary training with the trainer in the absence of any funding continues even to this present time. The outcome of this research reinforces the potential for technology facilitated tiered connectivity to enhance the quality of life for older people living in regional and rural Australia.

  16. The GRE Subject Test Performance of U.S. and Non-U.S. Examinees, 1982-84: A Comparative Analysis.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilson, Kenneth M.

    The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) subject-matter achievement tests are offered in 17 fields. This study investigated the performance of U.S. and non-U.S. citizens on the Subject Tests, and the relationship of selected English-proficiency-related background variables to the test performance of non-U.S. citizens. It was also concerned with…

  17. NEON Citizen Science: Planning and Prototyping

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Newman, S. J.; Henderson, S.; Gardiner, L. S.; Ward, D.; Gram, W.

    2011-12-01

    The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will be a national resource for ecological research and education. NEON citizen science projects are being designed to increase awareness and educate citizen scientists about the impacts of climate change, land-use change, and invasive species on continental-scale ecological processes as well as expand NEON data collection capacity by enabling laypersons to collect geographically distributed data. The citizen science area of the NEON web portal will enable citizen scientists to collect, contribute, interpret, and visualize scientific data, as well as access training modules, collection protocols and targeted learning experiences related to citizen science project topics. For NEON, citizen science projects are a means for interested people to interact with and contribute to NEON science. Investigations at vast spatial and temporal scales often require rapid acquisition of large amounts of data from a geographically distributed population of "human sensors." As a continental-scale ecological observatory, NEON is uniquely positioned to develop strategies to effectively integrate data collected by non-scientists into scientific databases. Ultimately, we plan to work collaboratively to transform the practice of science to include "citizens" or non-scientists in the process. Doing science is not limited to scientists, and breaking down the barriers between scientists and citizens will help people better understand the power of using science in their own decision making. In preparation for fully developing the NEON citizen science program, we are partnering with Project BudBurst (PBB), a citizen science project focused on monitoring plant phenology. The educational goals of PBB are to: (1) increase awareness of climate change, (2) educate citizen scientists about the impacts of climate change on plants and the environment, and (3) increase science literacy by engaging participants in the scientific process. Phenology was chosen as the focus of this citizen science campaign because it is a visible and comprehensible way of demonstrating the effects of climate change. In addition, plants are readily accessible in nearly every neighborhood and park, and wild area across the continent, so people can make observations whether they live near an inner city park or in the rural countryside. Recently, NEON developed data visualization tools for Project BudBurst to engage citizen science participants in "doing science" beyond data collection. By prototyping NEON citizen science through Project BudBurst, NEON is developing a better understanding of how to build a citizen science program that addresses areas of awareness, mastery, and leadership of scientific information like that which NEON will produce over the next 30 years.

  18. [Impact of fall risk and fear of falling on mobility of independently living senior citizens transitioning to frailty: screening results concerning fall prevention in the community].

    PubMed

    Anders, J; Dapp, U; Laub, S; von Renteln-Kruse, W

    2007-08-01

    There is a strong relation between mobility, walking safety and living independently in old age. People with walking problems suffer from fear of falling and tend to restrict their mobility and performance level in the community environment--even before falls occur. This study was planned to test the validity and prognostic value of a fall risk screening instrument ("Sturz-Risiko-Check") that has already shown its feasibility, acceptance and reliability, targeting independently living senior citizens. The study sample was recruited from a sheltered housing complex in Hamburg (with written consent). Persons with need of professional care ("Pflegestufe" in Germany) were excluded. The residents were asked to fill in the multidimensional questionnaire ("Sturz-Risiko- Check"). In a second step, a trained nurse asked the participants in a phone call about their competence in the instrumental activities of daily living (I-ADL mod. from Lawton, Brody 1969) and about their usual mobility performance level (e.g. frequency and distance of daily walks, use of public transport). According to the number and weight of self-reported risk factors for falling, three groups: "low fall risk", "medium fall risk" and "high fall risk" were classified. Finally, this classification was re-tested after one year, asking for falls and fall related injuries. A total of 112 senior citizens without need of personal care, living in a sheltered housing facility were asked to participate. Acceptance was high (76.1%). Self-reported data from 79 participants concerning falls, fall-risk, mobility and instrumental activities of daily living were included in the statistical analyses. Mean age was 78 (64 to 93) years and associated by a high percentage of women (75.9%) in this sample. The older participants reported 0 to 13 different factors (mean 5) related to a high risk of future falls. Most participants (78.5%) quit cycling because of fear of falling. There was a high incidence in the study sample and over the three risk groups of chronic disorders like cardiac failure (75.9%) and disturbed vision or hearing (64.6%). According to the rising risk of falling over the three risk groups (low, medium and high), there were symptoms of fast functional decline or frailty like diminished walking speed (6.3 vs 36.8 vs 72.0%), sarcopenia (failed chairrise test: 0 vs 18.4 vs 28%) or already perceived fall events (0 vs 5.3 vs 56.0%) and ongoing restriction in basic activities. Those results were proven by the data on fall frequencies after one year (follow-up). We found an increase in falls over all three risk groups (12.5 vs 31.6 vs 28%) with fall-related severe injuries (fractures) in two persons classified in the high fall-risk group. The results of the fall-risk screening were useful to classify groups with different probability to fall in the near future. Fear-offalling and symptoms of frailty were related to an increasing risk of falling and loss of mobility and autonomy in still independently living senior citizens. The fall-risk screening instrument ("Sturz-Risiko-Check" questionnaire) was useful and valid to predict risk of falling and functional decline in independently living senior citizens transitioning to frailty. This screening will be part of a prevention approach in the City of Hamburg to offer primary and secondary prevention interventions adapted to special target groups of community- dwelling elder people (robust in contrast to frail elderly). The implementation should be accompanied by training sessions for physicians in the primary care sector and health improvement programmes for elder citizens.

  19. Somebody Help...Techno-Stress is Here!

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rich, Michelle N.

    1998-01-01

    Discusses how to combat techno-stress, based on experiences of Archbishop Wood High School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Addresses faculty training; selecting and purchasing technology; students as sources of technology maintenance; and senior citizen volunteers as lab supervisors. (AEF)

  20. 3 CFR 8412 - Proclamation 8412 of September 4, 2009. National Preparedness Month, 2009

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... neighbors. Additionally, the Citizen Corps educates, trains, and coordinates volunteer activities that help make our communities safer and better prepared for emergencies. I encourage all Americans to learn more...

  1. Removing Inefficiencies in the Nation's Job Training Programs. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, Committee on Education and the Workforce, U.S. House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, First Session (May 11, 2011). Serial Number 112-21

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    US House of Representatives, 2011

    2011-01-01

    This hearing reviewed ways individuals can make federal job training programs more efficient and effective. Such programs are critical to fostering a competitive workforce and assisting unemployed citizens. However, serious concerns about program fragmentation and potential duplication exist that could result in significant waste. This Committee…

  2. Coral Bleaching Assessment Through Remote Sensing and Integrated Citizen Science (CoralBASICS): Engaging Dive Instructors on Reef Characterization in Southwest, Puerto Rico Coupled with the Analysis of Water Quality Using NASA Earth Observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Torres-Perez, J. L.; Armstrong, R.; Detres, Y.; Aragones-Fred, C.; Melendez, J.

    2017-12-01

    As recurrences of extreme sea water thermal events increase with climate change, the need for continuous monitoring of coral reefs becomes even more evident. Enabling properly trained members from the local communities to actively participate in scientific programs/research projects, provides for such monitoring at little cost once the citizens are properly trained and committed. Further, the possibility of obtaining high temporal resolution data with citizen scientists can provide for new venues to answer questions that may not be answered with traditional research approaches. The CoralBASICS project engages members of the local diving industry in Puerto Rico on the assessment of coastal water quality and the status of Puerto Rico's coral reefs in an age of climate change and in particular, an increase in the frequency and magnitude of coral bleaching events. The project complements remote sensing data with community-based field assessments strictly supervised by the PI's. The study focuses on training citizen scientists (dive instructors) on the collection of benthic information related to the state of coral reefs using the Reef Check (fish and invertebrates ID and substrate composition) and video transects methodologies, monitoring of coral bleaching events, and collecting of water quality data using a smartphone ocean color application. The data collected by citizen scientists complements the validation of Landsat-8 (OLI) imagery for water quality assessment. At the same time, researchers from the University of Puerto Rico conduct field assessment of the bio-optical properties of waters surrounding the coral reef study areas. Dive instructors have been collecting benthic and water quality data for the past 4 months. Initial analysis using the Coral Point Count with excel extension (CPCe) software showed a dominance of gorgonians at most sites (up to 32.8%) with hard coral cover ranging between 5.5-13.2% of the hard substrates. No coral diseases or bleaching have been observed so far. However, nutrient indicator algae were observed at most sites. As such, the project provides for technology and data transfer between the academia, government (NASA), researchers and local members of the community for a better assessment of environmental conditions affecting important coral reef areas in PR.

  3. Computer-aided discovery of debris disk candidates: A case study using the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) catalog

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nguyen, T.; Pankratius, V.; Eckman, L.; Seager, S.

    2018-04-01

    Debris disks around stars other than the Sun have received significant attention in studies of exoplanets, specifically exoplanetary system formation. Since debris disks are major sources of infrared emissions, infrared survey data such as the Wide-Field Infrared Survey (WISE) catalog potentially harbors numerous debris disk candidates. However, it is currently challenging to perform disk candidate searches for over 747 million sources in the WISE catalog due to the high probability of false positives caused by interstellar matter, galaxies, and other background artifacts. Crowdsourcing techniques have thus started to harness citizen scientists for debris disk identification since humans can be easily trained to distinguish between desired artifacts and irrelevant noises. With a limited number of citizen scientists, however, increasing data volumes from large surveys will inevitably lead to analysis bottlenecks. To overcome this scalability problem and push the current limits of automated debris disk candidate identification, we present a novel approach that uses citizen science results as a seed to train machine learning based classification. In this paper, we detail a case study with a computer-aided discovery pipeline demonstrating such feasibility based on WISE catalog data and NASA's Disk Detective project. Our approach of debris disk candidates classification was shown to be robust under a wide range of image quality and features. Our hybrid approach of citizen science with algorithmic scalability can facilitate big data processing for future detections as envisioned in future missions such as the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).

  4. CosmoQuest: Training Educators and Engaging Classrooms in Citizen Science through a Virtual Research Facility

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buxner, Sanlyn; Bracey, Georgia; Summer, Theresa; Cobb, Whitney; Gay, Pamela L.; Finkelstein, Keely D.; Gurton, Suzanne; Felix-Strishock, Lisa; Kruse, Brian; Lebofsky, Larry A.; Jones, Andrea J.; Tweed, Ann; Graff, Paige; Runco, Susan; Noel-Storr, Jacob; CosmoQuest Team

    2016-10-01

    CosmoQuest is a Citizen Science Virtual Research Facility that engages scientists, educators, students, and the public in analyzing NASA images. Often, these types of citizen science activities target enthusiastic members of the public, and additionally engage students in K-12 and college classrooms. To support educational engagement, we are developing a pipeline in which formal and informal educators and facilitators use the virtual research facility to engage students in real image analysis that is framed to provide meaningful science learning. This work also contributes to the larger project to produce publishable results. Community scientists are being solicited to propose CosmoQuest Science Projects take advantage of the virtual research facility capabilities. Each CosmoQuest Science Project will result in formal education materials, aligned with Next Generation Science Standards including the 3-dimensions of science learning; core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices. Participating scientists will contribute to companion educational materials with support from the CosmoQuest staff of data specialists and education specialists. Educators will be trained through in person and virtual workshops, and classrooms will have the opportunity to not only work with NASA data, but interface with NASA scientists. Through this project, we are bringing together subject matter experts, classrooms, and informal science organizations to share the excitement of NASA SMD science with future citizen scientists. CosmoQuest is funded through individual donations, through NASA Cooperative Agreement NNX16AC68A, and through additional grants and contracts that are listed on our website, cosmoquest.org.

  5. 75 FR 6257 - Request for Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee Membership Applications

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-02-08

    ... collection; One person specially qualified by virtue of his or her experience in the medallic arts or... American history; One person specially qualified by virtue of his or her education, training, or experience...

  6. An Experimental Test of the Expectancy-Disconfirmation Theory of Citizen Satisfaction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Van Ryzin, Gregg G.

    2013-01-01

    A number of prior studies have found evidence for the expectancy-disconfirmation theory of citizen satisfaction with public services, which holds that citizens judge public services not only on experienced service quality but also on an implicit comparison of service quality with prior expectations. But the evidence to date has been based on…

  7. Citizen-Scientist Digitization of a Complex Geologic Map of the McDowell Mountains (Scottsdale, Arizona).

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gruber, D.; Skotnicki, S.; Gootee, B.

    2016-12-01

    The work of citizen scientists has become very important to researchers doing field work and internet-based projects but has not been widely utilized in digital mapping. The McDowell Mountains - located in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the edge of the basin-and-range province and protected as part of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve - are geologically complex. Until recently, no comprehensive geologic survey of the entire range had been done. Over the last 9 years geologist Steven Skotnicki spent 2000 hours mapping the complex geology of the range. His work, born of personal interest and partially supported by the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, resulted in highly detailed hand-drawn survey maps. Dr. Skotnicki's work provides important new information and raises interesting research questions about the geology of this range. Citizen scientists of the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy Field Institute digitized Dr. Skotnicki's maps. A team of 10 volunteers, trained in ArcMap digitization techniques and led by volunteer project leader Daniel Gruber, performed the digitization work. Technical oversight of mapping using ArcMap, including provision of USGS-based mapping toolbars, was provided by Arizona Geological Survey (AZGS) research geologist Brian Gootee. The map digitization process identified and helped resolve a number of mapping questions. The citizen-scientist team spent 900 hours on training, digitization, quality checking, and project coordination with support and review by Skotnicki and Gootee. The resulting digital map has approximately 3000 polygons, 3000 points, and 86 map units with complete metadata and unit descriptions. The finished map is available online through AZGS and can be accessed in the field on mobile devices. User location is shown on the map and metadata can be viewed with a tap. The citizen scientist map digitization team has made this important geologic information available to the public and accessible to other researchers quickly and efficiently.

  8. Demonstrating the viability and value of community-based monitoring schemes in catchment science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Starkey, Eleanor; Parkin, Geoff; Quinn, Paul; Large, Andy

    2016-04-01

    Hydrological catchments are complex systems which need to be monitored over time in order to characterise their behaviour on a local level, model, implement mitigation measures and meet policy targets. Despite hydrometric monitoring techniques being well developed, data is often inadequate within rural areas. Local knowledge and experiences are also vital sources of information in this sector but they are not routinely harvested. Long-term evidence is required to provide stakeholders with confidence and innovation is required to fully engage with and inform the public. Citizen science and volunteered geographical information (VGI) projects are encouraging volunteers to participate in crowdsourcing activities and generate new knowledge, but they have not been fully investigated within catchment science. A citizen science approach has therefore been implemented within the 42km2 Haltwhistle Burn catchment (northern England) using effective engagement techniques. This catchment responds rapidly, experiences flash flood events, and like many, it does not benefit from any traditional monitoring equipment. Participation levels confirm that members of the public do want to monitor their local water environment, with flooding being a key driver. Regular 'River Watch' volunteers and passers-by are sharing their knowledge and monitoring rainfall, river levels, water quality parameters, sediment issues, flood events and performance of flood risk management features. This has enabled a variety of low-cost data collection and submission tools to be tested over a two year period. Training has encouraged good quality data to be collected and volunteers are ready to capture meaningful information during unexpected flood events. Although volunteers are capable of collecting quantitative information, photographs and videos are submitted more readily. Twitter has also been used to share real-time observations successfully. A traditional monitoring network has been running in parallel for the purpose of assessing the quality of citizen science observations. It has been found that citizen science observations are essential for capturing localised convective storms. Citizen scientists want their observations to be used to gain meaningful information and tackle local issues. Data has therefore been utilised to build, calibrate and validate hydrological models and support a range of catchment management applications. This has further demonstrated the value of citizen science, along with the social benefits it has to offer. Other communities are also beginning to source funding and implement their own monitoring schemes, indicating that they are both capable and self-motivated. Citizen science makes use of evolving and more readily available technology, providing catchment stakeholders with vital information. Although these types of observations present various challenges, it is argued that a citizen science approach is not intending to replace traditional techniques, rather they can be used to complement them, fill the gaps and/or provide an indication of catchment behaviour across space and through time.

  9. What Is Best for Esther? Building Improvement Coaching Capacity With and for Users in Health and Social Care--A Case Study.

    PubMed

    Vackerberg, Nicoline; Levander, Märta Sund; Thor, Johan

    2016-01-01

    While coaching and customer involvement can enhance the improvement of health and social care, many organizations struggle to develop their improvement capability; it is unclear how best to accomplish this. We examined one attempt at training improvement coaches. The program, set in the Esther Network for integrated care in rural Jönköping County, Sweden, included eight 1-day sessions spanning 7 months in 2011. A senior citizen joined the faculty in all training sessions. Aiming to discern which elements in the program were essential for assuming the role of improvement coach, we used a case-study design with a qualitative approach. Our focus group interviews included 17 informants: 11 coaches, 3 faculty members, and 3 senior citizens. We performed manifest content analysis of the interview data. Creating will, ideas, execution, and sustainability emerged as crucial elements. These elements were promoted by customer focus--embodied by the senior citizen trainer--shared values and a solution-focused approach, by the supportive coach network and by participants' expanded systems understanding. These elements emerged as more important than specific improvement tools and are worth considering also elsewhere when seeking to develop improvement capability in health and social care organizations.

  10. What Is Best for Esther? Building Improvement Coaching Capacity With and for Users in Health and Social Care—A Case Study

    PubMed Central

    Levander, Märta Sund; Thor, Johan

    2016-01-01

    While coaching and customer involvement can enhance the improvement of health and social care, many organizations struggle to develop their improvement capability; it is unclear how best to accomplish this. We examined one attempt at training improvement coaches. The program, set in the Esther Network for integrated care in rural Jönköping County, Sweden, included eight 1-day sessions spanning 7 months in 2011. A senior citizen joined the faculty in all training sessions. Aiming to discern which elements in the program were essential for assuming the role of improvement coach, we used a case-study design with a qualitative approach. Our focus group interviews included 17 informants: 11 coaches, 3 faculty members, and 3 senior citizens. We performed manifest content analysis of the interview data. Creating will, ideas, execution, and sustainability emerged as crucial elements. These elements were promoted by customer focus—embodied by the senior citizen trainer—shared values and a solution-focused approach, by the supportive coach network and by participants' expanded systems understanding. These elements emerged as more important than specific improvement tools and are worth considering also elsewhere when seeking to develop improvement capability in health and social care organizations. PMID:26783868

  11. Can citizen science produce good science? Testing the OPAL Air Survey methodology, using lichens as indicators of nitrogenous pollution.

    PubMed

    Tregidgo, Daniel J; West, Sarah E; Ashmore, Mike R

    2013-11-01

    Citizen science is having increasing influence on environmental monitoring as its advantages are becoming recognised. However methodologies are often simplified to make them accessible to citizen scientists. We tested whether a recent citizen science survey (the OPAL Air Survey) could detect trends in lichen community composition over transects away from roads. We hypothesised that the abundance of nitrophilic lichens would decrease with distance from the road, while that of nitrophobic lichens would increase. The hypothesised changes were detected along strong pollution gradients, but not where the road source was relatively weak, or background pollution relatively high. We conclude that the simplified OPAL methodology can detect large contrasts in nitrogenous pollution, but it may not be able to detect more subtle changes in pollution exposure. Similar studies are needed in conjunction with the ever-growing body of citizen science work to ensure that the limitations of these methods are fully understood. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Evaluating the effects of ideology on public understanding of climate change science: how to improve communication across ideological divides?

    PubMed

    Zia, Asim; Todd, Anne Marie

    2010-11-01

    While ideology can have a strong effect on citizen understanding of science, it is unclear how ideology interacts with other complicating factors, such as college education, which influence citizens' comprehension of information. We focus on public understanding of climate change science and test the hypotheses: [H1] as citizens' ideology shifts from liberal to conservative, concern for global warming decreases; [H2] citizens with college education and higher general science literacy tend to have higher concern for global warming; and [H3] college education does not increase global warming concern for conservative ideologues. We implemented a survey instrument in California's San Francisco Bay Area, and employed regression models to test the effects of ideology and other socio-demographic variables on citizen concern about global warming, terrorism, the economy, health care and poverty. We are able to confirm H1 and H3, but reject H2. Various strategies are discussed to improve the communication of climate change science across ideological divides.

  13. Involving a Citizens' Jury in Decisions on Individual Screening for Prostate Cancer.

    PubMed

    Mosconi, Paola; Colombo, Cinzia; Satolli, Roberto; Carzaniga, Sara

    2016-01-01

    Most public health agencies and learned societies agree that the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test in asymptomatic men should not be recommended, on account of its potential for harm. Yet PSA is still widely used as a screening test and is not being abandoned. This remains a significant public health issue, and citizens' engagement is needed. This study was designed to produce a deliberation on the PSA screening test by a citizens' jury. Fifteen citizens were selected and balanced for sex, age, and education. They received an information booklet and participated in a two-day meeting with experts to reach a deliberation on the question "Should the National Health Service discourage or recommend PSA as an individual screening test for prostate cancer in men 55-69 years old?". A facilitator ran the jurors' discussion. All except three of the jurors decided that the National Health Service should discourage the use of PSA as an individual screening test for prostate cancer in 55-69 year-old men. The jury was particularly convinced by the uncertainty of the test outcomes, the utility of the test, and its cost/benefit ratio. Before the meeting 60% of jurors would have recommended the test to a relative, and all the male jurors would have done so. After the meeting these percentages fell to 15% and 12%. This experience confirms the feasibility and effectiveness of delegating to a group of citizens the responsibility to decide on public health issues on behalf of the community. Public health authorities should invest in information campaigns aimed at the public and in educational initiatives for physicians. This also provided an opportunity to disseminate information on screening, over-diagnosis, and over-treatment.

  14. Profile of GMAT® Testing: North American Report. Testing Years 2010 through 2014. GMAC® Data-to-Go Series

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chisholm, Alex

    2014-01-01

    This Data-to-Go brief summarizes five year GMAT testing trends for US and Canadian residents, and race/ethnicity breakdowns for US citizens. It includes: (1) GMAT exams taken by US region, US state of residence, and race/ethnicity of examinees (US citizens only), (2) GMAT exams taken by Canadian residents, by Canadian province, (3) GMAT exams…

  15. Citizen Science as a New Tool in Dog Cognition Research

    PubMed Central

    Stewart, Laughlin; MacLean, Evan L.; Ivy, David; Woods, Vanessa; Cohen, Eliot; Rodriguez, Kerri; McIntyre, Matthew; Mukherjee, Sayan; Call, Josep; Kaminski, Juliane; Miklósi, Ádám; Wrangham, Richard W.; Hare, Brian

    2015-01-01

    Family dogs and dog owners offer a potentially powerful way to conduct citizen science to answer questions about animal behavior that are difficult to answer with more conventional approaches. Here we evaluate the quality of the first data on dog cognition collected by citizen scientists using the Dognition.com website. We conducted analyses to understand if data generated by over 500 citizen scientists replicates internally and in comparison to previously published findings. Half of participants participated for free while the other half paid for access. The website provided each participant a temperament questionnaire and instructions on how to conduct a series of ten cognitive tests. Participation required internet access, a dog and some common household items. Participants could record their responses on any PC, tablet or smartphone from anywhere in the world and data were retained on servers. Results from citizen scientists and their dogs replicated a number of previously described phenomena from conventional lab-based research. There was little evidence that citizen scientists manipulated their results. To illustrate the potential uses of relatively large samples of citizen science data, we then used factor analysis to examine individual differences across the cognitive tasks. The data were best explained by multiple factors in support of the hypothesis that nonhumans, including dogs, can evolve multiple cognitive domains that vary independently. This analysis suggests that in the future, citizen scientists will generate useful datasets that test hypotheses and answer questions as a complement to conventional laboratory techniques used to study dog psychology. PMID:26376443

  16. Citizen Science as a New Tool in Dog Cognition Research.

    PubMed

    Stewart, Laughlin; MacLean, Evan L; Ivy, David; Woods, Vanessa; Cohen, Eliot; Rodriguez, Kerri; McIntyre, Matthew; Mukherjee, Sayan; Call, Josep; Kaminski, Juliane; Miklósi, Ádám; Wrangham, Richard W; Hare, Brian

    2015-01-01

    Family dogs and dog owners offer a potentially powerful way to conduct citizen science to answer questions about animal behavior that are difficult to answer with more conventional approaches. Here we evaluate the quality of the first data on dog cognition collected by citizen scientists using the Dognition.com website. We conducted analyses to understand if data generated by over 500 citizen scientists replicates internally and in comparison to previously published findings. Half of participants participated for free while the other half paid for access. The website provided each participant a temperament questionnaire and instructions on how to conduct a series of ten cognitive tests. Participation required internet access, a dog and some common household items. Participants could record their responses on any PC, tablet or smartphone from anywhere in the world and data were retained on servers. Results from citizen scientists and their dogs replicated a number of previously described phenomena from conventional lab-based research. There was little evidence that citizen scientists manipulated their results. To illustrate the potential uses of relatively large samples of citizen science data, we then used factor analysis to examine individual differences across the cognitive tasks. The data were best explained by multiple factors in support of the hypothesis that nonhumans, including dogs, can evolve multiple cognitive domains that vary independently. This analysis suggests that in the future, citizen scientists will generate useful datasets that test hypotheses and answer questions as a complement to conventional laboratory techniques used to study dog psychology.

  17. The diversity and evolution of ecological and environmental citizen science

    PubMed Central

    Tweddle, John C.; Savage, Joanna; Robinson, Lucy D.; Roy, Helen E.

    2017-01-01

    Citizen science—the involvement of volunteers in data collection, analysis and interpretation—simultaneously supports research and public engagement with science, and its profile is rapidly rising. Citizen science represents a diverse range of approaches, but until now this diversity has not been quantitatively explored. We conducted a systematic internet search and discovered 509 environmental and ecological citizen science projects. We scored each project for 32 attributes based on publicly obtainable information and used multiple factor analysis to summarise this variation to assess citizen science approaches. We found that projects varied according to their methodological approach from ‘mass participation’ (e.g. easy participation by anyone anywhere) to ‘systematic monitoring’ (e.g. trained volunteers repeatedly sampling at specific locations). They also varied in complexity from approaches that are ‘simple’ to those that are ‘elaborate’ (e.g. provide lots of support to gather rich, detailed datasets). There was a separate cluster of entirely computer-based projects but, in general, we found that the range of citizen science projects in ecology and the environment showed continuous variation and cannot be neatly categorised into distinct types of activity. While the diversity of projects begun in each time period (pre 1990, 1990–99, 2000–09 and 2010–13) has not increased, we found that projects tended to have become increasingly different from each other as time progressed (possibly due to changing opportunities, including technological innovation). Most projects were still active so consequently we found that the overall diversity of active projects (available for participation) increased as time progressed. Overall, understanding the landscape of citizen science in ecology and the environment (and its change over time) is valuable because it informs the comparative evaluation of the ‘success’ of different citizen science approaches. Comparative evaluation provides an evidence-base to inform the future development of citizen science activities. PMID:28369087

  18. I Can Help.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cuevas, Roger

    2000-01-01

    An innovative intergenerational program in Miami-Dade County (Florida) Public Schools trains adolescents to teach senior citizens about fire safety at an adult education center. Kids enjoy their relationships with "second grandparents" while imparting valuable information and translating safety checklists into Spanish. (MLH)

  19. Eligibility and FAQs | Center for Cancer Research

    Cancer.gov

    Eligibility for the Clinical Investigator Development Program Candidates may be U.S. citizens, permanent residents or possess (or be eligible for) the appropriate work visa, and must have completed subspecialty training at a U.S.-accredited institution in appropriate fields.

  20. 77 FR 9111 - YouthBuild Program

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-15

    ...), the Home Builder's Institute's (HBI) HPACT curriculum, or the Building Trades Multi-Craft Core... citizens, five local and community employment and training organizations, two union organizations, five local YouthBuild programs, two local governments, two Federal agencies, three state governments, one...

  1. [Informed and empowered citizens: Keys to the full exercise of health rights].

    PubMed

    Gil-Quevedo, Walter; Agurto-Távara, Elvia; Espinoza-Portilla, Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    Currently, there is a Peruvian legal framework that promotes the dissemination of information on the health rights of the population. Institutions have been created, such as the National Superintendence of Health, which are in charge of promoting health rights and supervising health-care providers. Despite many achievements, such as extending comprehensive health insurance coverage, it is necessary to implement strategies for the population to access information and advice in a timely, quick and complete manner. Some experiences have shown potential for expansion and growth, such as citizens' participation in Health Service User Councils and the Program of Integrated Actions for the Promotion of Health Rights, as well as the formation of decentralized Intendencies of the National Superintendency of Health. The conciliation and arbitration centers, the training of community health agents, the citizen vigilance, and even innovative strategies using information and communication technologies such as free smartphone applications, are important mechanisms for citizens to have more information and knowledge in health, and thus, to be more empowered, having the capacity to exert more control over the decisions taken on their health.

  2. Crew Training - STS-33/51L - JSC

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1985-09-19

    S85-40508 (23 Sept. 1985) --- Two women representing the Teacher-in-Space project undergo training in preparation for the STS-51L mission in two photographs made in Johnson Space Center trainers. Sharon Christa McAuliffe, named as prime crew citizen observer on the spaceflight, studies the console on the aft flight deck, which contains controls for the remote manipulator system (RMS) and other important functions. Photo credit: NASA

  3. Using citizen science to bridge taxonomic discovery with education and outreach.

    PubMed

    von Konrat, Matt; Campbell, Thomas; Carter, Ben; Greif, Matthew; Bryson, Mike; Larraín, Juan; Trouille, Laura; Cohen, Steve; Gaus, Eve; Qazi, Ayesha; Ribbens, Eric; Livshultz, Tatyana; Walker, Taylor J; Suwa, Tomomi; Peterson, Taylor; Rodriguez, Yarency; Vaughn, Caitlin; Yang, Christina; Aburahmeh, Selma; Carstensen, Brian; de Lange, Peter; Delavoi, Charlie; Strauss, Kalman; Drag, Justyna; Aguero, Blanka; Snyder, Chris; Martinec, Joann; Smith, Arfon

    2018-02-01

    Biological collections are uniquely poised to inform the stewardship of life on Earth in a time of cataclysmic biodiversity loss. Efforts to fully leverage collections are impeded by a lack of trained taxonomists and a lack of interest and engagement by the public. We provide a model of a crowd-sourced data collection project that produces quality taxonomic data sets and empowers citizen scientists through real contributions to science. Entitled MicroPlants, the project is a collaboration between taxonomists, citizen science experts, and teachers and students from universities and K-12. We developed an online tool that allows citizen scientists to measure photographs of specimens of a hyper-diverse group of liverworts from a biodiversity hotspot. Using the MicroPlants online tool, citizen scientists are generating high-quality data, with preliminary analysis indicating non-expert data can be comparable to expert data. More than 11,000 users from both the website and kiosk versions have contributed to the data set, which is demonstrably aiding taxonomists working toward establishing conservation priorities within this group. MicroPlants provides opportunities for public participation in authentic science research. The project's educational component helps move youth toward engaging in scientific thinking and has been adopted by several universities into curriculum for both biology and non-biology majors.

  4. "Still Rather Hazy at Present": Citizens' and Physicians' Views on Returning Results from Biobank Research Using Broad Consent.

    PubMed

    Barazzetti, Gaia; Cavalli, Samuele; Benaroyo, Lazare; Kaufmann, Alain

    2017-03-01

    Informed consent and return of research results are among the most debated topics in the biobank literature. We discuss ethical, social, and policy issues associated with returning results in the context of biobanks using a broad consent approach, in the light of data from a qualitative survey of citizens' and physicians' views. Data were collected through interviews and focus groups to investigate stakeholders' perspectives about a large-scale hospital-based biobank designed to foster biomedical research, including prospective genomics research, and "personalized" medicine. Both physicians and citizens considered psychosocial impacts as crucial in the assessment of benefits expected from a return of results to biobank participants. In particular, physicians highlighted the possible consequences on the patient-doctor relationship and discussed implications for the concept of "personalized" medicine. Citizens held ambivalent attitudes toward returning individual research results: they defended the "right not to know," while they also considered a sort of "responsibility to know" because of potential implications of results for family members. Moreover, physicians and citizens raised questions about the broad consent model used for inhospital biobank recruitment and expressed their needs for more training in genomics and more information on the biobank initiative. Stakeholders such as citizens and physicians, who may be concerned as potential biobank participants or as healthcare professionals involved in the management of clinically relevant research results, provide useful insights into several aspects of broad consent and return of results, related in particular to the interface between research and the clinic.

  5. GLOBE Goes GO with Mosquitoes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boger, R. A.; Low, R.

    2016-12-01

    The GLOBE Mosquito Larvae protocol and a new citizen science initiative, GLOBE Observers (GO), were both launched in Summer 2016. While the GLOBE Mosquito Larvae Protocol and associated educational materials target K-16 student inquiry and research, the GO protocol version is simplified to enable citizen scientists of all ages from all walks of life to participate. GO allows citizen scientists to collect and submit environmental data through an easy-to-use smart phone app available for both Apple and Android mobile devices. GO mosquito asks for photos of larvae mosquito genus or species, location, and type of water source (e.g., container or pond) where the larvae were found. To initiate the new mosquito GLOBE/GO opportunities, workshops have been held in Barbuda, Thailand, West Indies, US Gulf Coast, New York City, and at the GLOBE Annual Meeting in Colorado. Through these venues, the protocols have been refined and a field campaign has been initiated so that GO and GLOBE citizen scientists (K-16 students and all others) can contribute data. Quality assurance measures are taken through the online training required to participate and the validation of identification by other citizen sciences and mosquito experts. Furthermore, initial research is underway to develop optical recognition software starting with the species that carry the Zika virus (Aedes aegypti and A. albopictus). With this launch, we plan to move forward by providing opportunities throughout the world to engage people in meaningful environmental and public health data collection and to promote citizen scientists to become agents of change in their communities.

  6. CosmoQuest: Making the public your students and collaborators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gay, Pamela; Buxner, Sanlyn; Grier, Jennifer; Richardson, Matthew; CosmoQuest Team

    2018-01-01

    CosmoQuest is a second generation citizen science project that makes it possible for NASA Subject Matter Experts to engage the public as both learners and collaborators in research. Engaging the public in publishable science is termed “Citizen Science.” This is a powerful technique for accomplishing research projects and tasks that require many minds and eyes to complete. While some projects may use undergraduates for help, others simply have too many images or too much data for a small population to sort through. CosmoQuest is a platform that enables scientists to take advantage of already existing science tools to engage the public in their research and to acquire the data analysis they need. Citizen scientists, like students, need their experience properly scaffolded to their understanding, and they require mentoring and training to succeed.This presentation focuses on methods for focusing research projects for successful citizen science engagement, and determining what scaffolding must be built to support citizen education and engagement.This presentation will help you understand how to transform your research project into a successful citizen science engagement. We will also present a flowchart to help you define: what is required, how to focus on what science does and doesn’t work, and what support your project requires. The content presented will allow you to successfully implement a project within the CosmoQuest facility, and determine what educational support you should provide or request aid to provide.

  7. Creating a testing field where delta technology and water innovations are tested and demonstrated with the help of citizen science methods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Vries, Sandra; Rutten, Martine; de Vries, Liselotte; Anema, Kim; Klop, Tanja; Kaspersma, Judith

    2017-04-01

    In highly populated deltas, much work is to be done. Complex problems ask for new and knowledge driven solutions. Innovations in delta technology and water can bring relief to managing the water rich urban areas. Testing fields form a fundamental part of the knowledge valorisation for such innovations. In such testing fields, product development by start-ups is coupled with researchers, thus supplying new scientific insights. With the help of tests, demonstrations and large-scale applications by the end-users, these innovations find their way to the daily practices of delta management. More and more cities embrace the concept of Smart Cities to tackle the ongoing complexity of urban problems and to manage the city's assets - such as its water supply networks and other water management infrastructure. Through the use of new technologies and innovative systems, data are collected from and with citizens and devices - then processed and analysed. The information and knowledge gathered are keys to enabling a better quality of life. By testing water innovations together with citizens in order to find solutions for water management problems, not only highly spatial amounts of data are provided by and/or about these innovations, they are also improved and demonstrated to the public. A consortium consisting of a water authority, a science centre, a valorisation program and two universities have joined forces to create a testing field for delta technology and water innovations using citizen science methods. In this testing field, the use of citizen science for water technologies is researched and validated by facilitating pilot projects. In these projects, researchers, start-ups and citizens work together to find the answer to present-day water management problems. The above mentioned testing field tests the use of crowd-sourcing data as for example hydrological model inputs, or to validate remote sensing applications, or improve water management decisions. Currently the testing field starts two pilot projects concerning (1) the validation of green measures used for water storage in order to better quantify their worth, and (2) the collection of water quality data in a polder polluted by horticulture in such manner that water management and awareness are improved.

  8. The State of Continuing Education in Japan.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Masatoshi, Nagashima, Ed.; And Others

    This book contains the following articles about the state of continuing education and occupational training in Japan: "Funabashi City University of Sports Health" (Abe Nobuhiro); "Public Halls in Omiya City" (Kawamoto Koji); "Setagaya Senior Citizens College (Setagaya Rojin Daigaku)" (Sawamura Hiroshi); "Lifelong…

  9. Students Don't Understand Democracy? Look to Journalism Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martinson, David L.

    1996-01-01

    Argues that journalism and communications instruction at the secondary level should not focus on production techniques, but rather should serve as a laboratory for citizenship training, helping to prepare young people to be more informed and effective citizens. (SR)

  10. Raising Citizens or Raising Test Scores? Teach for America, "No Excuses" Charters, and the Development of the Neoliberal Citizen

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sondel, Beth

    2015-01-01

    This article addresses how teachers conceptualize and attempt to develop citizens within the context of market-based reforms. Findings are based on a qualitative case study of Teach For America teachers at a Knowledge is Power Program charter school in New Orleans. Using Westheimer and Kahne's taxonomy of citizenship, I provide evidence that…

  11. Citizen Environmental Science in Support of Educatio

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Butler, D. M.; Cavalier, D.; Potter, S.; Wagner, R.; Wegner, K.; Hammonds, J.

    2016-12-01

    Through two grants, a partnership among SciStarter, ECO-Schools, the GLOBE Program, and Youth Learning as Citizen Environmental Scientists has recruited, trained, and equipped over 100 US schools, youth groups and other citizen scientists to take several environmental measurements - surface soil moisture and temperature, precipitation, and clouds. Implementation by some has begun but many more will start implementation in the fall. These local measurements may be compared with data from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), and other satellite missions. The measurement protocols of GLOBE specify how these data are collected so as to produce reliable data that are intercomparable across space and time. GLOBE also provides the information infrastructure for storing these data and making them openly available. This presentation will examine the initial results of this effort in terms of participation, student and professional data use, and educational benefits.

  12. Science in the Wild: Adventure Citizen Science in the Arctic and Himalaya

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Horodyskyj, U. N.; Rufat-Latre, J.; Reimuller, J. D.; Rowe, P.; Pothier, B.; Thapa, A.

    2016-12-01

    Science in the Wild provides educational hands-on adventure science expeditions for the everyday person, blending athletics and academics in remote regions of the planet. Participants receive training on field data collection techniques in order to be able to help scientists in the field while on expedition with them. At SITW, we also involve our participants in analyzing and interpreting the data, thus teaching them about data quality and sources of error and uncertainty. SITW teaches citizens the art of science storytelling, aims to make science more open and transparent, and utilizes open source software and hardware in projects. Open science serves both the research community and the greater public. For the former, it makes science reproducible, transparent and more impactful by mobilizing multidisciplinary and international collaborative research efforts. For the latter, it minimizes mistrust in the sciences by allowing the public a `behind-the-scenes' look into how scientific research is conducted, raw and unfiltered. We present results from a citizen-science expedition to Baffin Island (Canadian Arctic), which successfully skied and sampled snow for dust and black carbon concentration from the Penny Ice Cap, down the 25-mile length of Coronation Glacier, and back to the small Arctic town of Qikitarjuaq. From a May/June 2016 citizen-science expedition to Nepal (Himalaya), we present results comparing 2014/16 depth and lake floor compositional data from supraglacial lakes on Ngozumpa glacier while using open-source surface and underwater robotics. The Sherpa-Scientist Initiative, a program aimed at empowering locals in data collection and interpretation, successfully trained half a dozen Sherpas during this expedition and demonstrates the value of local engagement. In future expeditions to the region, efforts will be made to scale up the number of trainees and expand our spatial reach in the Himalaya.

  13. Domestic violence and immigration status among Latina mothers in the child welfare system: findings from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being II (NSCAW II).

    PubMed

    Ogbonnaya, Ijeoma Nwabuzor; Finno-Velasquez, Megan; Kohl, Patricia L

    2015-01-01

    Many children involved with the child welfare system witness parental domestic violence. The association between children's domestic violence exposure and child welfare involvement may be influenced by certain socio-cultural factors; however, minimal research has examined this relationship. The current study compares domestic violence experiences and case outcomes among Latinas who are legal immigrants (n=39), unauthorized immigrants (n=77), naturalized citizens (n=30), and US-born citizen mothers (n=383) reported for child maltreatment. This analysis used data from the second round of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being. Mothers were asked about whether they experienced domestic violence during the past year. In addition, data were collected to assess if (a) domestic violence was the primary abuse type reported and, if so, (b) the maltreatment allegation was substantiated. Results show that naturalized citizens, legal residents, and unauthorized immigrants did not differ from US-born citizens in self-reports of domestic violence; approximately 33% of mothers reported experiences of domestic violence within the past year. Yet, unauthorized immigrants were 3.76 times more likely than US-born citizens to have cases with allegations of domestic violence as the primary abuse type. Despite higher rates of alleged domestic violence, unauthorized citizens were not more likely than US-born citizens to have these cases substantiated for domestic violence (F(2.26, 153.99)=0.709, p=.510). Findings highlight that domestic violence is not accurately accounted for in families with unauthorized immigrant mothers. We recommend child welfare workers are trained to properly assess and fulfill the needs of immigrant families, particularly as it relates to domestic violence. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. NEON Citizen Science: Planning and Prototyping (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gram, W.

    2010-12-01

    The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will be a national resource for ecological research and education. NEON citizen science projects are being designed to increase awareness and educate citizen scientists about the impacts of climate change, land-use change, and invasive species on continental-scale ecological processes as well as expand NEON data collection capacity by enabling laypersons to collect geographically distributed data. The citizen science area of the NEON web portal will enable citizen scientists to collect, contribute, interpret, and visualize scientific data, as well as access training modules, collection protocols and targeted learning experiences related to citizen science project topics. For NEON, citizen science projects are a means for interested people to interact with and contribute to NEON science. Investigations at vast spatial and temporal scales often require rapid acquisition of large amounts of data from a geographically distributed population of “human sensors.” As a continental-scale ecological observatory, NEON is uniquely positioned to develop strategies to effectively integrate data collected by non-scientists into scientific databases. Ultimately, we plan to work collaboratively to transform the practice of science to include “citizens” or non-scientists in the process. Doing science is not limited to scientists, and breaking down the barriers between scientists and citizens will help people better understand the power of using science in their own decision making. In preparation for fully developing the NEON citizen science program, we are partnering with Project BudBurst (PBB), a citizen science project focused on monitoring plant phenology. The educational goals of PBB are to: (1) increase awareness of climate change, (2) educate citizen scientists about the impacts of climate change on plants and the environment, and (3) increase science literacy by engaging participants in the scientific process. Phenology was chosen as the focus of this citizen science campaign because it is a visible and comprehensible way of demonstrating the effects of climate change. In addition, plants are readily accessible in nearly every neighborhood and park, and wild areas across the continent, so people can make observations whether they live near an inner city park or in the rural countryside. Recently, NEON built 3 web tools that enable users to visualize PBB data. The tools include a mapping function that displays selected PBB distributional data on a map, an animated map that shows “green up” through time and space, and a graphing tool that compares number of species flowering or leafing out with day length. This prototyping will help NEON better understand how to engage citizen science participants in “doing science” beyond data collection.

  15. TRAINING FOR NEW TRENDS IN CLUBS AND CENTERS FOR OLDER PERSONS, PROCEEDINGS OF A SEMINAR (ITHACA COLLEGE, ITHACA, NEW YORK, JUNE 23-25, 1966).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    RABE, HENRIETTA F.

    THIS ADVANCED TRAINING SEMINAR WAS DESIGNED FOR STAFF MEMBERS OF SENIOR CITIZEN PROGRAMS THROUGHOUT NEW YORK STATE. POSITION PAPERS WERE PRESENTED ON THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE AGING AND ON EFFECTIVE MEANS OF SERVING THE INDIVIDUAL. WORKSHOP DISCUSSIONS WERE HELD ON WAYS TO ACHIEVE A NEW SOCIAL ROLE FOR THE ELDERLY, THE GROUP METHOD IN CLUBS AND…

  16. CREW TRAINING - STS-33/51L (ZERO-G)

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1985-10-16

    S85-42473 (16 Oct. 1985) --- Sharon Christa McAuliffe, a teacher-citizen observer on STS-51L, smiles before participating in some zero-G rehearsals for her upcoming flight. She is seated near the controls of the KC-135 aircraft, flying for the Johnson Space Center from Ellington Air Field. Referred to as the ?zero-gravity? aircraft, the KC-135 provides brief moments of weightlessness for shuttle crew members in training. Photo credit: NASA

  17. Christa McAuliffe removing helmet after egress training

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1986-01-08

    S86-25182 (for release January 1986) --- Sharon Christa McAuliffe, STS-51L citizen observer/payload specialist, prepares to remove her helmet after participating in emergency egress training in the shuttle mock-up and integration lab at the Johnson Space Center. McAuliffe will represent the Teacher-in-Space Project aboard the Challenger when it launches in late January. The photo was taken by Keith Meyers of the New York Times. Photo credit: NASA

  18. 22 CFR 305.2 - Eligibility.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... Relations PEACE CORPS ELIGIBILITY AND STANDARDS FOR PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER SERVICE § 305.2 Eligibility. In addition to those skills, personal attributes and aptitudes required for available Volunteer assignments... invitation to train for Peace Corps Volunteer service. (a) Citizenship. The applicant must be a citizen of...

  19. 22 CFR 305.2 - Eligibility.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... Relations PEACE CORPS ELIGIBILITY AND STANDARDS FOR PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER SERVICE § 305.2 Eligibility. In addition to those skills, personal attributes and aptitudes required for available Volunteer assignments... invitation to train for Peace Corps Volunteer service. (a) Citizenship. The applicant must be a citizen of...

  20. 22 CFR 305.2 - Eligibility.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... Relations PEACE CORPS ELIGIBILITY AND STANDARDS FOR PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER SERVICE § 305.2 Eligibility. In addition to those skills, personal attributes and aptitudes required for available Volunteer assignments... invitation to train for Peace Corps Volunteer service. (a) Citizenship. The applicant must be a citizen of...

  1. 22 CFR 305.2 - Eligibility.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... Relations PEACE CORPS ELIGIBILITY AND STANDARDS FOR PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER SERVICE § 305.2 Eligibility. In addition to those skills, personal attributes and aptitudes required for available Volunteer assignments... invitation to train for Peace Corps Volunteer service. (a) Citizenship. The applicant must be a citizen of...

  2. 76 FR 76697 - Appointments to Performance Review Board for Senior Executive Service

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-12-08

    ... Executive Service employees: Perry E. Anthony, Ph.D., Deputy Commissioner, Rehabilitation Services Administration, Department of Education. James M. Kesteloot, Private Citizen. J. Paul M. Laird, Assistant Director, Industries, Education and Vocational Training and Chief Operating Officer/FPI. All appointments...

  3. Citizen-Scientist Led Quartz Vein Investigation in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, Scottsdale, Arizona, Resulting in Significant Geologic Discoveries and a Peer-Reviewed Report Coauthored and with Maps by Citizen-Scientists.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gruber, D.; Gootee, B.

    2016-12-01

    Citizen-scientists of the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy Field Institute originated and led this project to study milky quartz deposits. Milky quartz veins of all sizes are visible throughout the McDowell Sonoran Preserve (Scottsdale, Arizona) and are commonly found in Arizona Proterozoic rocks. No research on milky quartz has been done locally and little is known about its formation and emplacement history. Working with Brian Gootee, research geologist with the Arizona Geological Survey (AZGS), a citizen science team identified candidate study sites with large quartz veins and then conducted aerial balloon photography followed by geologic mapping, basic data collection, photo-documentation, and sampling from two sites. Samples were analyzed with a UV lamp, Geiger counter, and x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Petroscopic analysis and interpretation of the samples were done by Gootee. Daniel Gruber, the citizen-science project leader, and Gootee summarized methodology, sample analyses, and interpretation in a report including detailed geologic maps. Analysis of samples from one site provided evidence of several events of Proterozoic quartz formation. The other site hosted pegmatite, cumulates, graphic granite and orbicular granite in association with milky quartz, all discovered by citizen scientists. The milky quartz and surrounding pegmatites in granite at this site trace the progression of late-stage crystallization at the margin of a fractionated granite batholith, providing an exemplary opportunity for further research into batholith geochemistry and evolution. The project required 1000 hours of citizen-science time for training, field work, data organization and entry, mapping, and writing. The report by Gootee and Gruber was reviewed and published by AZGS as an Open File Report in its online document repository. The citizen scientist team leveraged the time of professional geologists to expand knowledge of an important geologic feature of the McDowell Mountains.

  4. Addressing the social dimensions of citizen observatories: The Ground Truth 2.0 socio-technical approach for sustainable implementation of citizen observatories

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wehn, Uta; Joshi, Somya; Pfeiffer, Ellen; Anema, Kim; Gharesifard, Mohammad; Momani, Abeer

    2017-04-01

    Owing to ICT-enabled citizen observatories, citizens can take on new roles in environmental monitoring, decision making and co-operative planning, and environmental stewardship. And yet implementing advanced citizen observatories for data collection, knowledge exchange and interactions to support policy objectives is neither always easy nor successful, given the required commitment, trust, and data reliability concerns. Many efforts are facing problems with the uptake and sustained engagement by citizens, limited scalability, unclear long-term sustainability and limited actual impact on governance processes. Similarly, to sustain the engagement of decision makers in citizen observatories, mechanisms are required from the start of the initiative in order to have them invest in and, hence, commit to and own the entire process. In order to implement sustainable citizen observatories, these social dimensions therefore need to be soundly managed. We provide empirical evidence of how the social dimensions of citizen observatories are being addressed in the Ground Truth 2.0 project, drawing on a range of relevant social science approaches. This project combines the social dimensions of citizen observatories with enabling technologies - via a socio-technical approach - so that their customisation and deployment is tailored to the envisaged societal and economic impacts of the observatories. The projects consists of the demonstration and validation of six scaled up citizen observatories in real operational conditions both in the EU and in Africa, with a specific focus on flora and fauna as well as water availability and water quality for land and natural resources management. The demonstration cases (4 EU and 2 African) cover the full 'spectrum' of citizen-sensed data usage and citizen engagement, and therefore allow testing and validation of the socio-technical concept for citizen observatories under a range of conditions.

  5. Informed decision-making with and for people with dementia: Developing and pilot testing an education program for legal representatives (PRODECIDE).

    PubMed

    Lühnen, Julia; Mühlhauser, Ingrid; Richter, Tanja

    2017-01-01

    Background People living with dementia are often appointed a legal representative, to support and protect their ethical and legal rights to informed healthcare decisions. However, legal representatives usually have no qualifications in healthcare. Objective The aim of this study was to explore decision-making processes with participation of legal representatives and, resulting from this, to develop and pilot test an education program for legal representatives in Germany. Methods We conducted interviews with legal representatives and senior citizens about decision-making processes in healthcare, with special focus on percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, physical restraints, and prescription of antipsychotics for people with dementia. We generated a curriculum based on systematic literature searches and the results of these interviews. We tested the education program for comprehensibility, feasibility, usability, and acceptance. Results Personal interviews with voluntary ( n = 12) and professional ( n = 12) representatives, and senior citizens ( n = 14) were conducted. Preferences, attitudes, and wishes regarding percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, physical restraints, and antipsychotics, and the process of decision-making, were heterogeneous. A structural approach is lacking. The education program proxy-decison-making (PRODECIDE) comprises four modules: (A) decision-making processes and methods; (B-D) evidence-based knowledge about percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, physical restraints, and antipsychotics. We conducted eight trainings with 47 legal representatives. PRODECIDE was well accepted. Comprehensibility of contents and materials was rated high. The program seems feasible for implementation. Conclusion PRODECIDE seems suitable to improve the decision-making processes of legal representatives in Germany. Implementation will be appropriate if efficacy is proven; a randomized controlled trial is currently underway.

  6. The PTA TV Trainer's Manual.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National PTA, Chicago, IL.

    This updated version of a 1977 manual provides information about the television industry, communications regulations, and citizen recourse to improper broadcasting procedures for use in training Parent Teacher Association (PTA) volunteers to work for effective change within the television industry. The first section discusses the operations of the…

  7. 75 FR 10789 - Appointments to Performance Review Board for Senior Executive Service

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-03-09

    ... Executive Service employees: Perry E. Anthony, Ph.D., Deputy Commissioner, Rehabilitation Services Administration, Department of Education. Abram Claude, Jr., Private Citizen Paul M. Laird, Assistant Director, Industries, Education and Vocational Training and Chief Operating Officer/FPI, Department of Justice. All...

  8. Educational Administration and Social Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trusty, Francis M.

    The American public school no longer exists for the purpose of producing respectable middle class citizens. Moreover, the school administrator, long trained to manage schools, teachers, parents, and children with unquestioned authority, is approaching extinction. Schools have not been for educating children but for producing conformity to socially…

  9. Involving citizens in priority setting for public health research: Implementation in infection research.

    PubMed

    Rawson, Timothy M; Castro-Sánchez, Enrique; Charani, Esmita; Husson, Fran; Moore, Luke S P; Holmes, Alison H; Ahmad, Raheelah

    2018-02-01

    Public sources fund the majority of UK infection research, but citizens currently have no formal role in resource allocation. To explore the feasibility and willingness of citizens to engage in strategic decision making, we developed and tested a practical tool to capture public priorities for research. A scenario including six infection themes for funding was developed to assess citizen priorities for research funding. This was tested over two days at a university public festival. Votes were cast anonymously along with rationale for selection. The scenario was then implemented during a three-hour focus group exploring views on engagement in strategic decisions and in-depth evaluation of the tool. 188/491(38%) prioritized funding research into drug-resistant infections followed by emerging infections(18%). Results were similar between both days. Focus groups contained a total of 20 citizens with an equal gender split, range of ethnicities and ages ranging from 18 to >70 years. The tool was perceived as clear with participants able to make informed comparisons. Rationale for funding choices provided by voters and focus group participants are grouped into three major themes: (i) Information processing; (ii) Knowledge of the problem; (iii) Responsibility; and a unique theme within the focus groups (iv) The potential role of citizens in decision making. Divergent perceptions of relevance and confidence of "non-experts" as decision makers were expressed. Voting scenarios can be used to collect, en-masse, citizens' choices and rationale for research priorities. Ensuring adequate levels of citizen information and confidence is important to allow deployment in other formats. © 2017 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. STS 51-L crewmembers briefed during training session

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1986-01-01

    Five members of the STS 51-L crew and a backup crewmember are briefed during a training session in JSC's Shuttle mockup and integration laboratory. From left to right are Astronauts Ellison S. Onizuka, mission specialist; Ronald E. McNair, mission specialist; Gregory Jarvis, Hughes payload specialist; Judith A. Resnik, mission specialist; Sharon Christa McAuliffe, citizen observer/payload specialist representing the Teacher in Space project. Barbara R. Morgan, backup to McAuliffe, is in the right foreground.

  11. Christa McAuliffe resting after egress training

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1986-01-08

    S86-25251 (January 1986) --- Sharon Christa McAuliffe, payload specialist for STS-51L, takes a breather following a busy day?s training in the Johnson Space Center?s Shuttle Mock-up and Integration Laboratory. McAuliffe, a New Hampshire school teacher, was chosen from among ten finalists in the Teacher-in-Space Project to serve as citizen observer aboard the Challenger. This photo was taken by Keith Meyers of the New York Times. Photo credit: NASA

  12. Evaluating environmental education, citizen science, and stewardship through naturalist programs.

    PubMed

    Merenlender, Adina M; Crall, Alycia W; Drill, Sabrina; Prysby, Michelle; Ballard, Heidi

    2016-12-01

    Amateur naturalists have played an important role in the study and conservation of nature since the 17th century. Today, naturalist groups make important contributions to bridge the gap between conservation science and practice around the world. We examined data from 2 regional naturalist programs to understand participant motivations, barriers, and perspectives as well as the actions they take to advance science, stewardship, and community engagement. These programs provide certification-based natural history and conservation science training for adults that is followed by volunteer service in citizen science, education, and stewardship. Studies in California and Virginia include quantitative and qualitative evaluation data collected through pre- and postcourse surveys, interviews, and long-term tracking of volunteer hours. Motivations of participants focused on learning about the local environment and plants and animals, connecting with nature, becoming certified, and spending time with people who have similar interests. Over half the participants surveyed were over 50 years old, two-thirds were women, and a majority reported household incomes of over $50,000 (60% in California, 85% in Virginia), and <20% of those surveyed in both states described themselves as nonwhite. Thus, these programs need to improve participation by a wider spectrum of the public. We interviewed younger and underrepresented adults to examine barriers to participation in citizen science. The primary barrier was lack of time due to the need to work and focus on career advancement. Survey data revealed that participants' ecological knowledge, scientific skills, and belief in their ability to address environmental issues increased after training. Documented conservation actions taken by the participants include invasive plant management, habitat restoration, and cleanups of natural areas and streams. Long-term data from Virginia on volunteer hours dedicated to environmental citizen science show an increase from 14% in 2007 to 32% in 2014. In general, participants in the naturalist programs we examined increased their content knowledge about ecosystems, had greater confidence in conserving them, and continued to engage as citizen scientists after completing the program. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  13. CosmoQuest: A Cyber-Infrastructure for Crowdsourcing Planetary Surface Mapping and More

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gay, P.; Lehan, C.; Moore, J.; Bracey, G.; Gugliucci, N.

    2014-04-01

    The design and implementation of programs to crowdsource science presents a unique set of challenges to system architects, programmers, and designers. The CosmoQuest Citizen Science Builder (CSB) is an open source platform designed to take advantage of crowd computing and open source platforms to solve crowdsourcing problems in Planetary Science. CSB combines a clean user interface with a powerful back end to allow the quick design and deployment of citizen science sites that meet the needs of both the random Joe Public, and the detail driven Albert Professional. In this talk, the software will be overviewed, and the results of usability testing and accuracy testing with both citizen and professional scientists will be discussed.

  14. Towards Participation and Equality: The UN's International Labour Organization.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Konig, A.

    1990-01-01

    The role of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in vocational rehabilitation and employment for people with disabilities is examined. The ILO's recent emphasis on community-based training and employment programs, social reintegration of disabled citizens through self-employment and union-generating activities, and special programs for…

  15. Fire Safety Training Handbook.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Montgomery County Dept. of Fire and Rescue Services, Rockville, MD. Div. of Fire Prevention.

    Designed for a community fire education effort, particularly in which local volunteers present general information on fire safety to their fellow citizens, this workbook contains nine lessons. Included are an overview of the household fire problem; instruction in basic chemistry and physics of fire, flammable liquids, portable fire extinguishers,…

  16. Being Good Neighbors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Finkel, Ed

    2017-01-01

    Community colleges traditionally have provided a combination of liberal arts education and/or career training, depending on a student's goals and outlook. But increasingly, two-year colleges are adding a third leg to their stools aimed at building more socially aware citizens through civic engagement programs that combine elements of community…

  17. Reinventing Image Detective: An Evidence-Based Approach to Citizen Science Online

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Romano, C.; Graff, P. V.; Runco, S.

    2017-12-01

    Usability studies demonstrate that web users are notoriously impatient, spending as little as 15 seconds on a home page. How do you get users to stay long enough to understand a citizen science project? How do you get users to complete complex citizen science tasks online?Image Detective, a citizen science project originally developed by scientists and science engagement specialists at the NASA Johnson Space center to engage the public in the analysis of images taken from space by astronauts to help enhance NASA's online database of astronaut imagery, partnered with the CosmoQuest citizen science platform to modernize, offering new and improved options for participation in Image Detective. The challenge: to create a web interface that builds users' skills and knowledge, creating engagement while learning complex concepts essential to the accurate completion of tasks. The project team turned to usability testing for an objective understanding of how users perceived Image Detective and the steps required to complete required tasks. A group of six users was recruited online for unmoderated and initial testing. The users followed a think-aloud protocol while attempting tasks, and were recorded on video and audio. The usability test examined users' perception of four broad areas: the purpose of and context for Image Detective; the steps required to successfully complete the analysis (differentiating images of Earth's surface from those showing outer space and identifying common surface features); locating the image center point on a map of Earth; and finally, naming geographic locations or natural events seen in the image.Usability test findings demonstrated that the following best practices can increase participation in Image Detective and can be applied to the successful implementation of any citizen science project:• Concise explanation of the project, its context, and its purpose;• Including a mention of the funding agency (in this case, NASA);• A preview of the specific tasks required of participants;• A dedicated user interface for the actual citizen science interaction.In addition, testing revealed that users may require additional context when a task is complex, difficult, or unusual (locating a specific image and its center point on a map of Earth). Video evidence will be made available with this presentation.

  18. Reinventing Image Detective: An Evidence-Based Approach to Citizen Science Online

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Romano, Cia; Graff, Paige V.; Runco, Susan

    2017-01-01

    Usability studies demonstrate that web users are notoriously impatient, spending as little as 15 seconds on a home page. How do you get users to stay long enough to understand a citizen science project? How do you get users to complete complex citizen science tasks online? Image Detective, a citizen science project originally developed by scientists and science engagement specialists at the NASA Johnson Space center to engage the public in the analysis of images taken from space by astronauts to help enhance NASA's online database of astronaut imagery, partnered with the CosmoQuest citizen science platform to modernize, offering new and improved options for participation in Image Detective. The challenge: to create a web interface that builds users' skills and knowledge, creating engagement while learning complex concepts essential to the accurate completion of tasks. The project team turned to usability testing for an objective understanding of how users perceived Image Detective and the steps required to complete required tasks. A group of six users was recruited online for unmoderated and initial testing. The users followed a think-aloud protocol while attempting tasks, and were recorded on video and audio. The usability test examined users' perception of four broad areas: the purpose of and context for Image Detective; the steps required to successfully complete the analysis (differentiating images of Earth's surface from those showing outer space and identifying common surface features); locating the image center point on a map of Earth; and finally, naming geographic locations or natural events seen in the image. Usability test findings demonstrated that the following best practices can increase participation in Image Detective and can be applied to the successful implementation of any citizen science project: (1) Concise explanation of the project, its context, and its purpose; (2) Including a mention of the funding agency (in this case, NASA); (3) A preview of the specific tasks required of participants; (4) A dedicated user interface for the actual citizen science interaction. In addition, testing revealed that users may require additional context when a task is complex, difficult, or unusual (locating a specific image and its center point on a map of Earth). Video evidence will be made available with this presentation.

  19. The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test: fraudulent science in the American courts.

    PubMed

    Booker, J L

    2004-01-01

    The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test was conceived, developed and promulgated as a simple procedure for the determination of the blood alcohol concentration of drivers suspected of driving while intoxicated (DWI). Bypassing the usual scientific review process and touted through the good offices of the federal agency responsible for traffic safety, it was rushed into use as a law enforcement procedure, and was soon adopted and protected from scientific criticism by courts throughout the United States. In fact, research findings, training manuals and other relevant documents were often held as secrets by the state. Still, the protective certification of its practitioners and the immunity afforded by judicial notice failed to silence all the critics of this deeply flawed procedure. Responding to criticism, the sponsors of the test traveled the path documented in this paper that led from mere (if that word can ever truly apply to a matter of such gravity) carelessness in research through self-serving puffery and finally into deliberate fraud--always at the expense of the citizen accused.

  20. Christa McAuliffe surveys middeck mockup

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1986-01-08

    S86-25188 (December 1985) --- Sharon Christa McAuliffe, a school teacher Concord New Hampshire, surveys a ground training replica of the quarters she?ll be using in space when the space shuttle Challenger taxis two women and five men into space in January of 1986. The STS-51L citizen observer/payload specialist is in training at the Johnson Space Center, representing the Teacher-in-Space Project. The photo was taken by Keith Meyers of the New York Times. Photo credit: NASA

  1. CosmoQuest: Training Students, Teachers and the Public to do NASA Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buxner, S.; Bracey, G.; Noel-Storr, J.; Murph, S.; Francis, M. R.; Strishock, L.; Cobb, W. H.; Lebofsky, L. A.; Jones, A. P.; Finkelstein, K.; Gay, P.

    2016-12-01

    Engaging individuals in science who have not been formally trained as research scientists can both capture a wider audiences in the process of science as well as crowdsource data analysis that gets more science done. CosmoQuest is a virtual research facility that leverages these benefits through citizen science projects that has community members to analyze NASA data that contributes to publishable science results. This is accomplished through an inviting experience that recruits members of the public (including students), meets their needs and motivations, and provides them the education they want so they can to be contributing members of the community. Each research project in CosmoQuest presents new training opportunities that are designed to meet the personal needs of the engaged individuals, while also leading to the production of high-quality data that meets the needs of the research teams. These educational opportunities extend into classrooms, where both teachers and students engage in analysis. Training for teachers is done through in-person and online professional development, and through conference workshops for both scientists and educators. Curricular products are available to support students' understanding of citizen science and how to engage in CosmoQuest projects. Professional development for all audiences is done through online tutorials and courses, with social media support. Our goal is to instill expertise in individuals not formally trained as research scientists. This allows them to work with and provide genuine scientific support to practicing experts in a community that benefits all stakeholders. Training focuses on increasing and supporting individuals' core content knowledge as well as building the specific skills necessary to engage in each project. These skills and knowledge are aligned with the 3-dimensional learning of the Next Generation Science Standards, and support lifelong learning opportunities for those in and out of school.

  2. Taking Senior Citizens Off the Shelf

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Stephen

    1977-01-01

    Describes the North Bay Human Development Corporation's (NBHDC) operation of the Senior Skills Center in Santa Rosa (Sonoma County) California, a CETA-funded self-help program that taps the resources of the county's older adult population to provide other seniors with second career training, counseling, job placement, and low-cost products and…

  3. A Storytelling Learning Model for Legal Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Capuano, Nicola; De Maio, Carmen; Gaeta, Angelo; Mangione, Giuseppina Rita; Salerno, Saverio; Fratesi, Eleonora

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to describe a learning model based on "Storytelling" and its application in the context of legal education helping build challenging training resources that explain, to common citizens with little or no background about legal topics, concepts related to "Legal Mediation" in general and in specific…

  4. Communities for the New Century.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bishop, Ann Peterson

    2000-01-01

    Discusses making community networking a reality for all citizens, noting ways to reduce the digital divide that segments computer use along socioeconomic lines. Lists 4 insights that may help in the design and implementation of community services devoted to computer access and training. Notes a website on community networking, and recent…

  5. The Role of Sustainability in Campus Planning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Havens, Greg; Chapman, Perry; Irwin, Bryan

    2008-01-01

    The Morrill Act of 1862, signed by Abraham Lincoln, established the land grant university with a Solomon-like simplicity: the federal government would deed large tracts of land to establish public colleges in each state. These institutions would then train young citizens in agriculture, forestry, mining and the mechanical arts--fields tied…

  6. A Culturally Competent Immersion Protocol: Petit Goâve, Haiti

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Streets, Barbara Faye; Wolford, Karen; Nicolas, Guerda

    2015-01-01

    In the human services professions, cultural immersion experiences help satisfy multicultural training standards established by national accreditation bodies. Immersion in a culturally sensitive manner is necessary as we prepare professionals to work with and serve citizens of the globe. The authors describe an international cultural immersion…

  7. Burns B. Crookston: Life and Legacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fried, Jane

    2010-01-01

    Burns B. Crookston was a man ahead of his times. He left a legacy to the student affairs profession that inspired the practice of student development education. His writings described a role for higher education in training students to become active citizens by learning about leadership, decision making, and conflict resolution in democratic…

  8. Higher Education Plays Critical Role in Society: More Women Leaders Can Make a Difference

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Teague, Leah Jackson

    2015-01-01

    Leaders with a diverse set of experiences, viewpoints, and backgrounds are crucial to encouraging different perspectives, broadening an institution's world views, and fostering innovation particularly important at colleges and universities responsible for educating and training future leaders, workers, and citizens. Studies show that gender…

  9. Assessing quality of citizen scientists’ soil texture estimates to evaluate land potential

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Texture influences nearly all soil processes and is often the most measured parameter in soil science. Estimating soil texture is a universal and fundamental practice applied by resource scientists to classify and understand the behavior and management of soil systems. While trained soil scientist c...

  10. Estimating False Positive Contamination in Crater Annotations from Citizen Science Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tar, P. D.; Bugiolacchi, R.; Thacker, N. A.; Gilmour, J. D.

    2017-01-01

    Web-based citizen science often involves the classification of image features by large numbers of minimally trained volunteers, such as the identification of lunar impact craters under the Moon Zoo project. Whilst such approaches facilitate the analysis of large image data sets, the inexperience of users and ambiguity in image content can lead to contamination from false positive identifications. We give an approach, using Linear Poisson Models and image template matching, that can quantify levels of false positive contamination in citizen science Moon Zoo crater annotations. Linear Poisson Models are a form of machine learning which supports predictive error modelling and goodness-of-fits, unlike most alternative machine learning methods. The proposed supervised learning system can reduce the variability in crater counts whilst providing predictive error assessments of estimated quantities of remaining true verses false annotations. In an area of research influenced by human subjectivity, the proposed method provides a level of objectivity through the utilisation of image evidence, guided by candidate crater identifications.

  11. The Organization of Citizen's Educational Beliefs.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Day, Jo Ann Miller

    Responses to the 1976 Gallup education poll were analyzed to test the hypothesis that educational beliefs held by lay citizens are systematically structured and may be ordered along several dimensions representing functions of education: utilitarian concerns, socialization concerns, and concerns with academic and individual needs. Further, the…

  12. Genetic risks and healthy choices: creating citizen-consumers of genetic services through empowerment and facilitation.

    PubMed

    Harvey, Alison

    2010-03-01

    Genetic testing to identify susceptibility to a variety of common complex diseases is increasingly becoming available. In this article, focusing on the development of genetic susceptibility testing for diet-related disease, I examine the emergence of direct-to-the-consumer genetic testing services and the (re)configuration of healthcare provision, both within and outside the specialist genetics service, in the UK. I identify two key techniques within these practices: empowerment and facilitation. Using Foucauldian social theory, I show that empowerment and facilitation are being positioned as tools for the creation of citizen-consumers who will make appropriate dietary choices, based on the results of their genetic analysis. Through these techniques, individuals are transformed into properly entrepreneurial citizens who will, through judicious choices, act to maximise their 'vital capital' (their health) and the capital of the social body. I argue that the user of these services is not purely an economic figure, making rational choices as a consumer, but that her configuration as a citizen-consumer who avails herself of genetic information and services in a proper manner ensures that she is fit to contribute to the economic life of our present.

  13. Lessons from COASST: How Does Citizen Science Contribute to Natural Resource Management & Decision-Making?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Metes, J.; Ballard, H. L.; Parrish, J.

    2016-12-01

    As many scholars and practitioners in the environmental field turn to citizen science to collect robust scientific data as well as engage with wider audiences, it is crucial to build a more complete understanding of how citizen science influences and affects different interests within a social-ecological system. This research investigates how federal, state, and tribal natural resource managers interact with data from the Coastal Observation & Seabird Survey Team (COASST) project—a citizen science program that trains participants to monitor species and abundance of beach-cast birds on the Pacific Northwest Coast. Fifteen coastal and fisheries managers who previously requested COASST data were interviewed about how and why they used data from the project and were asked to describe how information gained from COASST affected their management decisions. Results suggest that broadly, managers value and learn from the program's capacity to gather data spanning a wide spatial-temporal range. This contribution to baseline monitoring helps managers signal and track both short- and long-term environmental change. More specifically, managers use COASST data in conjunction with other professional monitoring programs, such as the National Marine Fisheries Observer Program, to build higher degrees of reliability into management decisions. Although managers offered diverse perspectives and experiences about what the role of citizen science in natural resource management generally should be, there was agreement that agencies on their own often lack personnel and funding required to sufficiently monitor many crucial resources. Additionally, managers strongly suggested that COASST and other citizen science projects increased public awareness and support for agency decision-making and policies, and indirect yet important contribution to natural resource management.

  14. "Here we're all in the same boat"--a qualitative study of group based rehabilitation for sick-listed citizens with chronic pain.

    PubMed

    Andersen, Lotte Nygaard; Kohberg, Maria; Herborg, Lene Gram; Søgaard, Karen; Roessler, Kirsten Kaya

    2014-08-01

    Musculoskeletal pain impacts upon everyday life. A degree of chronicity may pose an increased risk of sickness absence. One of two rehabilitative interventions, "Tailored Physical Activity" or "Chronic Pain Self-Management Program", was offered to sick-listed citizens who experienced pain. The objectives of this paper were to: (1) Assess what factors are experienced as problematic for sick-listed citizens in everyday life with chronic pain, and (2) Evaluate the significance of two distinct rehabilitative interventions on the future everyday lives of sick-listed citizens. Seven semi-structured interviews with sick-listed citizens were analyzed using a phenomenological-hermeneutical approach. Results were discussed by applying the theoretical framework of Antonovsky's salutogenetic model and Yaloms principles for group psychology. The potential for development of citizen's coping is evaluated based on Roessler's notion of progression. The analysis revealed four main themes: (1) Living with pain and unemployment; (2) "Putting my foot down" and "asking for help"; (3) Significance of the group, including instructors, and; (4) Aspects significant to progression. Unemployment is a major life event that promotes stress and can be accompanied by problems related to depressed mood, acceptance of the life situation, feelings of not being useful, feelings of losing control and identity conflicts. Group characteristics that gave a significant basis for progression in the self-management program are both emotional and instrumental, while the physical training program offers a "here-and-now"-experience and motivation to participate. This study indicates that the self-management program could potentially improve coping while the physical activity program revealed one example of a means of progression. © 2014 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. A Citizen Science Approach: A Detailed Ecological Assessment of Subtropical Reefs at Point Lookout, Australia

    PubMed Central

    Thurstan, Ruth; Beger, Maria; Dudgeon, Christine; Loder, Jennifer; Kovacs, Eva; Gallo, Michele; Flower, Jason; Gomez Cabrera, K-le; Ortiz, Juan; Lea, Alexandra; Kleine, Diana

    2016-01-01

    Subtropical reefs provide an important habitat for flora and fauna, and proper monitoring is required for conservation. Monitoring these exposed and submerged reefs is challenging and available resources are limited. Citizen science is increasing in momentum, as an applied research tool and in the variety of monitoring approaches adopted. This paper aims to demonstrate an ecological assessment and mapping approach that incorporates both top-down (volunteer marine scientists) and bottom-up (divers/community) engagement aspects of citizen science, applied at a subtropical reef at Point Lookout, Southeast Queensland, Australia. Marine scientists trained fifty citizen scientists in survey techniques that included mapping of habitat features, recording of substrate, fish and invertebrate composition, and quantifying impacts (e.g., occurrence of substrate damage, presence of litter). In 2014 these volunteers conducted four seasonal surveys along semi-permanent transects, at five sites, across three reefs. The project presented is a model on how citizen science can be conducted in a marine environment through collaboration of volunteer researchers, non-researchers and local marine authorities. Significant differences in coral and algal cover were observed among the three sites, while fluctuations in algal cover were also observed seasonally. Differences in fish assemblages were apparent among sites and seasons, with subtropical fish groups observed more commonly in colder seasons. The least physical damage occurred in the most exposed sites (Flat Rock) within the highly protected marine park zones. The broad range of data collected through this top-down/bottom-up approach to citizen science exemplifies the projects’ value and application for identifying ecosystem trends or patterns. The results of the project support natural resource and marine park management, providing a valuable contribution to existing scientific knowledge and the conservation of local reefs. PMID:27706182

  16. A Citizen Science Approach: A Detailed Ecological Assessment of Subtropical Reefs at Point Lookout, Australia.

    PubMed

    Roelfsema, Chris; Thurstan, Ruth; Beger, Maria; Dudgeon, Christine; Loder, Jennifer; Kovacs, Eva; Gallo, Michele; Flower, Jason; Gomez Cabrera, K-le; Ortiz, Juan; Lea, Alexandra; Kleine, Diana

    2016-01-01

    Subtropical reefs provide an important habitat for flora and fauna, and proper monitoring is required for conservation. Monitoring these exposed and submerged reefs is challenging and available resources are limited. Citizen science is increasing in momentum, as an applied research tool and in the variety of monitoring approaches adopted. This paper aims to demonstrate an ecological assessment and mapping approach that incorporates both top-down (volunteer marine scientists) and bottom-up (divers/community) engagement aspects of citizen science, applied at a subtropical reef at Point Lookout, Southeast Queensland, Australia. Marine scientists trained fifty citizen scientists in survey techniques that included mapping of habitat features, recording of substrate, fish and invertebrate composition, and quantifying impacts (e.g., occurrence of substrate damage, presence of litter). In 2014 these volunteers conducted four seasonal surveys along semi-permanent transects, at five sites, across three reefs. The project presented is a model on how citizen science can be conducted in a marine environment through collaboration of volunteer researchers, non-researchers and local marine authorities. Significant differences in coral and algal cover were observed among the three sites, while fluctuations in algal cover were also observed seasonally. Differences in fish assemblages were apparent among sites and seasons, with subtropical fish groups observed more commonly in colder seasons. The least physical damage occurred in the most exposed sites (Flat Rock) within the highly protected marine park zones. The broad range of data collected through this top-down/bottom-up approach to citizen science exemplifies the projects' value and application for identifying ecosystem trends or patterns. The results of the project support natural resource and marine park management, providing a valuable contribution to existing scientific knowledge and the conservation of local reefs.

  17. Using Citizen Science for Water Quality Monitoring: Preaching the Message Beyond the Choir

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jollymore, A. J.

    2015-12-01

    Citizen science has emerged a means for augmenting the scope of research while educating the community. Environmental research has a particularly strong motivation for engagement, given its often-local context. We implemented a citizen science campaign to investigate relationships between land use and dissolved organic matter (DOM) in surface water environments proximal to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Citizen science was intended to increase sampling breadth, and engage the community about human activities and water quality effects. Participants were given a sample kit and a simple sampling protocol; we then used fast and economic absorbance and fluorescence spectrophotometry to determine DOM concentration and composition. Participants, including individuals from over 10 municipalities and community organizations, submitted over 200 samples; these were compared to investigator-led sampling, as well as data mining existing sources, to verify results. Analyzing the fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) with a five-component parallel factor (PARAFAC) model showed that samples from watersheds with increased urbanization had unique microbial-like peaks, suggesting variances in DOM lability and origins compared to more pristine watersheds. Community engagement was extended by making data available online in an interactive map, as well as by presenting the project to the public. Despite this, engagement occurred most with community organizations; these participants tended to have scientific training, with a higher knowledge baseline regarding their specific watershed and water quality issues generally. While this served scientific goals, our campaign was less successful at engaging citizens with less-developed scientific backgrounds. In this presentation we will discuss the merits and scientific milestones enabled by citizen science, and lessons learned about how to get beyond 'preaching to the choir' in crafting and implementing such projects.

  18. Leadership in Nigerian health system for cancer prevention and control.

    PubMed

    Ogbimi, R I

    2009-06-01

    Unacceptable health system outcomes are often related to problems with leadership because the ultimate responsibility for assigned work rests on leadership. In this paper, proper leadership at micro and macro-levels can have positive impact on the health and well being of citizens. While this may be readily obvious in other spheres, it has not been addressed adequately in the context of health care systems and its impact on health outcomes. In this paper, I discuss types of work and leadership systems in order to highlight the importance of leadership and leadership training in collaborative training and research for cancer management. The complexity of health systems highlight the expanded role of leadership in terms of capacity and capability to control the environmental risk factors for cancer, deploy adequate resources for the management of cancers, and ensure fruitful and productive post treatment life for citizens. Improved community awareness, better training of health care workers, improved working environment based on better interpersonal relationships between all cadres of health care workers, environmental health and safety initiatives and research on cancer are some of the areas where improved leadership can lead to better health outcomes. Effective leadership requires a set of skills that can be acquired with requisite operating environment, political will and adequate funding in order to generate the expected improvements in outcome.

  19. The Maine Vernal Pool Mapping and Assessment Program: Engaging Municipal Officials and Private Landowners in Community-Based Citizen Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jansujwicz, Jessica S.; Calhoun, Aram J. K.; Lilieholm, Robert J.

    2013-12-01

    The Vernal Pool Mapping and Assessment Program (VPMAP) was initiated in 2007 to create a vernal pool database as a planning tool to foster local compliance with new state vernal pool regulations. In the northeastern United States, vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that provide critical breeding habitat for a number of amphibians and invertebrates and provide important resting and foraging habitat for some rare and endangered state-listed species. Using participant observation, interviews, and focus groups, we examined the engagement of municipal officials and private landowners in VPMAP. Important outcomes of municipal and landowner engagement included mobilization of town support for proactive planning, improved awareness and understanding of vernal pools, and increased interactions between program coordinators, municipal officials, and private landowners. Challenges to municipal and landowner engagement included an inconsistency in expectations between coordinators and municipal officials and a lack of time and sufficient information for follow-up with landowners participating in VPMAP. Our study highlights the importance of developing relationships among coordinators, municipal officials, and private landowners in facilitating positive outcomes for all stakeholders and for effective resource management. We suggest an expanded citizen science model that focuses on improving two-way communication among project coordinators, municipal officials, and local citizens and places communication with private landowners on par with volunteer citizen scientist recruitment and field training. Lessons learned from this research can inform the design and implementation of citizen science projects on private land.

  20. Osteoporosis management and fractures in the Métis of Ontario, Canada.

    PubMed

    Jandoc, Racquel; Jembere, Nathaniel; Khan, Saba; Russell, Storm J; Allard, Yvon; Cadarette, Suzanne M

    2015-01-01

    Half of Métis citizens, compared to less than 10 % of the general population of Ontario, reside in northern regions, with little access to bone mineral density (BMD) testing. Métis citizens had lower sex-specific and age-standardized rates of BMD testing, yet similar rates of fracture (both sexes) and pharmacotherapy (women only). To examine osteoporosis management and common osteoporosis-related fractures among Métis citizens compared to the general population of older adults residing in Ontario. We linked healthcare (medical and pharmacy) utilization and administrative (demographic) databases with the Métis Nation of Ontario citizenship registry to estimate osteoporosis management (bone mineral density [BMD] testing, pharmacotherapy) and fractures (hip, humerus, radius/ulna) among adults aged ≥50 years, from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2011. Pharmacotherapy data were limited to residents aged ≥65 years. Sex-specific and age-standardized rates were compared between the Métis and the general population. Multivariable logistic regression was used to compare rates of BMD testing after controlling for differences in age and region of residence between the Métis and the general population. We studied 4219 Métis citizens (55 % men), and 140 (3 %) experienced a fracture. Half of Métis citizens, compared to less than 10 % of the general population of Ontario, resided in northern regions. We identified significantly lower sex-specific and age-standardized rates of BMD testing among Métis compared to the general population, yet found little difference in fracture rates (both sexes) or pharmacotherapy (women only). Differences in BMD testing disappeared after adjusting for region of residence among women yet remained significant among men. Despite finding significantly lower rates of osteoporosis management among men, Métis men and women were found to have similar age-standardized fracture rates to the general population.

  1. How MESSENGER Meshes Simulations and Games with Citizen Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hirshon, B.; Chapman, C. R.; Edmonds, J.; Goldstein, J.; Hallau, K. G.; Solomon, S. C.; Vanhala, H.; Weir, H. M.; Messenger Education; Public Outreach (Epo) Team

    2010-12-01

    How MESSENGER Meshes Simulations and Games with Citizen Science In the film The Last Starfighter, an alien civilization grooms their future champion—a kid on Earth—using a video game. As he gains proficiency in the game, he masters the skills he needs to pilot a starship and save their civilization. The NASA MESSENGER Education and Public Outreach (EPO) Team is using the same tactic to train citizen scientists to help the Science Team explore the planet Mercury. We are building a new series of games that appear to be designed primarily for fun, but that guide players through a knowledge and skill set that they will need for future science missions in support of MESSENGER mission scientists. As players score points, they gain expertise. Once they achieve a sufficiently high score, they will be invited to become participants in Mercury Zoo, a new program being designed by Zooniverse. Zooniverse created Galaxy Zoo and Moon Zoo, programs that allow interested citizens to participate in the exploration and interpretation of galaxy and lunar data. Scientists use the citizen interpretations to further refine their exploration of the same data, thereby narrowing their focus and saving precious time. Mercury Zoo will be designed with input from the MESSENGER Science Team. This project will not only support the MESSENGER mission, but it will also add to the growing cadre of informed members of the public available to help with other citizen science projects—building on the concept that engaged, informed citizens can help scientists make new discoveries. The MESSENGER EPO Team comprises individuals from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); Carnegie Academy for Science Education (CASE); Center for Educational Resources (CERES) at Montana State University (MSU) - Bozeman; National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE); Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL); National Air and Space Museum (NASM); Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI); and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI).

  2. Citizens' perspectives on personalized medicine: a qualitative public deliberation study.

    PubMed

    Bombard, Yvonne; Abelson, Julia; Simeonov, Dorina; Gauvin, Francois-Pierre

    2013-11-01

    Our objective was to explore citizens' informed and reasoned values and expectations of personalized medicine, a timely yet novel genomics policy issue. A qualitative, public deliberation study was undertaken using a citizens' reference panel on health technologies, established to provide input to the health technology assessment process in Ontario, Canada. The citizens' panel consisted of five women and nine men, aged 18-71 years, with one member selected from each health authority region. There were shared expectations among the citizens' panel members for the potential of personalized medicine technologies to improve care, provided they are deemed clinically valid and effective. These expectations were tempered by concerns about value for money and the possibility that access to treatment may be limited by personalized medicine tests used to stratify patients. Although they questioned the presumed technological imperative presented by personalized medicine technologies, they called for increased efforts to prepare the health-care system to effectively integrate these technologies. This study represents an early but important effort to explore public values toward personalized medicine. This study also provides evidence of the public's ability to form coherent judgments about a new policy issue. Concerned that personalized tests might be used to ration care, they suggested that treatment should be made available if patients wanted it, irrespective of tests that indicate little benefit. This issue raises clinical and policy challenges that may undermine the value of personalized medicine. Further efforts to deliberate with the public are warranted to inform effective, efficient and equitable translation of personalized medicine.

  3. 77 FR 63800 - Proposed Extension of Approval of Information Collection; Comment Request-Omnidirectional...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-17

    ...; Comment Request--Omnidirectional Citizens Band Base Station Antennas AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety... antennas. The collection of information is in regulations setting forth the Safety Standard for Omnidirectional Citizens Band Base Station Antennas (16 CFR part 1204). These regulations establish testing and...

  4. CATE 2016 Indonesia: Camera, Software, and User Interface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kovac, S. A.; Jensen, L.; Hare, H. S.; Mitchell, A. M.; McKay, M. A.; Bosh, R.; Watson, Z.; Penn, M.

    2016-12-01

    The Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (Citizen CATE) Experiment will use a fleet of 60 identical telescopes across the United States to image the inner solar corona during the 2017 total solar eclipse. For a proof of concept, five sites were hosted along the path of totality during the 2016 total solar eclipse in Indonesia. Tanjung Pandan, Belitung, Indonesia was the first site to experience totality. This site had the best seeing conditions and focus, resulting in the highest quality images. This site proved that the equipment that is going to be used is capable of recording high quality images of the solar corona. Because 60 sites will be funded, each set up needs to be cost effective. This requires us to use an inexpensive camera, which consequently has a small dynamic range. To compensate for the corona's intensity drop off factor of 1,000, images are taken at seven frames per second, at exposures 0.4ms, 1.3ms, 4.0ms, 13ms, 40ms, 130ms, and 400ms. Using MatLab software, we are able to capture a high dynamic range with an Arduino that controls the 2448 x 2048 CMOS camera. A major component of this project is to train average citizens to use the software, meaning it needs to be as user friendly as possible. The CATE team is currently working with MathWorks to create a graphic user interface (GUI) that will make data collection run smoothly. This interface will include tabs for alignment, focus, calibration data, drift data, GPS, totality, and a quick look function. This work was made possible through the National Solar Observatory Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSO Training for 2017 Citizen CATE Experiment, funded by NASA (NASA NNX16AB92A), also provided support for this project. The National Solar Observatory is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the NSF.

  5. USSR and Eastern Europe Scientific Abstracts, Geophysics, Astronomy and Space, Number 413.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1978-01-17

    weightlessness conditions. It is especial- ly timely now, when, as is well known, citizens of Czechoslovakia, Poland , GDR are in training for manned...consider Georgiy Grechko to be one of our specialists," says L. V. Des- inov . "He thoroughly knows these problems. He visited the Nurekskaya Hydro

  6. Effects of a Training Intervention to Foster Argumentation Skills While Processing Conflicting Scientific Positions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hefter, Markus H.; Berthold, Kirsten; Renkl, Alexander; Riess, Werner; Schmid, Sebastian; Fries, Stefan

    2014-01-01

    Argumentation skills play a crucial role in science education and in preparing school students to act as informed citizens. While processing conflicting scientific positions regarding topics such as sustainable development in the domain of ecology, argumentation skills such as evaluating arguments or supporting theories with evidence are…

  7. Aging Action: A Course in Senior Advocacy in Kansas.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kansas State Advisory Council on Aging, Topeka.

    Skills useful in advocacy of senior citizens' needs are discussed in this manual. The topics included are: (1) the meaning of advocacy; (2) assertiveness training for aging-action; (3) identifying issues; (4) choosing issues; (5) developing a plan of action; (6) organizing; (7) legislative advocacy; (8) criteria to evaluate potential legislative…

  8. Rehabilitation Services and Education in Four Asian Countries: Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chen, Roy K.; Jo, Song-Jae; Ong, Lee Za; Kotbungkair, Wilaiporn

    2007-01-01

    Booming economic prosperity, the restoration of sociopolitical stability, and the rise of disability rights have given Asian countries both impetus and resources to improve quality of life among their citizens with disabilities. This article provides an overview of rehabilitation services and training pertaining to (a) rehabilitation-related laws…

  9. Ghanaian Students in TIMSS 2011: Relationship between Contextual Factors and Mathematics Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Butakor, Paul Kwame; Ampadu, Ernest; Cole, Yaa

    2017-01-01

    Educational effectiveness research has witnessed some growth in the last three decades because the current era of global competitiveness compels each country to train and equip its citizens with knowledge and skills that would make them successful. Researchers from different countries are investigating factors across various levels within the…

  10. Reflection: A Key Component to Thinking Critically

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Colley, Binta M.; Bilics, Andrea R.; Lerch, Carol M.

    2012-01-01

    The ability to think critically is an important trait of all members of society. With today's multinational, multicultural, complex issues, citizens must be able to sift through large amounts of various data to make intelligent decisions. Thinking critically must be a focus of higher education in order to provide the intellectual training for its…

  11. Vernal Pool Lessons and Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Childs, Nancy; Colburn, Betsy

    This curriculum guide accompanies Certified: A Citizen's Step-by-Step Guide to Protecting Vernal Pools which is designed to train volunteers in the process of identifying vernal pool habitat so that as many of these pools as possible can be certified by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. Vernal pools are a kind of…

  12. Children as Ethicists: Stories for Thoughtful Young Citizens

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bratt, Kirstin Ruth

    2010-01-01

    An emphasis on diversity is one of the greatest challenges in my teaching. Everyone, myself included, enters the course with a set of expectations for human behavior, and literature can be very disruptive of these expectations. International literature, for example, often disrupts the narrative expectations of readers who were trained by stories…

  13. The Dropout Prevention Initiative Jobs Program: Perceptions of At-Risk Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Willis, Denise C.; And Others

    As the 21st century rapidly approaches, America will be directly confronted with the reality that its nationwide public education system has failed to adequately and accurately train its future generation of citizens. Socioeconomic status and race have been implicated as the two biggest factors related to dropping out. Current researchers have…

  14. Preparing Globally Competent Teachers: Indo-German Perspectives on Teacher Training

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Darji, Brijesh B.; Lang-Wojtasik, Gregor

    2014-01-01

    Globalization has an immense effect on education. Education relies on the teacher and the process by which teachers are developed. In this context, the expectations of teacher role and options for teacher preparation today have key roles to play in educating children to become responsible citizens of increasingly multicultural societies and active…

  15. WORLD OF WORK TRAINING PROGRAM. STUDENT-TRAINEE ORIENTATION.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    CANGEMI, JOSEPH P.

    THE PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM IS TO ENCOURAGE YOUNG STUDENTS TO STAY IN SCHOOL UNTIL HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION AND TO DEVELOP THOSE ATTITUDES, HABITS, AND SKILLS THAT PRODUCE RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS AND PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYEES. THE PROGRAM IS AN ATTEMPT TO ASSIST STUDENTS ON THE JUNIOR HIGH AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL. STUDENTS SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE ATTEND…

  16. Learning to Lead: Developing Young Adolescents' Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fiscus, Lyn

    2006-01-01

    The middle level years are a crucial time for student development, a time when the path for school success is set for many students. Educators who focus on character and leadership development realize that training in these areas can play a significant role in developing students who will become effective leaders and active citizens in middle…

  17. "While I'm Retraining, I Get the Full Whack": Illuminating Narratives of Career Change

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mulvey, Rachel

    2014-01-01

    This article considers four interviews conducted with French citizens by a team of researchers as part of the research project "Learning for Career and Labour Market Transitions: individual biographies". Funded by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), this study sought to contribute to the development…

  18. International Citizenship and the International Federation of University Women before 1939

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goodman, Joyce

    2011-01-01

    This article explores discursive languages through which leading women in the International Federation of University Women (IFUW) articulated their understandings of world citizenship and looks at what Caroline Spurgeon, the first President of the IFUW, called the "organised training of women to be citizens of the world." The central section…

  19. Zakon za srednoto obrazovanie (Secondary Education Act).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    1971

    This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of the Macedonian Secondary Education Act of 1970. Secondary Education is an integral part of the consolidated system of education and training. All citizens have an equal right to acquire the knowledge and skills they need in any type of secondary level institution.…

  20. CASA Fact Sheet.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association, Seattle WA.

    Each year nearly 400,000 children in the United States are thrust into court through no fault of their own. Often these children also become victims of the United States' overburdened child welfare system. A Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer is a trained citizen who is appointed by a judge to represent the best interests of a child…

  1. Essays in Labor and Development Economics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lan, Xiaohuan

    2012-01-01

    About 75% of U.S.-trained, non-citizen PhDs in science and engineering work in the U.S. after graduation, and 54% of those who stay take postdoctoral positions. The probability of postdoctoral participation is substantially higher for temporary visa holders than for permanent visa holders because of visa-related restrictions in the U.S. labor…

  2. National Issues Forums: Seniors/Community Connection. Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fisher, Suzanne M.

    A project was conducted to incorporate the Kettering Foundation's National Issues Forums (NIFs) into two senior citizen centers in Pennsylvania. The NIFs provide a process for sharing thoughts and opinions about areas of pressing national concern in an open exchange of all participants' opinions. An inservice training of senior center staff on…

  3. Outside the Green Box: Embedding Education for Sustainable Development through Cooperative Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Summers, Denise; Turner, Rebecca

    2011-01-01

    By 2010 all educators in the English lifelong learning sector were expected to embed "education for sustainable development" to support their learners in becoming sustainable citizens. The teacher training team at a college in southwest England used a "cooperative inquiry" approach to develop themselves and their curriculum, to…

  4. 32 CFR 153.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... United States, but who is a citizen of the foreign country in which that person is located. Inactive Duty... activities of the units to which they are assigned. Inactive Duty Training includes those duties performed by... (6) Not a national of or ordinarily resident in the host nation. Active Duty. Full-time duty in the...

  5. 32 CFR 153.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... United States, but who is a citizen of the foreign country in which that person is located. Inactive Duty... activities of the units to which they are assigned. Inactive Duty Training includes those duties performed by... (6) Not a national of or ordinarily resident in the host nation. Active Duty. Full-time duty in the...

  6. 32 CFR 153.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... United States, but who is a citizen of the foreign country in which that person is located. Inactive Duty... activities of the units to which they are assigned. Inactive Duty Training includes those duties performed by... (6) Not a national of or ordinarily resident in the host nation. Active Duty. Full-time duty in the...

  7. 32 CFR 153.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... United States, but who is a citizen of the foreign country in which that person is located. Inactive Duty... activities of the units to which they are assigned. Inactive Duty Training includes those duties performed by... (6) Not a national of or ordinarily resident in the host nation. Active Duty. Full-time duty in the...

  8. 32 CFR 153.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... United States, but who is a citizen of the foreign country in which that person is located. Inactive Duty... activities of the units to which they are assigned. Inactive Duty Training includes those duties performed by... (6) Not a national of or ordinarily resident in the host nation. Active Duty. Full-time duty in the...

  9. Making Cultures: Politics of Inclusion, Accessibility, and Empowerment at the Margins of the Maker Movement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Foster, Ellen Kathleen

    2017-01-01

    Historically an elite, formally-trained, and Western-centric population has dominated technology development, creating an inequity in who decides what roles technoscience will play, and how it will affect different publics. More recently, tactics to counter observed inequities have taken the form of citizen science, "civic science",…

  10. Using the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption as an example of citizen involvement in scientific research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Klemetti, E. W.

    2010-12-01

    With the dramatic increase in realtime data for volcano monitoring (and many other earth science data) available on the internet, the interest in data analysis and observation by untrained citizens is increasing rapidly. These volcanologic data sources include, but are not limited to, seismic information, webicorders, webcams, GPS, water and gas fluxes. The easy access to these data has allowed not only for the public to see the raw data that volcanologists use to assess and predict activity of a volcanic system, but also to actively participate in the process of volcano monitoring. This can be manifested in activities such observation of the changes in volcanic behavior via webcams to manipulation of seismic data to analyze for changes in the character of the seismicity. However, the biggest challenge for citizen analysis and participation in volcano monitoring is providing guidance and structure for these data as they are presented on the internet. The 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland provided an opportunity to observe and develop a community of “citizen scientists” interested in volcano monitoring on the internet. The readers of the volcano blog Eruptions followed the pre-, during and post-eruptive activity at Eyjafjallajökull while providing observations and data interpretations as time-stamped comments. During the eruption, the blog was viewed over 1,000,000 times and over 3,000 comments were left by readers. Many of these comments contained: (1) detailed descriptions of the current activity of the volcano as observed on the webcams; (2) observations on changes in seismicity as seen in realtime data provided by the Icelandic Meteorological Office and (3); reader-created compilations of various data in the form of images, tables of movies. By moderating the blog comments and providing corrections and insight to their observations, the readers felt that they were participating in an important way to the monitoring and recording of this historic eruption. A sampling of the readers of the blog suggests that they represent a wide diversity of backgrounds, ranging from no college education to doctorates. A majority of readers held degrees in a science, however more than 60% had no to little formal geologic training. This suggests that there is a substantial desire for people to take part in geoscience research although they are not formally trained in the discipline. A parallel can be drawn between the use of realtime data and webcams during the Eyjafjallajökull eruption to the role of amateur astronomers in the observation and discovery of astronomical phenomena. However, this role for citizens is new in geosciences, where many times amateur enthusiasts are seen as merely "rock hounds" rather than potential sources of important scientific observation and information. By using geoscience blogging as a framework for drawing citizen participation in observation and interpretation of realtime data available on the internet, real contributions to the discipline can be made by non-specialists. However, trained geoscientists need to engage with the public to help guide and support their endeavors, monitoring for misuse of the data sets and provide the needed context to allow their contributions to be legitimate.

  11. Pathways of Knowing: Integrating Citizen Science and Critical Thinking in the Adult ELL Classroom

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Basham, Melody

    This action research study examines what common perceptions and constructs currently exist in educating adult immigrants in Arizona and considers how might the integration of citizen science with the current English curriculum promote higher order thinking and educational equity in this population. A citizen science project called the Mastodon Matrix Project was introduced to a Level 2 ELAA (English Language Acquisition for Adults) classroom and aligned with the Arizona Adult Standards for ELAA education. Pre and post attitudinal surveys, level tests, and personal meaning maps were implemented to assess student attitudes towards science, views on technology, English skills, and knowledge gained as a result of doing citizen science over a period of 8 weeks.

  12. A Census of Residents in Canadian Hospitals Approved for Training by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, April 1965

    PubMed Central

    Clarke, G. Grant; Fish, D. G.; Giles, T. J.

    1966-01-01

    A census taken in April 1965 revealed that there were 3162 residents training in Canadian hospitals approved by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Thirty-one of the 151 approved hospitals had no residents in training, and another 43 hospitals each having 20 or more residents accounted for 85% of all residents training in Canada. Fifty-seven per cent of the residents in Canada were Canadian citizens, 19% were landed immigrants, and 24% were foreign trainees. Major teaching hospitals contained 65% of all residents; 70% of Canadian graduates and 60% of non-Canadian graduates were training in major teaching hospitals. Hospitals approved for full training in the specialty of the trainee contained 57% of all residents; 64% of Canadian graduates and 48% of foreign graduates were in such hospitals. PMID:5908720

  13. Teacher in Space Christa McAuliffe on the KC-135 for zero-G training

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1986-01-08

    S86-25180 (October 1985) --- Sharon Christa McAuliffe, STS-51L citizen observer/payload specialist, representing the Teacher-in-Space Project, floats forward and upward during a few moments of weightlessness aboard a KC-135 aircraft. The flight is part of her training for the scheduled five-day flight aboard the Challenger in January of next year. Barbara R. Morgan, backup payload specialist for STS-51L, is partially visible in the background. The photo was taken by Keith Meyers of the New York Times. Photo credit: NASA

  14. Reaching for the Stars in your Golden Years: The Importance of Outreach for Senior Citizens

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rapson, Valerie

    2015-01-01

    Astronomy outreach is often conducted in science classrooms, museums, observatories, and even at the local park. The intended audiences are usually families with young children, who we are training to be the next generation of scientists, inventors and world-changers. Science outreach is rarely geared towards senior citizens, and yet this group can be the most receptive audience, willing to share past experiences and engage in learning. Educating our seniors about astronomy, especially current discoveries, upcoming technology, and funding challenges, is of the utmost importance. Here, I share my experience conducting astronomy outreach at senior living communities in Rochester, NY as part of their Lifelong Learning initiative, and discuss why this type of outreach is important.

  15. Species distribution modeling based on the automated identification of citizen observations.

    PubMed

    Botella, Christophe; Joly, Alexis; Bonnet, Pierre; Monestiez, Pascal; Munoz, François

    2018-02-01

    A species distribution model computed with automatically identified plant observations was developed and evaluated to contribute to future ecological studies. We used deep learning techniques to automatically identify opportunistic plant observations made by citizens through a popular mobile application. We compared species distribution modeling of invasive alien plants based on these data to inventories made by experts. The trained models have a reasonable predictive effectiveness for some species, but they are biased by the massive presence of cultivated specimens. The method proposed here allows for fine-grained and regular monitoring of some species of interest based on opportunistic observations. More in-depth investigation of the typology of the observations and the sampling bias should help improve the approach in the future.

  16. Citizen sensors for SHM: use of accelerometer data from smartphones.

    PubMed

    Feng, Maria; Fukuda, Yoshio; Mizuta, Masato; Ozer, Ekin

    2015-01-29

    Ubiquitous smartphones have created a significant opportunity to form a low-cost wireless Citizen Sensor network and produce big data for monitoring structural integrity and safety under operational and extreme loads. Such data are particularly useful for rapid assessment of structural damage in a large urban setting after a major event such as an earthquake. This study explores the utilization of smartphone accelerometers for measuring structural vibration, from which structural health and post-event damage can be diagnosed. Widely available smartphones are tested under sinusoidal wave excitations with frequencies in the range relevant to civil engineering structures. Large-scale seismic shaking table tests, observing input ground motion and response of a structural model, are carried out to evaluate the accuracy of smartphone accelerometers under operational, white-noise and earthquake excitations of different intensity. Finally, the smartphone accelerometers are tested on a dynamically loaded bridge. The extensive experiments show satisfactory agreements between the reference and smartphone sensor measurements in both time and frequency domains, demonstrating the capability of the smartphone sensors to measure structural responses ranging from low-amplitude ambient vibration to high-amplitude seismic response. Encouraged by the results of this study, the authors are developing a citizen-engaging and data-analytics crowdsourcing platform towards a smartphone-based Citizen Sensor network for structural health monitoring and post-event damage assessment applications.

  17. How Framing Climate Change Influences Citizen Scientists' Intentions to Do Something about It

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dickinson, Janis L.; Crain, Rhiannon; Yalowitz, Steve; Cherry, Tammy M.

    2013-01-01

    How we communicate the dangers of climate change may influence attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Here we test two pairs of positive and negative framing statements with North American citizen scientists interested in gardening and birdwatching. Mentioning dangers for humans did not increase participants' interest in taking personal action on…

  18. 21st-Century Citizen Scholars: Testing What Is Possible and Desirable.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schwartz, Helen J.

    A pilot program at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI), called the Twenty-First Century Citizen Scholars, explores and evaluates the pedagogy of computer conferencing in writing-across-the-curriculum and makes sure of equal access by students. The purpose of the project is to build intellectual coherence, reduce conflict…

  19. Citizens' perspectives on personalized medicine: a qualitative public deliberation study

    PubMed Central

    Bombard, Yvonne; Abelson, Julia; Simeonov, Dorina; Gauvin, Francois-Pierre

    2013-01-01

    Our objective was to explore citizens' informed and reasoned values and expectations of personalized medicine, a timely yet novel genomics policy issue. A qualitative, public deliberation study was undertaken using a citizens' reference panel on health technologies, established to provide input to the health technology assessment process in Ontario, Canada. The citizens' panel consisted of five women and nine men, aged 18–71 years, with one member selected from each health authority region. There were shared expectations among the citizens' panel members for the potential of personalized medicine technologies to improve care, provided they are deemed clinically valid and effective. These expectations were tempered by concerns about value for money and the possibility that access to treatment may be limited by personalized medicine tests used to stratify patients. Although they questioned the presumed technological imperative presented by personalized medicine technologies, they called for increased efforts to prepare the health-care system to effectively integrate these technologies. This study represents an early but important effort to explore public values toward personalized medicine. This study also provides evidence of the public's ability to form coherent judgments about a new policy issue. Concerned that personalized tests might be used to ration care, they suggested that treatment should be made available if patients wanted it, irrespective of tests that indicate little benefit. This issue raises clinical and policy challenges that may undermine the value of personalized medicine. Further efforts to deliberate with the public are warranted to inform effective, efficient and equitable translation of personalized medicine. PMID:23340511

  20. Citizen Sensors for SHM: Towards a Crowdsourcing Platform

    PubMed Central

    Ozer, Ekin; Feng, Maria Q.; Feng, Dongming

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents an innovative structural health monitoring (SHM) platform in terms of how it integrates smartphone sensors, the web, and crowdsourcing. The ubiquity of smartphones has provided an opportunity to create low-cost sensor networks for SHM. Crowdsourcing has given rise to citizen initiatives becoming a vast source of inexpensive, valuable but heterogeneous data. Previously, the authors have investigated the reliability of smartphone accelerometers for vibration-based SHM. This paper takes a step further to integrate mobile sensing and web-based computing for a prospective crowdsourcing-based SHM platform. An iOS application was developed to enable citizens to measure structural vibration and upload the data to a server with smartphones. A web-based platform was developed to collect and process the data automatically and store the processed data, such as modal properties of the structure, for long-term SHM purposes. Finally, the integrated mobile and web-based platforms were tested to collect the low-amplitude ambient vibration data of a bridge structure. Possible sources of uncertainties related to citizens were investigated, including the phone location, coupling conditions, and sampling duration. The field test results showed that the vibration data acquired by smartphones operated by citizens without expertise are useful for identifying structural modal properties with high accuracy. This platform can be further developed into an automated, smart, sustainable, cost-free system for long-term monitoring of structural integrity of spatially distributed urban infrastructure. Citizen Sensors for SHM will be a novel participatory sensing platform in the way that it offers hybrid solutions to transitional crowdsourcing parameters. PMID:26102490

  1. A Citizen Science and Government Collaboration: Developing ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is actively involved in supporting citizen science projects and providing communities with information and assistance for conducting their own air pollution monitoring. As part of a Regional Applied Research Effort (RARE) project, EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) worked collaboratively with EPA Region 2 and the Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) in Newark, New Jersey, to develop and test the “Air Sensor Toolbox for Citizen Scientists.” In this collaboration, citizen scientists measured local gaseous and particulate air pollution levels by using a customized low-cost sensor pod designed and fabricated by EPA. This citizen science air quality measurement project provided an excellent opportunity for EPA to evaluate and improve the Toolbox resources available to communities. The Air Sensor Toolbox, developed in coordination with the ICC, can serve as a template for communities across the country to use in developing their own air pollution monitoring programs in areas where air pollution is a concern. This pilot project provided an opportunity for a highly motivated citizen science organization and the EPA to work together directly to address environmental concerns within the community. Useful lessons were learned about how to improve coordination between the government and communities and the types of tools and technologies needed for conducting an effective citizen science project that can be app

  2. JUST in time health emergency interventions: an innovative approach to training the citizen for emergency situations using virtual reality techniques and advanced IT tools (the VR Tool).

    PubMed

    Manganas, A; Tsiknakis, M; Leisch, E; Ponder, M; Molet, T; Herbelin, B; Magnetat-Thalmann, N; Thalmann, D; Fato, M; Schenone, A

    2004-01-01

    This paper reports the results of the second of the two systems developed by JUST, a collaborative project supported by the European Union under the Information Society Technologies (IST) Programme. The most innovative content of the project has been the design and development of a complementary training course for non-professional health emergency operators, which supports the traditional learning phase, and which purports to improve the retention capability of the trainees. This was achieved with the use of advanced information technology techniques, which provide adequate support and can help to overcome the present weaknesses of the existing training mechanisms.

  3. Assessment of postural balance in community-dwelling older adults - methodological aspects and effects of biofeedback-based Nintendo Wii training.

    PubMed

    Jørgensen, Martin Grønbech

    2014-01-01

    The overall purpose of this thesis was to examine selected methodological aspects and novel approaches for measuring postural balance older adults, and to examine the effects of biofeedback-based Nintendo Wii training on selected physiological, psychological and functional outcome variables in community-dwelling older adults. In Study I balance control was investigated using force plate analysis of Centre of Pressure (COP) excursion during static bilateral standing in 32 community-dwelling older adults at three different time-points (09:00, 12:30, and 16:00) throughout the day. An overall significant time-of-day effect was observed for all selected COP variables. The greatest change in all COP variables was observed (on average ~15%) between midday (12:30) and the afternoon (16:00), indicating that a systematic time-of-day influence on static postural balance exists in community-dwelling older adults. Consequently, longitudinal (i.e. pre-to-post training) comparisons of postural balance in in older adults with repeated assessments should be conducted at the same time-of-day. In Study II a novel approach for measuring postural balance (using the Nintendo Wii Stillness and Agility tests) was examined for reproducibility and concurrent validity in 30 community-dwelling older adults. While the Nintendo Wii Stillness test showed a high reproducibility, a systematic learning effect between successive sessions was observed for the Agility test. Moderate-to-excellent concurrent validity was seen for the Stillness test. In contrast, the Agility test revealed a poor concurrent validity. In conclusion, the Wii Stillness test seems to represent a low-cost objective reproducible test of postural balance in community-dwelling older adults and appears feasible in various clinical settings. A habituation (familiarization) period is necessary for the Wii Agility test to avoid a systematic learning effect between successive test sessions. Study III investigated the effect of ten weeks of biofeedback-based Nintendo Wii training on static postural balance, mechanical lower limb muscle function, and functional performance in 58 community-dwelling older adults. Additionally, the study investigated the participant motivation for this type of training (Exergaming). Marked improvements in maximal leg muscle strength, rapid force capacity and functional performance were observed following the period of biofeedback-based Nintendo Wii training. Unexpectedly, static bilateral postural balance remained unaltered following the period of intervention. The study participants perceived the Nintendo Wii training as enjoyable and highly motivating, which suggests that this type of exercise may be successfully implemented at senior citizens' centers and/or in the home of the elderly. The results presented in this thesis suggest that strict control of time-of-day is an important methodological aspect when evaluating postural balance in older adults, and an assessment protocol using the Nintendo Wii-Balance Board is reproducible and valid. Biofeedback-based Nintendo Wii exercise intervention appeared unsuccessful in improving static bilateral postural balance, most likely due to a test ceiling effect in the selected outcome measures, but the intervention elicited marked positive changes in various key risk factors associated to fall accidents. Notably, Wii based biofeedback exercise was perceived by the older adults as a highly motivating type of training.

  4. Organizational Training and Relationship Building for Increasing Public Participation in a Public School District

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Poynton, John; Makela, Carole; Haddad, Don

    2014-01-01

    From the early twentieth century to the present, citizen participation in U.S. public institutions--particularly schools--has continually decreased. The trend has been linked to the bureaucratization of public schools and their increasing reliance on expert knowledge for solutions to school- and education-related problems. The purpose of this…

  5. Examining the Career Choices and Civic Engagement Activities of Teach for America Alumni

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Snell, Erin B.

    2009-01-01

    Public education is a cornerstone of democracy, intended to offer all citizens the knowledge and skills necessary to be informed and engaged members of society. For public education to be successful, our country must recruit, train, and retain high quality teachers, principals, school board members, and other educational leaders. And, their…

  6. "Special Educational Needs" of the Elderly: A Trap for the Unwary? Research Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ageing International, 1989

    1989-01-01

    A British study of mainstreamed and special needs classes for older adults found that the special education approach encourages a narrow perspective of aging and an emphasis on disability. At Simon Fraser University, a certificate program for senior citizens determined that seniors like age-integrated classes and instructors need training in…

  7. Societal Uplift and Productive Efficiency: Corporate Use of Vocational Education in Ellsworth, Pennsylvania, 1900-1915.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hyser, Raymond M.

    About 1900, James W. Ellsworth created the educational system of Ellsworth, Pennsylvania. His aim was to have the system serve a dual purpose: the societal uplift of foreign miners to make them better citizens and the improvement of the company's productive efficiency. Ellsworth's school offered traditional courses along with training in English…

  8. Global National Qualifications Framework Inventory: Country Cases from EU and ETF Partner Countries

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Certificates, diplomas and titles are commonly known as qualifications. Their purpose is to show employers, training providers, and individuals what the person holding the qualification has learned and can do. Every country issues many different qualifications, but for the European labor market to work as intended--that is for European citizens to…

  9. Be a Court Appointed Special Advocate for a Baby. Perspectives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Warren, Mary G.

    2013-01-01

    This article describes the role of a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to represent the best interests of children who have been removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect. CASA volunteers are everyday citizens who have undergone screening and training with their local CASA program (National…

  10. Private Universities: A Way to Increase Access to University Education in Ontario. Tribune

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Powell, Billroy

    2004-01-01

    The citizens of Ontario are requiring increasingly specialized skills. These are needed by the business community so that it will be able to compete effectively in the global economy. A perception exists that the traditional, publicly funded universities in Ontario are ill equipped to provide the necessary training that is required by employers.…

  11. The Evolving Roles of Language Teachers: Trained Coders, Local Researchers, Global Citizens

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Godwin-Jones, Robert

    2015-01-01

    Language teachers are working in a world which has changed in the past decades in fundamentally disruptive ways, through profound changes in the role that networked computers play in everyday life and through the social and demographic shifts brought on by an increasingly globalized society, bringing together more than ever before people from…

  12. Organizational Training and Relationship Building for Increasing Public Participation in a Public School District

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Poynton, John

    2012-01-01

    From the early twentieth century to the present, citizen participation in U.S. public institutions--particularly schools--has continually decreased. The trend has been linked to the bureaucratization of public schools and their increasing reliance on expert knowledge for solutions to school- and education-related problems. The purpose of this…

  13. Instruction in Journalism in Institutions of Higher Education. Bulletin, 1918, No. 21

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, James Melvin

    1918-01-01

    Probably the chief advantage which a democracy has over other forms of government and society lies in the fact that it constitutes within itself a great school, stimulating its citizens to the acquisition of information about public affairs and training them in intelligent thinking on all subjects of public-interest. In this school the public…

  14. Connection and Commitment: The Career of Carrie Billy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peterson, Richard

    2015-01-01

    Carrie Billy, a member of the Navajo Nation and CEO and president of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), attributes one of the country's oldest youth organizations, Girl Scouts, for opening her mind to the possibility of creating change for countless citizens. She is a trained attorney and has made it her life work to advocate…

  15. Accuracy and Adoption of Wearable Technology Used by Active Citizens: A Marathon Event Field Study

    PubMed Central

    Suleder, Julian; Zowalla, Richard

    2017-01-01

    Background Today, runners use wearable technology such as global positioning system (GPS)–enabled sport watches to track and optimize their training activities, for example, when participating in a road race event. For this purpose, an increasing amount of low-priced, consumer-oriented wearable devices are available. However, the variety of such devices is overwhelming. It is unclear which devices are used by active, healthy citizens and whether they can provide accurate tracking results in a diverse study population. No published literature has yet assessed the dissemination of wearable technology in such a cohort and related influencing factors. Objective The aim of this study was 2-fold: (1) to determine the adoption of wearable technology by runners, especially “smart” devices and (2) to investigate on the accuracy of tracked distances as recorded by such devices. Methods A pre-race survey was applied to assess which wearable technology was predominantly used by runners of different age, sex, and fitness level. A post-race survey was conducted to determine the accuracy of the devices that tracked the running course. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate whether age, sex, fitness level, or track distance were influencing factors. Recorded distances of different device categories were tested with a 2-sample t test against each other. Results A total of 898 pre-race and 262 post-race surveys were completed. Most of the participants (approximately 75%) used wearable technology for training optimization and distance recording. Females (P=.02) and runners in higher age groups (50-59 years: P=.03; 60-69 years: P<.001; 70-79 year: P=.004) were less likely to use wearables. The mean of the track distances recorded by mobile phones with combined app (mean absolute error, MAE=0.35 km) and GPS-enabled sport watches (MAE=0.12 km) was significantly different (P=.002) for the half-marathon event. Conclusions A great variety of vendors (n=36) and devices (n=156) were identified. Under real-world conditions, GPS-enabled devices, especially sport watches and mobile phones, were found to be accurate in terms of recorded course distances. PMID:28246070

  16. Extended Community: An Oral History of the Community Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP), 1989 - 2003

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Susan DeSilva

    2004-07-01

    Studying the Community Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP) provides a unique opportunity to trace a concept created by two nuclear industry originators from inception, as it transitioned through several stewardship agencies, to management by a non-profit organization. This transition is informed not only by changes over two decades in the views of the general populace toward nuclear testing but also by changing political climates and public policies. Several parallel histories accompanied the development of the CEMP: an administrative history, an environmental history, and a history of changing public perception of not only nuclear testing, but other activities involving radiation such asmore » waste transportation, as well. Although vital, those histories will be provided only as background to the subject of this study, the oral histories gathered in this project. The oral histories collected open a window into the nuclear testing history of Nevada and Utah that has not heretofore been opened. The nuclear industry has generated a great deal of positive and negative reaction since its inception. The CEMP emerged with specific objectives. It was designed to provide information to potential downwind communities and counter negative perceptions by creating more community involvement and education about the testing. The current objectives of the program are to: (1) Manage and maintain the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) offsite monitoring program including 26 radiation and environmental monitoring stations with associated equipment. Provide air sample collection and analysis, radiological and meteorological data collection, interpretation and reporting. (2) Facilitate independent operation of radiological monitoring stations and data verification by private citizens living in communities in proximity to the Nevada Test Site (NTS). (3) Hire and initiate training of local citizens to serve as Community Environmental Monitors (CEMs) in designated communities. (4) Provide relevant training by qualified instructors to the CEMs as necessary. (5) Assist and manage CEMs in accomplishing their duties, and ensure that contracts and paychecks are issued on schedule. (6) Provide CEMs and Emeriti monthly materials to facilitate public awareness. This project explores how those objectives evolved over time with changes in the nuclear testing program. How similar are today's objectives to those originally established for the program? Do those objectives reflect a changing political landscape as well as changes in testing needs? Those questions and more will be addressed as we follow the program from its inception, through earlier versions administered first by the Public Health Service (PHS), then by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the current administrator, the Desert Research Institute (DRI).« less

  17. Military Spending and Economic Well-Being in the American States: The Post-Vietnam War Era

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Borch, Casey; Wallace, Michael

    2010-01-01

    Using growth curve modeling techniques, this research investigates whether military spending improved or worsened the economic well-being of citizens within the American states during the post-Vietnam War period. We empirically test the military Keynesianism claim that military spending improves the economic conditions of citizens through its use…

  18. [Knowledge and attitudes of citizens in the Basque Country (Spain) towards cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automatic external defibrillators].

    PubMed

    Ballesteros-Peña, S; Fernández-Aedo, I; Pérez-Urdiales, I; García-Azpiazu, Z; Unanue-Arza, S

    2016-03-01

    To explore the training, ability and attitudes towards cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of automatic defibrillators among the population of the Basque Country (Spain). A face-to-face survey. Capital cities of the Basque Country. A total of 605 people between 15-64 years of age were randomly selected. Information about the knowledge, perceptions and self-perceived ability to identify and assist cardiopulmonary arrest was requested. A total of 56.4% of the responders were women, 61.8% were occupationally active, and 48.3% had higher education. Thirty-seven percent of the responders claimed to be trained in resuscitation techniques, but only 20.2% considered themselves able to apply such techniques. Public servants were almost 4 times more likely of being trained in defibrillation compared to the rest of workers (OR 3.7; P<.001), while people with elementary studies or no studies were almost 3 times more likely of not being trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, in comparison with the rest (OR 2.7; P=.001). A total of 94.7% of the responders considered it "quite or very important" for the general population to be able to apply resuscitation, though 55% considered themselves unable to identify an eye witnessed cardiac arrest, and 40.3% would not recognize a public-access defibrillator. Citizens of the Basque Country consider the early identification and treatment of cardiorespiratory arrest victims to be important, though their knowledge in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation is limited. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

  19. Current dilemmas in overseas doctors' training

    PubMed Central

    Sandhu, D

    2005-01-01

    International medical graduates (IMGs) are a remarkably successful professional group in the United Kingdom making up to 30% of the NHS work force. Their very success and media publicity about general practice and consultant shortages, has led to a large influx of inexperienced doctors seeking training opportunities in competitive specialties. In 2003 a record 15 549 doctors joined the medical register of which 9336 doctors were non-European Economic Area citizens. The number of candidates sitting PLAB part 1 and part 2 in 2003 rose by 267% and 283% respectively compared with 2001. Changes to Department of Health, Home Office, and deanery regulations with expansion of medical schools, implementation of European Working Time Directive, Modernising Medical Careers, and the future role of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board, will have an important impact on IMGs' training. Dissemination of realistic information about postgraduate training opportunities is important as the NHS for some time will continue to rely on IMGs. PMID:15701736

  20. Open source hardware solutions for low-cost, do-it-yourself environmental monitoring, citizen science, and STEM education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hicks, S. D.; Aufdenkampe, A. K.; Horsburgh, J. S.; Arscott, D. B.; Muenz, T.; Bressler, D. W.

    2016-12-01

    The explosion in DIY open-source hardware and software has resulted in the development of affordable and accessible technologies, like drones and weather stations, that can greatly assist the general public in monitoring environmental health and its degradation. It is widely recognized that education and support of audiences in pursuit of STEM literacy and the application of emerging technologies is a challenge for the future of citizen science and for preparing high school graduates to be actively engaged in environmental stewardship. It is also clear that detecting environmental change/degradation over time and space will be greatly enhanced with expanded use of networked, remote monitoring technologies by watershed organizations and citizen scientists if data collection and reporting are properly carried out and curated. However, there are few focused efforts to link citizen scientists and school programs with these emerging tools. We have started a multi-year program to develop hardware and teaching materials for training students and citizen scientists about the use of open source hardware in environmental monitoring. Scientists and educators around the world have started building their own dataloggers and devices using a variety of boards based on open source electronics. This new hardware is now providing researchers with an inexpensive alternative to commercial data logging and transmission hardware. We will present a variety of hardware solutions using the Arduino-compatible EnviroDIY Mayfly board (http://envirodiy.org/mayfly) that can be used to build and deploy a rugged environmental monitoring station using a wide variety of sensors and options, giving the users a fully customizable device for making measurements almost anywhere. A database and visualization system is being developed that will allow the users to view and manage the data their devices are collecting. We will also present our plan for developing curricula and leading workshops to various school programs and citizen scientist groups to teach them how to build, deploy, and maintain their own environmental monitoring stations.

  1. Climate Voices: Bridging Scientist Citizens and Local Communities across the United States

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wegner, K.; Ristvey, J. D., Jr.

    2016-12-01

    Based out of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), the Climate Voices Science Speakers Network (climatevoices.org) has more than 400 participants across the United States that volunteer their time as scientist citizens in their local communities. Climate Voices experts engage in nonpartisan conversations about the local impacts of climate change with groups such as Rotary clubs, collaborate with faith-based groups on climate action initiatives, and disseminate their research findings to K-12 teachers and classrooms through webinars. To support their participants, Climate Voices develops partnerships with networks of community groups, provides trainings on how to engage these communities, and actively seeks community feedback. In this presentation, we will share case studies of science-community collaborations, including meta-analyses of collaborations and lessons learned.

  2. Citizen Sensors for SHM: Use of Accelerometer Data from Smartphones

    PubMed Central

    Feng, Maria; Fukuda, Yoshio; Mizuta, Masato; Ozer, Ekin

    2015-01-01

    Ubiquitous smartphones have created a significant opportunity to form a low-cost wireless Citizen Sensor network and produce big data for monitoring structural integrity and safety under operational and extreme loads. Such data are particularly useful for rapid assessment of structural damage in a large urban setting after a major event such as an earthquake. This study explores the utilization of smartphone accelerometers for measuring structural vibration, from which structural health and post-event damage can be diagnosed. Widely available smartphones are tested under sinusoidal wave excitations with frequencies in the range relevant to civil engineering structures. Large-scale seismic shaking table tests, observing input ground motion and response of a structural model, are carried out to evaluate the accuracy of smartphone accelerometers under operational, white-noise and earthquake excitations of different intensity. Finally, the smartphone accelerometers are tested on a dynamically loaded bridge. The extensive experiments show satisfactory agreements between the reference and smartphone sensor measurements in both time and frequency domains, demonstrating the capability of the smartphone sensors to measure structural responses ranging from low-amplitude ambient vibration to high-amplitude seismic response. Encouraged by the results of this study, the authors are developing a citizen-engaging and data-analytics crowdsourcing platform towards a smartphone-based Citizen Sensor network for structural health monitoring and post-event damage assessment applications. PMID:25643056

  3. Destroying iPhones: Feral science and the antithetical citizen.

    PubMed

    Michael, Mike

    2017-10-01

    This exploratory article considers the implications of a particular genre - YouTube videos of iPhone destruction - for the Citizen Science and Public Understanding of Science/Public Engagement with Science and Technology. Situating this genre within a broader TV tradition of 'destructive testing' programmes, there is a description of the forms of destruction visited upon the iPhone, and an analysis of the features shared by the videos (e.g. mode of address, enactments of the experiment). Drawing on the notion of the 'idiotic', there is a discussion of the genre that aims to treat its evident lack of scientific and citizenly 'seriousness' productively. In the process of this discussion, the notions of 'feral science' and 'antithetical citizenship' are proposed, and some of their ramifications for Citizen Science and Public Understanding of Science/Public Engagement with Science and Technology presented.

  4. Using the Rasch measurement model to design a report writing assessment instrument.

    PubMed

    Carlson, Wayne R

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes how the Rasch measurement model was used to develop an assessment instrument designed to measure student ability to write law enforcement incident and investigative reports. The ability to write reports is a requirement of all law enforcement recruits in the state of Michigan and is a part of the state's mandatory basic training curriculum, which is promulgated by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES). Recently, MCOLES conducted research to modernize its training and testing in the area of report writing. A structured validation process was used, which included: a) an examination of the job tasks of a patrol officer, b) input from content experts, c) a review of the professional research, and d) the creation of an instrument to measure student competency. The Rasch model addressed several measurement principles that were central to construct validity, which were particularly useful for assessing student performances. Based on the results of the report writing validation project, the state established a legitimate connectivity between the report writing standard and the essential job functions of a patrol officer in Michigan. The project also produced an authentic instrument for measuring minimum levels of report writing competency, which generated results that are valid for inferences of student ability. Ultimately, the state of Michigan must ensure the safety of its citizens by licensing only those patrol officers who possess a minimum level of core competency. Maintaining the validity and reliability of both the training and testing processes can ensure that the system for producing such candidates functions as intended.

  5. Formal Lifelong E-Learning for Employability and Job Stability during Turbulent Times in Spain

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martínez-Cerdá, Juan-Francisco; Torrent-Sellens, Joan

    2017-01-01

    In recent decades, international organizations have developed initiatives that incorporate lifelong learning as a tool to increase the employability of citizens. In this context, the goal of this research is to test the influence of formal e-learning on estimating employment status. The research made use of a sample of 595 citizens in 2007 and…

  6. Radio Galaxy Zoo: compact and extended radio source classification with deep learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lukic, V.; Brüggen, M.; Banfield, J. K.; Wong, O. I.; Rudnick, L.; Norris, R. P.; Simmons, B.

    2018-05-01

    Machine learning techniques have been increasingly useful in astronomical applications over the last few years, for example in the morphological classification of galaxies. Convolutional neural networks have proven to be highly effective in classifying objects in image data. In the context of radio-interferometric imaging in astronomy, we looked for ways to identify multiple components of individual sources. To this effect, we design a convolutional neural network to differentiate between different morphology classes using sources from the Radio Galaxy Zoo (RGZ) citizen science project. In this first step, we focus on exploring the factors that affect the performance of such neural networks, such as the amount of training data, number and nature of layers, and the hyperparameters. We begin with a simple experiment in which we only differentiate between two extreme morphologies, using compact and multiple-component extended sources. We found that a three-convolutional layer architecture yielded very good results, achieving a classification accuracy of 97.4 per cent on a test data set. The same architecture was then tested on a four-class problem where we let the network classify sources into compact and three classes of extended sources, achieving a test accuracy of 93.5 per cent. The best-performing convolutional neural network set-up has been verified against RGZ Data Release 1 where a final test accuracy of 94.8 per cent was obtained, using both original and augmented images. The use of sigma clipping does not offer a significant benefit overall, except in cases with a small number of training images.

  7. Our Memory at Risk: Preserving New York's Unique Research Resources. A Report and Recommendations to the Citizens of New York.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York Document Conservation Advisory Council, Albany.

    This report, the culmination of the 3-year "New York Document Conservation Administration Training and Planning Project," represents a distillation of the best thinking about preservation issues in New York after an exhaustive process of consultation and review. Its thesis is that preservation of New York State's historical records, rare…

  8. Student Knowledge and Attitudes toward Older People and Their Impact on Pursuing Aging Careers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lun, Man Wai Alice

    2011-01-01

    The international community is facing the pressure of aging societies. In the United States of America, we will shortly be facing the aging of baby boomers, a dramatically large population expected to peak as senior citizens in 2030 at 70 million. Global societies are facing a crisis: lack of adequately trained and emotionally oriented personnel…

  9. WorkFirst: Fifth Year Accountability Report for WorkFirst Training Programs Conducted in 2002-03

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, 2005

    2005-01-01

    WorkFirst is Washington State's welfare-to-work program. The program's mission is to help citizens get "a job, a better job, a better life." Inaugurated in 1996, it is based on the 1996 federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) welfare reform legislation. As part of this new program, the community and technical college system…

  10. 2017 Joint Annual NDIA/AIA Industrial Security Committee Fall Conference

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-11-15

    beyond credit data to offer the insights that government professionals need to make informed decisions and ensure citizen safety, manage compliance...business that provides information technology and professional services. We specialize in managing business processes and systems integration for both... Information Security System ISFD Industrial Security Facilities Database OBMS ODAA Business Management System STEPP Security, Training, Education and

  11. Certified: A Citizen's Step-by-Step Guide to Protecting Vernal Pools. 6th Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Colburn, Elizabeth A., Ed.

    The objective of this manual is to train volunteers in the process of identifying vernal pool habitat so that as many of these pools as possible can be certified by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. Vernal pools are a kind of temporary pond in which salamanders and other animals breed. The pools are unique…

  12. The Citizen Factory: Schooling and Cultural Production in Bolivia. SUNY Series: Power, Social Identity, and Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Luykx, Aurolyn

    This book attempts to engage theoretical questions of ethnicity, ideology, and identity as they are lived out by Aymara students in a small teachers' college in rural Bolivia. A year of fieldwork at the Escuela Normal Rural "Kollasuyo" focused on the experiences of Aymara students during their intensive training to become rural teachers,…

  13. Focus on Senior Citizens: A Report of Funded Projects for 1976 and 1977.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Occupational and Adult Education (DHEW/OE), Washington, DC. Office of Consumers' Education.

    In an effort to promote understanding of the elderly and to provide consumer awareness programs for them, the Office of Consumers' Education funded eight projects in 1976 and two in 1977 which focused on areas such as (1) education of older adults to make intelligent choices among alternative goods and services, (2) training of specialists to work…

  14. Inclusive Education and Training in South African Higher Education: Mapping the Experiences of a Student with Physical Disability at University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ntombela, Sithabile

    2013-01-01

    The South African Constitution upholds and entrenches the human right of all citizens. Similarly, the Higher Education Act of 1997 promotes equality of access for all, especially for those previously marginalised or excluded. The study reported in this article explored challenges experienced by students with disabilities at his university. Using…

  15. Supportive and Suppressive Factors in the Improvement of Vocational Special Needs Education: A Case Study of Malaysia.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mustapha, Ramlee B.; Ali, Manisah Mohd; Bari, Safani; Amat, Salleh

    In the era of globalization, Malaysia's ability to remain economically competitive depends on the skills of its workforce. The policies and practices of Malaysia's vocational education system must be revised to do more to give the country's disabled citizens the training they need to find employment and become taxpayers. More concerted efforts are…

  16. Training and Jobs: Keys to Rural Economic Development. A Regional Rural Revitalization Conference (Huntsville, Alabama, April 5-6, 1990).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hall, Jean M. Ed.

    The conference brought Southern state and local leaders together to discuss ways to revitalize depressed rural areas and to improve citizens' quality of life. Papers discussed: (1) goals for rural educational improvement; (2) human resource barriers to community and economic development in the South; (3) survey results indicating that Alabama…

  17. International Astronomical Search Collaboration: Online Educational Outreach Program in Astronomical Discovery for Middle School, High School, & College Students and Citizen Scientists

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Miller, P.

    2016-12-01

    The International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC = "Isaac") in an online educational outreach program in planetary science. Citizen scientists and students from middle schools, high schools, and colleges make original discoveries of Main Belt asteroids. They discover trans-Neptunian objects and near-Earth objects. To date there have been discoveries of 1300 provisional MBAs, 7 TNOs, 2 potentially hazardous NEOs, and one Jupiter-family comet 276P/Vorobjov. IASC receives images from the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii. Images are provided by the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS telescopes (PS1, PS2). These telescopes have the world's largest CCD cameras that produce 3o fields containing 1.4 billion pixels. These images are partitioned into 208 sub-images that are distributed online to the participating citizen scientists and schools (see http://iasc.hsutx.edu). Using the software Astrometrica, the sub-images are searched for moving object discoveries that are recorded with astrometry then reported to the Minor Planet Center (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Harvard). There are >5,000 citizen scientists and 700 schools that participate in the IASC asteroid searches. They come from more than 80 countries. And, the cost to participate…is free. Of the 1300 provisional MBA discoveries, 39 have been numbered and cataloged by the International Astronomical Union (Paris). The numbered discoveries are named by their citizen scientist and student discoverers. IASC works in conjunction with the NASA Asteroid Grand Challenge providing digital badging to the students (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-asteroid-grand-challenge-digital-badging-effort). IASC works online with the teachers from the participating schools, training them using videoconferencing to use Astrometrica in the search for, measurement of, and reporting of MBA discoveries by their students.

  18. Payload specialists in training for STS 51-L in mockup & integration lab

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1986-01-09

    S86-25254 (January 1986) --- Payload specialists in training for STS-51L take a break in shuttle emergency egress training at the Johnson Space Center's (JSC) Shuttle Mock-up and Integration Laboratory. Left to right are Gregory Jarvis of Hughes, Sharon Christa McAuliffe and Barbara Morgan of the Teacher-in-Space Project. McAuliffe was selected as NASA's first citizen observer in the Space Shuttle Program and Morgan was named her backup. The photo was taken by Keith Meyers of the New York Times. EDITOR?S NOTE: The STS-51L crew members lost their lives in the space shuttle Challenger accident moments after launch on Jan. 28, 1986 from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Photo credit: NASA

  19. Studying citizen science through adaptive management and learning feedbacks as mechanisms for improving conservation.

    PubMed

    Jordan, Rebecca; Gray, Steven; Sorensen, Amanda; Newman, Greg; Mellor, David; Newman, Greg; Hmelo-Silver, Cindy; LaDeau, Shannon; Biehler, Dawn; Crall, Alycia

    2016-06-01

    Citizen science has generated a growing interest among scientists and community groups, and citizen science programs have been created specifically for conservation. We examined collaborative science, a highly interactive form of citizen science, which we developed within a theoretically informed framework. In this essay, we focused on 2 aspects of our framework: social learning and adaptive management. Social learning, in contrast to individual-based learning, stresses collaborative and generative insight making and is well-suited for adaptive management. Adaptive-management integrates feedback loops that are informed by what is learned and is guided by iterative decision making. Participants engaged in citizen science are able to add to what they are learning through primary data collection, which can result in the real-time information that is often necessary for conservation. Our work is particularly timely because research publications consistently report a lack of established frameworks and evaluation plans to address the extent of conservation outcomes in citizen science. To illustrate how our framework supports conservation through citizen science, we examined how 2 programs enacted our collaborative science framework. Further, we inspected preliminary conservation outcomes of our case-study programs. These programs, despite their recent implementation, are demonstrating promise with regard to positive conservation outcomes. To date, they are independently earning funds to support research, earning buy-in from local partners to engage in experimentation, and, in the absence of leading scientists, are collecting data to test ideas. We argue that this success is due to citizen scientists being organized around local issues and engaging in iterative, collaborative, and adaptive learning. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  20. Academics and Citizens Working Together

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bogen, D., Jr.

    2017-12-01

    Traditionally Academics and citizens have contributed to each other lives but friction has always existed between the two. When there is a hostile relationship between community members and Academics, the collection of data suffers, which in returns hurts the potential solutions to community problems. Combining Community Based Participatory Research and the BISCO Community Organizing Model, {Listens, Identify, Research, offer solution}, these frictions can be limited, creating better working environments, and producing better data. Helping create and participating in workgroups, including NGO's, Academics and Citizens leaders, have produce better working environments. Using these methods within the work groups I observed, relationships being form between Academics and Citizens. Some of the relationships were both public and private. The workgroups that created space for professional and personal stories telling produced the most relationships. Listening and understand each other, before research have proven to be successful in producing trust between Academics and Citizens. When Academics and Citizens developed trust between themselves, each party respects the other limitation. Knowing each limitation is perhaps the most key element in working together, which eliminates over promises and culture hindrance within the community. It's amazing like getting the answers to the test before you take it. The project becomes richer in design, when there is trust in the process before it begins. Working together to eliminating potential road blocks ahead of time, enhance the project chances to produce, richer data.Academics cannot produce good data if citizens withhold information and citizens cannot solve their social ills if they do not have good data, in short we need each other.

  1. A Multiple-Item Scale for Assessing E-Government Service Quality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Papadomichelaki, Xenia; Mentzas, Gregoris

    A critical element in the evolution of e-governmental services is the development of sites that better serve the citizens’ needs. To deliver superior service quality, we must first understand how citizens perceive and evaluate online citizen service. This involves defining what e-government service quality is, identifying its underlying dimensions, and determining how it can be conceptualized and measured. In this article we conceptualise an e-government service quality model (e-GovQual) and then we develop, refine, validate, confirm and test a multiple-item scale for measuring e-government service quality for public administration sites where citizens seek either information or services.

  2. Tracking Galaxy Evolution Through Low-Frequency Radio Continuum Observations using SKA and Citizen-Science Research using Multi-Wavelength Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hota, Ananda; Konar, C.; Stalin, C. S.; Vaddi, Sravani; Mohanty, Pradeepta K.; Dabhade, Pratik; Dharmik Bhoga, Sai Arun; Rajoria, Megha; Sethi, Sagar

    2016-12-01

    We present a brief review of progress in the understanding of general spiral and elliptical galaxies, through merger, star formation and AGN activities. With reference to case studies performed with the GMRT, we highlight the unique aspects of studying galaxies in the radio wavelengths where powerful quasars and bright radio galaxies are traditionally the dominating subjects. Though AGN or quasar activity is extremely energetic, it is extremely short-lived. This justify focussing on transitional galaxies to find relic-evidences of the immediate past AGN-feedback which decide the future course of evolution of a galaxy. Relic radio lobes can be best detected in low frequency observations with the GMRT, LOFAR and in future SKA. The age of these relic radio plasma can be as old as a few hundred Myr. There is a huge gap between this and what is found in optical bands. The very first relic-evidences of a past quasar activity (Hanny's Voorwerp) was discovered in 2007 by a Galaxy Zoo citizen-scientist, a school teacher, in the optical bands. This relic is around a few tens of thousand years old. More discoveries needed to match these time-scales with star formation time-scales in AGN host galaxies to better understand black hole galaxy co-evolution process via feedback-driven quenching of star formation. It is now well-accepted that discovery and characterization of such faint fuzzy relic features can be more efficiently done by human eye than a machine. Radio interferometry images are more complicated than optical and need the citizen-scientists to be trained. RAD@home, the only Indian citizen-science research project in astronomy, analysing TIFR GMRT Sky Survey (TGSS) 150 MHz data and observing from the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT), was launched in April 2013. Unique, zero-infrastructure zero-funded design of RAD@home as a collaboratory of 69 trained e-astronomers is briefly described. Some of the new-found objects like episodic radio galaxies, radio-jet and companion galaxy interaction, radio galaxy bent by motion of the intra-filament medium in a Mpc-scale galaxy filament etc. are briefly presented as demonstration of its potential. Citizen-science has not only opened up a new way for astronomy research but also possibly the only promising way to extract maximum science out of the Big Data in the SKA-era. This possibly can convert the Big Data problem into a prospect. Citizen-science can contribute to the knowledge creation in never-seen-before speed and in approach. As it is based on internet, it can provide an equal opportunity of academic-growth to people even in the under-developed regions where we always need to put our optical and radio telescopes. This can liberate the research-activity of city-based research-institutes out of the four brick walls and alleviate various socio-economic and geo-political constraints on growth of citizens educated in undergraduate-level science but located in remote areas.

  3. CosmoQuest: Better Citizen Science Through Education

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gay, P. L.; Lehan, C.; Bracey, G.; Yamani, A.; Francis, M.; Durrell, P.; Spivey, C.; Noel-Storr, J.; Buxner, S.; Cobb, W.; hide

    2016-01-01

    In the modern era, NASA SMD missions and facilities are producing data at a rate too great for the science community to maximally utilize. While software can help, what is really needed is additional eyes, hands, and minds - help we can find in the form of citizen scientist volunteers. The CosmoQuest virtual research facility has demonstrated through published research results that classroom students and the public can, with proper training and support from Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), fill roles more traditionally filled by university students. The research question behind CosmoQuest's creation was simple: if students and the public are provided a properly scaffolded experience that mirrors that of researchers, will they come and perform as well as our students? and can they rise up to be research collaborators? In creating CosmoQuest, we started with a core of citizen science portals, educational materials for both students and life-long learners, and collaboration areas. These three primary focuses mirror the research, courses, and collaboration spaces that form the foundation of a university department. We then went on to add the features that make a center stand out - we added seminars in the form of Google Hangouts on Air, planetarium content through our Science on the Half Sphere program, and even the chance to vicariously attend conferences through live blogging by our team members. With this design for a virtual research facility, the answer to our foundational question has been a resounding yes; the public can aid us in doing science provided they are properly trained. To meet the needs of our population we have developed four areas of engagement: research, education, media, and community.

  4. Planet Hunters: Kepler by Eye

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schwamb, Megan E.; Lintott, C.; Fischer, D.; Smith, A. M.; Boyajian, T. S.; Brewer, J. M.; Giguere, M. J.; Lynn, S.; Parrish, M.; Schawinski, K.; Schmitt, J.; Simpson, R.; Wang, J.

    2014-01-01

    Planet Hunters (http://www.planethunters.org), part of the Zooniverse's (http://www.zooniverse.org) collection of online citizen science projects, uses the World Wide Web to enlist the general public to identify transits in the pubic Kepler light curves. Planet Hunters utilizes human pattern recognition to identify planet transits that may be missed by automated detection algorithms looking for periodic events. Referred to as ‘crowdsourcing’ or ‘citizen science’, the combined assessment of many non-expert human classifiers with minimal training can often equal or best that of a trained expert and in many cases outperform the best machine-learning algorithm. Visitors to the Planet Hunters' website are presented with a randomly selected ~30-day light curve segment from one of Kepler’s ~160,000 target stars and are asked to draw boxes to mark the locations of visible transits in the web interface. 5-10 classifiers review each 30-day light curve segment. Since December 2010, more than 260,000 volunteers world wide have participated, contributing over 20 million classifications. We have demonstrated the success of a citizen science approach with the project’s more than 20 planet candidates, the discovery of PH1b, a transiting circumbinary planet in a quadruple star system, and the discovery of PH2-b, a confirmed Jupiter-sized planet in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star. I will provide an overview of Planet Hunters, highlighting several of project's most recent exoplanet and astrophysical discoveries. Acknowledgements: MES was supported in part by a NSF AAPF under award AST-1003258 and a American Philosophical Society Franklin Grant. We acknowledge support from NASA ADAP12-0172 grant to PI Fischer.

  5. Controversy in Biology Classrooms-Citizen Science Approaches to Evolution and Applications to Climate Change Discussions.

    PubMed

    Yoho, Rachel A; Vanmali, Binaben H

    2016-03-01

    The biological sciences encompass topics considered controversial by the American public, such as evolution and climate change. We believe that the development of climate change education in the biology classroom is better informed by an understanding of the history of the teaching of evolution. A common goal for science educators should be to engender a greater respect for and appreciation of science among students while teaching specific content knowledge. Citizen science has emerged as a viable yet underdeveloped method for engaging students of all ages in key scientific issues that impact society through authentic data-driven scientific research. Where successful, citizen science may open avenues of communication and engagement with the scientific process that would otherwise be more difficult to achieve. Citizen science projects demonstrate versatility in education and the ability to test hypotheses by collecting large amounts of often publishable data. We find a great possibility for science education research in the incorporation of citizen science projects in curriculum, especially with respect to "hot topics" of socioscientific debate based on our review of the findings of other authors. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education.

  6. The Test of Our Progress: The Clinton Record on Civil Rights. Report of the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yu, Corinne M., Ed.; Taylor, William L., Ed.

    The first part of this report consists of the findings of the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights on the record of the Clinton administration on civil rights. Six years into President Clinton's term, he continues to speak with understanding and empathy about the plight of people trapped in racial and ethnic isolation, but his administration has…

  7. Eclipse 2017: Partnering with NASA MSFC to Inspire Students

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fry, Craig " Ghee" ; Adams, Mitzi; Gallagher, Dennis; Krause, Linda

    2017-01-01

    NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is partnering with the U.S. Space and Rocket Center (USSRC), and Austin Peay State University (APSU) to engage citizen scientists, engineers, and students in science investigations during the 2017 American Solar Eclipse. Investigations will support the Citizen Continental America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE), Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation(HamSCI), and Interactive NASA Space Physics Ionosphere Radio Experiments (INSPIRE). All planned activities will engage Space Campers and local high school students in the application of the scientific method as they seek to explore a wide range of observations during the eclipse. Where planned experiments touch on current scientific questions, the camper/students will be acting as citizen scientists, participating with researchers from APSU and MSFC. Participants will test their expectations and after the eclipse, share their results, experiences, and conclusions to younger Space Campers at the US Space & Rocket Center.

  8. [(Dis)satisfaction with the municipal infrastructure. How do senior citizens evaluate their living conditions?].

    PubMed

    Piorkowsky, M-B

    2010-04-01

    In order to evaluate the perceived living conditions, i.e., satisfaction with the scope and quality of municipal infrastructure, from a senior citizen's perspective, a questionnaire, differentiating six areas and 39 sub-areas and the corresponding testing scales for satisfaction with the quality of life, was developed analogous to the grading system used in the German school system. This questionnaire is suitable for evaluative city walks and comparative analyses of the municipal infrastructure to gain indications of the quality and to identify or shape future infrastructure actions. In 2007/2008, the questionnaire was used by the local senior citizen's representatives in the federal states of Germany. The data obtained were condensed into indices of citizen satisfaction and factor analysis was performed. As a result, the 39 sub-areas could be reduced to 11 independent dimensions, which disclose general patterns of perceiving and evaluating the quality of municipal life.

  9. Diversity, Geosciences, and Societal Impact: Perspectives From a Geoscientist, Workforce Development Specialist, and Former Congressional Science Fellow

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morris, A. R.

    2014-12-01

    In order for the United States to remain competitive in the STEM fields, all available interested citizens must be engaged, prepared, and retained in the geoscience workforce. The misperception that the geosciences do little to support the local community and give back to fellow citizens contributes to the lack of diversity in the field. Another challenge is that the assumptions of career paths for someone trained in geosciences are often limited to field work, perpetuated by visuals found in media, popular culture and recruiting materials and university websites. In order to combat these views it is critical that geoscientists make visible both the diverse career opportunities for those trained in geoscience and the relevance of the field to societal issues. In order to make a substantive change in the number of underrepresented minorities pursuing and working in geosciences we must rethink how we describe our work, its impacts and its relevance to society. At UNAVCO, we have undertaken this charge to change they way the future generation of geoscientists views opportunities in our field. This presentation will include reflections of a trained geoscientist taking a non-field/research career path and the opportunities it has afforded as well as the challenges encountered. The presentation will also highlight how experience managing a STEM program for middle school girls, serving as a Congressional Science Fellow, and managing an undergraduate research internship program is aiding in shaping the Geoscience Workforce Initiative at UNAVCO.

  10. A comparison of physician emigration from Africa to the United States of America between 2005 and 2015.

    PubMed

    Duvivier, Robbert J; Burch, Vanessa C; Boulet, John R

    2017-06-26

    Migration of health professionals has been a cause for global concern, in particular migration from African countries with a high disease burden and already fragile health systems. An estimated one fifth of African-born physicians are working in high-income countries. Lack of good data makes it difficult to determine what constitutes "African" physicians, as most studies do not distinguish between their country of citizenship and country of training. Thus, the real extent of migration from African countries to the United States (US) remains unclear. This paper quantifies where African migrant physicians come from, where they were educated, and how these trends have changed over time. We combined data from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates with the 2005 and 2015 American Medical Association Physician Masterfiles. Using a repeated cross-sectional study design, we reviewed the available data, including medical school attended, country of medical school, and citizenship when entering medical school. The outflow of African-educated physicians to the US has increased over the past 10 years, from 10 684 in 2005 to 13 584 in 2015 (27.1% increase). This represents 5.9% of all international medical graduates in the US workforce in 2015. The number of African-educated physicians who graduated from medical schools in sub-Saharan countries was 2014 in 2005 and 8150 in 2015 (304.6% increase). We found four distinct categorizations of African-trained physicians migrating to the US: (1) citizens from an African country who attended medical school in their own country (86.2%, n = 11,697); (2) citizens from an African country who attended medical school in another African country (2.3%, n = 317); (3) US citizens who attended medical school in an African country (4.0%, n = 537); (4) citizens from a country outside Africa, and other than the United States, who attended medical school in an African country (7.5%, n = 1013). Overall, six schools in Africa provided half of all African-educated physicians. The number of African-educated physicians in the US has increased over the past 10 years. We have distinguished four migration patterns, based on citizenship and country of medical school. The majority of African graduates come to the US from relatively few countries, and from a limited number of medical schools. A proportion are not citizens of the country where they attended medical school, highlighting the internationalization of medical education.

  11. Feminist Pedagogy and Social Media: A Study on Their Integration and Effectiveness in Training Budding Women Entrepreneurs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vivakaran, Mangala Vadivu; Maraimalai, Neelamalar

    2017-01-01

    The Constitution of India ensures equal treatment to all its citizens without any discrimination. On the contrary, the patriarchal roots of the Indian society have subjected women to experience severe inequalities. This has resulted in a wide gender gap, which has been perceived to affect all the facets of a woman's life. The field of…

  12. Training the Body for Health"ism": Reifying "Vitality" in and through the Clinical Gaze of the Neoliberal Fitness Club

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wiest, Amber L.; Andrews, David L.; Giardina, Michael D.

    2015-01-01

    In the last thirty years there has been a broad shift in ideas and practices concerning the individual's responsibility to pursue healthiness (in particular ways, with particular idealized outcomes). This is a result of the ''unwinding'' (Packer 2013) of the social welfare contract between governments and its citizens, and…

  13. JPRS Report, Soviet Union, Political Affairs.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1990-12-28

    tion, and tourism . This ministry is responsible for funding of such projects from the national budget. The Ministry of Culture coordinates physical...education, sport, and tourism , ensuring the development of a coor- dinated system for physical and cultural activity for the citizens. Bloc 5...proper conditions were created for children’s musical and artistic training. Essentially, the kindergarten was to be turned over to the city

  14. Struggle for Diversity of Languages in a Harmonising European Context: New Tasks for Teacher Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Buchberger, Irina

    Education policies of the European Commission and the Council of Europe stress the importance of cultural and language diversity. A white book by the European Commission on education and training recommends that every European citizen be able to communicate in at least 3 of the 12 officially recognized languages of the European Union by the end of…

  15. Establishing a Network of Citizen Scientists to Measure Trans-Neptunian Objects (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Keller, J. M.; Buie, M. W.

    2013-12-01

    The Research and Education Cooperative Occultation Network (RECON) is an innovative citizen science project to determine the sizes of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and in particular cold classical Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). The project currently involves a pilot network of fourteen communities located north and south of Reno, Nevada (from Tulelake, CA to Tonopah, NV) that have been provided with telescope and camera equipment to record occultation data when TNOs and main belt asteroids pass in front of background stars. Current uncertainties in TNO positions and stellar astrometry limit accurate occultation predictions for TNOs. To address this challenge, RECON will establish a 'picket-fence' of observers every 50 km spread over a 2,000-km baseline. When fully scaled, RECON will involve over forty communities stretching across the Western United States from its border with Canada to Mexico. See map for current telescope sites (green and yellow), planned telescope sites (blue), and shadow path for a 100 km object. The pilot RECON network has been established as a proof-of-concept study for this project. Teachers, amateur astronomers, and community members from California and Nevada were recruited via emails, phone, and face-to-face visits during two trips in Fall 2012. Telescope and camera equipment was tested and delivered to each community in Winter 2013. In April, representatives from each community brought this equipment to a four-day intensive training workshop in Carson City. Since the workshop, RECON has conducted five coordinated occultation campaigns involving Pluto and several main belt asteroids to demonstrate the effectiveness and integrity of the network. In addition to presenting results from these observation campaigns, we will describe lessons learned about recruitment, preparation, and retention of citizen scientists from rural communities to conduct authentic astronomy research. We will also discuss plans for scaling up the full RECON network. Finally, we will frame the RECON project in the broader context of citizen science efforts. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. AST-1212159. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

  16. The Global Sensor Web: A Platform for Citizen Science (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Simons, A. L.

    2013-12-01

    The Global Sensor Web (GSW) is an effort to provide an infrastructure for the collection, sharing and visualizing sensor data from around the world. Over the past three years the GSW has been developed and tested as a standardized platform for citizen science. The most developed of the citizen science projects built onto the GSW has been Distributed Electronic Cosmic-ray Observatory (DECO), which is an Android application designed to harness a global network of mobile devices, to detect the origin and behavior of the cosmic radiation. Other projects which can be readily built on top of GSW as a platform are also discussed. A cosmic-ray track candidate captured on a cell phone camera.

  17. Integration of cognitive and physical training in a smart home environment for the elderly people.

    PubMed

    Konstantinidis, Evdokimos I; Billis, Antonis; Hlauschek, Walter; Panek, Paul; Bamidis, Panagiotis D

    2010-01-01

    Our research work is towards a service that can support senior citizens towards their independent living and active ageing. As it is suggested, physical and cognitive exercise training can contribute to a significant prolongation of personal autonomy and participation in society across prevailing age-related impairments such as cognitive decline. In the current paper, the approach of combination of both physical and cognitive training--adopted by LLM project--is discussed related to other similar projects that have taken place in the area of elderly home care and training. The aim of this work is to describe the technical design details of the integration process of the LLM service, which is based on a Web service architecture and to discuss alternative interface elements to be included in the LLM platform in terms of enabling user accessibility and acceptance.

  18. Automated Collection of Real-Time Alerts of Citizens as a Useful Tool to Continuously Monitor Malodorous Emissions.

    PubMed

    Brattoli, Magda; Mazzone, Antonio; Giua, Roberto; Assennato, Giorgio; de Gennaro, Gianluigi

    2016-02-26

    The evaluation of odor emissions and dispersion is a very arduous topic to face; the real-time monitoring of odor emissions, the identification of chemical components and, with proper certainty, the source of annoyance represent a challenge for stakeholders such as local authorities. The complaints of people, often not systematic and variously distributed, in general do not allow us to quantify the perceived annoyance. Experimental research has been performed to detect and evaluate olfactory annoyance, based on field testing of an innovative monitoring methodology grounded in automatic recording of citizen alerts. It has been applied in Taranto, in the south of Italy where a relevant industrial area is located, by using Odortel(®) for automated collection of citizen alerts. To evaluate its reliability, the collection system has been integrated with automated samplers, able to sample odorous air in real time, according to the citizen alerts of annoyance and, moreover, with meteorological data (especially the wind direction) and trends in odor marker compounds, recorded by air quality monitoring stations. The results have allowed us, for the first time, to manage annoyance complaints, test their reliability, and obtain information about the distribution and entity of the odor phenomena, such that we were able to identify, with supporting evidence, the source as an oil refinery plant.

  19. Emotions, trust, and perceived risk: affective and cognitive routes to flood preparedness behavior.

    PubMed

    Terpstra, Teun

    2011-10-01

    Despite the prognoses of the effects of global warming (e.g., rising sea levels, increasing river discharges), few international studies have addressed how flood preparedness should be stimulated among private citizens. This article aims to predict Dutch citizens' flood preparedness intentions by testing a path model, including previous flood hazard experiences, trust in public flood protection, and flood risk perceptions (both affective and cognitive components). Data were collected through questionnaire surveys in two coastal communities (n= 169, n= 244) and in one river area community (n= 658). Causal relations were tested by means of structural equation modeling (SEM). Overall, the results indicate that both cognitive and affective mechanisms influence citizens' preparedness intentions. First, a higher level of trust reduces citizens' perceptions of flood likelihood, which in turn hampers their flood preparedness intentions (cognitive route). Second, trust also lessens the amount of dread evoked by flood risk, which in turn impedes flood preparedness intentions (affective route). Moreover, the affective route showed that levels of dread were especially influenced by citizens' negative and positive emotions related to their previous flood hazard experiences. Negative emotions most often reflected fear and powerlessness, while positive emotions most frequently reflected feelings of solidarity. The results are consistent with the affect heuristic and the historical context of Dutch flood risk management. The great challenge for flood risk management is the accommodation of both cognitive and affective mechanisms in risk communications, especially when most people lack an emotional basis stemming from previous flood hazard events. © 2011 Society for Risk Analysis.

  20. School teachers McAulliffe and Morgan in mission control for STS 61-A

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1985-11-05

    61A-S-135 (5 Nov 1985) --- Two school teachers in training at the Johnson Space Center got their first ?real time? exposure to a Space Shuttle mission as they monitor activity aboard the Spacelab D-1 science module from the mission control center. Sharon Christa McAuliffe (frame center) and Barbara R. Morgan are briefed by Terry White at the Public Affairs console during a television downlink from the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Challenger. McAuliffe is scheduled to fly as teacher/citizen observer on the STS 51-L mission early next year; and Morgan is in training as her backup.

  1. Tests, Testing, and Genuine School Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walberg, Herbert J., Ed.

    2011-01-01

    The pressing need to improve achievement in American schools is widely recognized. In "Tests, Testing, and Genuine School Reform," Herbert J. Walberg draws on scientific studies of tests and their uses to inform citizens, educators, and policy makers about well-established principles of testing, current problems, and promising evidence-based…

  2. The effects of "psychological inoculation" versus ventilation on the mental resilience of Israeli citizens under continuous war stress.

    PubMed

    Farchi, Moshe; Gidron, Yori

    2010-05-01

    Anxiety and hopelessness are common reactions of citizens exposed to continuous war threats. Common interventions focus on support, calming, and emotional ventilation, with few attempts to reduce people's cognitive barriers concerning active coping, which could increase their resilience. This study tested the effects of psychological inoculation (PI), which specifically aims to challenge such barriers, on the mental resilience of Israeli citizens living in Sderot. Participants were randomly assigned to either 2 PI sessions or 2 ventilation sessions, provided over the phone. Anxiety, helplessness, pessimism, and functioning were briefly assessed at baseline and 1 week after interventions. No time, group, or group x time interactions were observed. However, a time x group x sex interaction emerged for helplessness: Men benefited from the PI whereas women benefited from ventilation, in reducing helplessness. Under chronic war stress, it seems difficult to improve people's resilience, although PI may be partly beneficial for men. Further research is needed to test the effects of PI on mental resilience.

  3. What are the prospects for citizen science in agriculture? Evidence from three continents on motivation and mobile telephone use of resource-poor farmers

    PubMed Central

    Steinke, Jonathan; van Etten, Jacob; Reidsma, Pytrik; Fadda, Carlo; Mittra, Sarika; Mathur, Prem; Kooistra, Lammert

    2017-01-01

    As the sustainability of agricultural citizen science projects depends on volunteer farmers who contribute their time, energy and skills, understanding their motivation is important to attract and retain participants in citizen science projects. The objectives of this study were to assess 1) farmers’ motivations to participate as citizen scientists and 2) farmers’ mobile telephone usage. Building on motivational factors identified from previous citizen science studies, a questionnaire based methodology was developed which allowed the analysis of motivational factors and their relation to farmers’ characteristics. The questionnaire was applied in three communities of farmers, in countries from different continents, participating as citizen scientists. We used statistical tests to compare motivational factors within and among the three countries. In addition, the relations between motivational factors and farmers characteristics were assessed. Lastly, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to group farmers based on their motivations. Although there was an overlap between the types of motivations, for Indian farmers a collectivistic type of motivation (i.e., contribute to scientific research) was more important than egoistic and altruistic motivations. For Ethiopian and Honduran farmers an egoistic intrinsic type of motivation (i.e., interest in sharing information) was most important. While fun has appeared to be an important egoistic intrinsic factor to participate in other citizen science projects, the smallholder farmers involved in this research valued ‘passing free time’ the lowest. Two major groups of farmers were distinguished: one motivated by sharing information (egoistic intrinsic), helping (altruism) and contribute to scientific research (collectivistic) and one motivated by egoistic extrinsic factors (expectation, expert interaction and community interaction). Country and education level were the two most important farmers’ characteristics that explain around 20% of the variation in farmers motivations. For educated farmers, contributing to scientific research was a more important motivation to participate as citizen scientists compared to less educated farmers. We conclude that motivations to participate in citizen science are different for smallholders in agriculture compared to other sectors. Citizen science does have high potential, but easy to use mechanisms are needed. Moreover, gamification may increase the egoistic intrinsic motivation of farmers. PMID:28472823

  4. What are the prospects for citizen science in agriculture? Evidence from three continents on motivation and mobile telephone use of resource-poor farmers.

    PubMed

    Beza, Eskender; Steinke, Jonathan; van Etten, Jacob; Reidsma, Pytrik; Fadda, Carlo; Mittra, Sarika; Mathur, Prem; Kooistra, Lammert

    2017-01-01

    As the sustainability of agricultural citizen science projects depends on volunteer farmers who contribute their time, energy and skills, understanding their motivation is important to attract and retain participants in citizen science projects. The objectives of this study were to assess 1) farmers' motivations to participate as citizen scientists and 2) farmers' mobile telephone usage. Building on motivational factors identified from previous citizen science studies, a questionnaire based methodology was developed which allowed the analysis of motivational factors and their relation to farmers' characteristics. The questionnaire was applied in three communities of farmers, in countries from different continents, participating as citizen scientists. We used statistical tests to compare motivational factors within and among the three countries. In addition, the relations between motivational factors and farmers characteristics were assessed. Lastly, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to group farmers based on their motivations. Although there was an overlap between the types of motivations, for Indian farmers a collectivistic type of motivation (i.e., contribute to scientific research) was more important than egoistic and altruistic motivations. For Ethiopian and Honduran farmers an egoistic intrinsic type of motivation (i.e., interest in sharing information) was most important. While fun has appeared to be an important egoistic intrinsic factor to participate in other citizen science projects, the smallholder farmers involved in this research valued 'passing free time' the lowest. Two major groups of farmers were distinguished: one motivated by sharing information (egoistic intrinsic), helping (altruism) and contribute to scientific research (collectivistic) and one motivated by egoistic extrinsic factors (expectation, expert interaction and community interaction). Country and education level were the two most important farmers' characteristics that explain around 20% of the variation in farmers motivations. For educated farmers, contributing to scientific research was a more important motivation to participate as citizen scientists compared to less educated farmers. We conclude that motivations to participate in citizen science are different for smallholders in agriculture compared to other sectors. Citizen science does have high potential, but easy to use mechanisms are needed. Moreover, gamification may increase the egoistic intrinsic motivation of farmers.

  5. Using Citizen Science to Close Gaps in Cabled Ocean Observatory Research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morley, M. G.; Moran, K.; Riddell, D. J.; Hoeberechts, M.; Flagg, R.; Walsh, J.; Dobell, R.; Longo, J.

    2015-12-01

    Ocean Networks Canada operates the world-leading NEPTUNE and VENUS cabled ocean observatories off the west coast of British Columbia, and a community observatory in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. Continuous power and connectivity permit large volumes of data to be collected and made available to scientists and citizens alike over the Internet through a web-based interface. The Oceans 2.0 data management system contains over one quarter petabyte of data, including more than 20,000 hours of video from fixed seafloor cameras and a further 8,000 hours of video collected by remotely operated vehicles. Cabled observatory instrument deployments enable the collection of high-frequency, long-duration time series of data from a specific location. This enables the study of important questions such as whether effects of climate change—for instance, variations in temperature or sea-level—are seen over the long term. However, cabled observatory monitoring also presents challenges to scientific researchers: the overwhelming volume of data and the fixed spatial location can be barriers to addressing some big questions. Here we describe how Ocean Networks Canada is using Citizen Science to address these limitations and supplement cabled observatory research. Two applications are presented: Digital Fishers is a crowd-sourcing application in which participants watch short deep-sea video clips and make annotations based on scientific research questions. To date, 3,000 participants have contributed 140,000 scientific observations on topics including sablefish abundance, hydrothermal vent geology and deep-sea feeding behaviour. Community Fishers is a program in which ordinary citizens aboard vessels of opportunity collect ocean data including water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll. The program's focus is to directly address the typical quality concerns around data that are collected using a citizen science approach. This is done by providing high quality scientific instruments and basic (but imperative) training to the citizens and vessel operators who participate. The data are downloaded using a specially designed tablet app, and then transmitted to Oceans 2.0 where raw and corrected data and metadata are made available through the web in real-time.

  6. Spatial distribution of citizen science casuistic observations for different taxonomic groups.

    PubMed

    Tiago, Patrícia; Ceia-Hasse, Ana; Marques, Tiago A; Capinha, César; Pereira, Henrique M

    2017-10-16

    Opportunistic citizen science databases are becoming an important way of gathering information on species distributions. These data are temporally and spatially dispersed and could have limitations regarding biases in the distribution of the observations in space and/or time. In this work, we test the influence of landscape variables in the distribution of citizen science observations for eight taxonomic groups. We use data collected through a Portuguese citizen science database (biodiversity4all.org). We use a zero-inflated negative binomial regression to model the distribution of observations as a function of a set of variables representing the landscape features plausibly influencing the spatial distribution of the records. Results suggest that the density of paths is the most important variable, having a statistically significant positive relationship with number of observations for seven of the eight taxa considered. Wetland coverage was also identified as having a significant, positive relationship, for birds, amphibians and reptiles, and mammals. Our results highlight that the distribution of species observations, in citizen science projects, is spatially biased. Higher frequency of observations is driven largely by accessibility and by the presence of water bodies. We conclude that efforts are required to increase the spatial evenness of sampling effort from volunteers.

  7. Controversy in Biology Classrooms—Citizen Science Approaches to Evolution and Applications to Climate Change Discussions

    PubMed Central

    Yoho, Rachel A.; Vanmali, Binaben H.

    2016-01-01

    The biological sciences encompass topics considered controversial by the American public, such as evolution and climate change. We believe that the development of climate change education in the biology classroom is better informed by an understanding of the history of the teaching of evolution. A common goal for science educators should be to engender a greater respect for and appreciation of science among students while teaching specific content knowledge. Citizen science has emerged as a viable yet underdeveloped method for engaging students of all ages in key scientific issues that impact society through authentic data-driven scientific research. Where successful, citizen science may open avenues of communication and engagement with the scientific process that would otherwise be more difficult to achieve. Citizen science projects demonstrate versatility in education and the ability to test hypotheses by collecting large amounts of often publishable data. We find a great possibility for science education research in the incorporation of citizen science projects in curriculum, especially with respect to “hot topics” of socioscientific debate based on our review of the findings of other authors. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education PMID:27047604

  8. Can Observation Skills of Citizen Scientists Be Estimated Using Species Accumulation Curves?

    PubMed

    Kelling, Steve; Johnston, Alison; Hochachka, Wesley M; Iliff, Marshall; Fink, Daniel; Gerbracht, Jeff; Lagoze, Carl; La Sorte, Frank A; Moore, Travis; Wiggins, Andrea; Wong, Weng-Keen; Wood, Chris; Yu, Jun

    2015-01-01

    Volunteers are increasingly being recruited into citizen science projects to collect observations for scientific studies. An additional goal of these projects is to engage and educate these volunteers. Thus, there are few barriers to participation resulting in volunteer observers with varying ability to complete the project's tasks. To improve the quality of a citizen science project's outcomes it would be useful to account for inter-observer variation, and to assess the rarely tested presumption that participating in a citizen science projects results in volunteers becoming better observers. Here we present a method for indexing observer variability based on the data routinely submitted by observers participating in the citizen science project eBird, a broad-scale monitoring project in which observers collect and submit lists of the bird species observed while birding. Our method for indexing observer variability uses species accumulation curves, lines that describe how the total number of species reported increase with increasing time spent in collecting observations. We find that differences in species accumulation curves among observers equates to higher rates of species accumulation, particularly for harder-to-identify species, and reveals increased species accumulation rates with continued participation. We suggest that these properties of our analysis provide a measure of observer skill, and that the potential to derive post-hoc data-derived measurements of participant ability should be more widely explored by analysts of data from citizen science projects. We see the potential for inferential results from analyses of citizen science data to be improved by accounting for observer skill.

  9. Can Observation Skills of Citizen Scientists Be Estimated Using Species Accumulation Curves?

    PubMed Central

    Kelling, Steve; Johnston, Alison; Hochachka, Wesley M.; Iliff, Marshall; Fink, Daniel; Gerbracht, Jeff; Lagoze, Carl; La Sorte, Frank A.; Moore, Travis; Wiggins, Andrea; Wong, Weng-Keen; Wood, Chris; Yu, Jun

    2015-01-01

    Volunteers are increasingly being recruited into citizen science projects to collect observations for scientific studies. An additional goal of these projects is to engage and educate these volunteers. Thus, there are few barriers to participation resulting in volunteer observers with varying ability to complete the project’s tasks. To improve the quality of a citizen science project’s outcomes it would be useful to account for inter-observer variation, and to assess the rarely tested presumption that participating in a citizen science projects results in volunteers becoming better observers. Here we present a method for indexing observer variability based on the data routinely submitted by observers participating in the citizen science project eBird, a broad-scale monitoring project in which observers collect and submit lists of the bird species observed while birding. Our method for indexing observer variability uses species accumulation curves, lines that describe how the total number of species reported increase with increasing time spent in collecting observations. We find that differences in species accumulation curves among observers equates to higher rates of species accumulation, particularly for harder-to-identify species, and reveals increased species accumulation rates with continued participation. We suggest that these properties of our analysis provide a measure of observer skill, and that the potential to derive post-hoc data-derived measurements of participant ability should be more widely explored by analysts of data from citizen science projects. We see the potential for inferential results from analyses of citizen science data to be improved by accounting for observer skill. PMID:26451728

  10. Foreign Medical Schools: Education Should Improve Monitoring of Schools That Participate in the Federal Student Loan Program. Report to Congressional Committees. GAO-10-412

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scott, George A.

    2010-01-01

    Each year, the federal government makes a significant financial investment in the education and training of the U.S. physician workforce. A quarter of that physician workforce is composed of international medical graduates (IMG) and they include both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals. Little is known about IMGs with respect to how much they…

  11. JPRS Report, Soviet Union, Military Affairs.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-08-12

    and that nurture its insuperable spiritual strength is that the defense of the socialist fatherland, both according to the Constitution and... according to its own essential meaning, is the sacred duty of every citizen of the USSR and the cause of all the Soviet people. At the present stage of our...Navy staffing, training, and education. Our general mil- itary regulations and the demands of military discipline, which, according to Lenin, is

  12. Vocational Pedagogy; What It Is, Why It Matters and How to Put It into Practice. Report of the UNESCO-UNEVOC Virtual Conference, 12-26 May 2014

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, 2014

    2014-01-01

    Around the world technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is widely seen as having a key role in promoting both economic and socio-economic growth, increasing productivity, empowering citizens and alleviating poverty. Yet the quality of TVET in terms of learner outcomes and teaching inputs is variable. In some countries this…

  13. A Stronger Nation through Higher Education: How and Why Americans Must Meet a "Big Goal" for College Attainment. A Special Report from Lumina Foundation for Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matthews, Dewayne

    2009-01-01

    College attainment is increasingly important to the U.S. economy as the workforce demands education and training that properly prepare citizens for success in the global, knowledge economy. Lumina Foundation for Education has embraced a single, specific goal that will help address the economic and social trends that cloud this nation's future. Its…

  14. The Relationships between Students' Attitudes towards Social Studies and Their Perceptions of Democracy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ciftci, Sabahattin

    2013-01-01

    Social studies is one of the foundation subjects that takes place in curricula of 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th grades. This subject aims to train good citizens. The concept of democracy is an essential topic for the students to comprehend so as to achieve this aim through this subject. Therefore, it is aimed, in this study, to determine the relationship…

  15. Senior Citizens and Junior Writers--A Center for Exchange: Retired Professionals as Writing Laboratory Tutors for Students Enrolled in Upper-Level Pre-Professional University Writing Courses.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kleimann, Susan; Meyers, G. Douglas

    The writing center at a Maryland university prepares third-year students for nonacademic, preprofessional writing by using retired professionals as tutors. These tutors are trained by discussing readings centered around the Aristotelean schema of ethos, logos, and pathos and the more recent conception of writing as a problem-solving process. The…

  16. "An Experiment Is When You Try It and See if It Works": A Study of Junior High School Students' Understanding of the Construction of Scientific Knowledge.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carey, Susan; And Others

    Developing a constructivist view of scientific inquiry and knowledge is considered to be important to the training of future scientists, as well as to the understanding of scientific information by all citizens. The research reported targets the junior high school grades. Curricular materials that introduce seventh graders to the constructivist…

  17. New Skills for New Jobs--Policy Initiatives in the Field of Education: Short Overview of the Current Situation in Europe. November 2010

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, European Commission, 2010

    2010-01-01

    In recent years, several EU initiatives have been launched with the aim of supporting the development of citizens' skills as well as improving education and training systems so that they are better able to respond to the needs of the economy and society. This document summarises the information received from 25 Eurydice National Units…

  18. The Earth Charter Goes Interactive and Live with e-GLO: Using New Media to Train Youth Leaders in Sustainability on Both Sides of the Digital Divide

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sheehan, Mike; Laitinen, Jaana

    2010-01-01

    For ten years now the Earth Charter has been inspiring global citizens to engage in conversations and actions that benefit everybody. This article describes e-GLO, the Earth Charter Global Learning Opportunity, the Earth Charter International's semester-long, online leadership course inspired by the Earth Charter. It is developed and implemented…

  19. The Real "Cost" of Study in Australia and the Ramifications for China, Australia, and the Chinese Nursing Students: What Do These Three Players Want? A Narrative Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wang, Carol Chunfeng; Whitehead, Lisa; Bayes, Sara

    2017-01-01

    Australia attracts international nursing students from China to maintain its economic advantage and to alleviate the projected nursing shortage; conversely, China needs its best and brightest citizens who have trained abroad in nursing to return to cope with current challenges within its healthcare system and nursing education. This paper explores…

  20. The Reliability of Galaxy Classifications by Citizen Scientists

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Francis, Lennox; Kautsch, Stefan J.; Bizyaev, Dmitry

    2017-01-01

    Citizen scientists are becoming more and more important in helping professionals working through big data. An example in astronomy is crowdsourced galaxy classification. But how reliable are these classifications for studies of galaxy evolution? We present a tool in order to investigate those morphological classifications and test it on a diverse population on our campus. We observe a slight offset towards earlier Hubble types in the crowdsourced morphologies, when compared to professional classifications.

  1. Citizen Science

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Memarsadeghi, Nargess

    2015-01-01

    Scientists and engineers constantly face new challenges, despite myriad advances in computing. More sets of data are collected today from earth and sky than there is time or resources available to carefully analyze them. Some problems either don't have fast algorithms to solve them or have solutions that must be found among millions of options, a situation akin to finding a needle in a haystack. But all hope is not lost: advances in technology and the Internet have empowered the general public to participate in the scientific process via individual computational resources and brain cognition, which isn't matched by any machine. Citizen scientists are volunteers who perform scientific work by making observations, collecting and disseminating data, making measurements, and analyzing or interpreting data without necessarily having any scientific training. In so doing, individuals from all over the world can contribute to science in ways that wouldn't have been otherwise possible.

  2. Citizen science: Exploring its application as a tool for prodromic surveillance of vector-borne disease

    PubMed Central

    Hines, D; Sibbald, SL

    2015-01-01

    Citizen science is the systematic collection and analysis of data, development of technology, testing of natural phenomena and the dissemination of these activities by researchers on a primarily avocational or voluntary basis. The application of citizen science-informed mobile applications (apps) provides a means for Canadians to participate in the surveillance of infectious disease. This article makes the case for a mobile application that can be used to enhance the surveillance of vector-borne diseases in Canada. Lyme disease is used as an example due to its increasing incidence and lack of available real-time information. The authors also suggest how such an app could be designed and used in a way that would attract end users to download and use it as a public health tool. If successful, these type of apps could serve as supplements to active surveillance programs as well as a means for bidirectional communication between public health professionals and citizens. PMID:29769934

  3. Exposing the Science in Citizen Science: Fitness to Purpose and Intentional Design.

    PubMed

    Parrish, Julia K; Burgess, Hillary; Weltzin, Jake F; Fortson, Lucy; Wiggins, Andrea; Simmons, Brooke

    2018-05-21

    Citizen science is a growing phenomenon. With millions of people involved and billions of in-kind dollars contributed annually, this broad extent, fine grain approach to data collection should be garnering enthusiastic support in the mainstream science and higher education communities. However, many academic researchers demonstrate distinct biases against the use of citizen science as a source of rigorous information. To engage the public in scientific research, and the research community in the practice of citizen science, a mutual understanding is needed of accepted quality standards in science, and the corresponding specifics of project design and implementation when working with a broad public base. We define a science-based typology focused on the degree to which projects deliver the type(s) and quality of data/work needed to produce valid scientific outcomes directly useful in science and natural resource management. Where project intent includes direct contribution to science and the public is actively involved either virtually or hands-on, we examine the measures of quality assurance (methods to increase data quality during the design and implementation phases of a project) and quality control (post hoc methods to increase the quality of scientific outcomes). We suggest that high quality science can be produced with massive, largely one-off, participation if data collection is simple and quality control includes algorithm voting, statistical pruning and/or computational modeling. Small to mid-scale projects engaging participants in repeated, often complex, sampling can advance quality through expert-led training and well-designed materials, and through independent verification. Both approaches - simplification at scale and complexity with care - generate more robust science outcomes.

  4. Citizen-Enabled Aerosol Measurements for Satellites (CEAMS): A Network for High-Resolution Measurements of PM2.5 and Aerosol Optical Depth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pierce, J. R.; Volckens, J.; Ford, B.; Jathar, S.; Long, M.; Quinn, C.; Van Zyl, L.; Wendt, E.

    2017-12-01

    Atmospheric particulate matter with diameter smaller than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) is a pollutant that contributes to the development of human disease. Satellite-derived estimates of surface-level PM2.5 concentrations have the potential to contribute greatly to our understanding of how particulate matter affects health globally. However, these satellite-derived PM2.5 estimates are often uncertain due to a lack of information about the ratio of surface PM2.5 to aerosol optical depth (AOD), which is the primary aerosol retrieval made by satellite instruments. While modelling and statistical analyses have improved estimates of PM2.5:AOD, large uncertainties remain in situations of high PM2.5 exposure (such as urban areas and in wildfire-smoke plumes) where the health impacts of PM2.5 may be the greatest. Surface monitoring networks for co-incident PM2.5 and AOD measurements are extremely rare, even in the North America. To provide constraints for the PM2.5:AOD relationship, we have developed a relatively low-cost (<$1000) monitor for citizen use that provides sun-photometer AOD measurements and filter-based PM2.5 measurements. The instrument is solar-powered, lightweight (< 1kg), and operated wirelessly via smartphone application (iOS and Android). Sun photometry is performed across 4 discrete wavelengths that match those reported by the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). Aerosol concentration is reported using both time-integrated filter mass (analyzed in an academic laboratory and reported as a 24-48hr average) and a continuous PM sensor within the instrument. Citizen scientists use the device to report daily AOD and PM2.5 measurements made in their backyards to a central server for data display and download. In this presentation, we provide an overview of (1) AOD and PM2.5 measurement calibration; (2) citizen recruiting and training efforts; and (3) results from our pilot citizen-science measurement campaign.

  5. Resolving uncertainties in the urban air quality, climate, and vegetation nexus through citizen science, satellite imagery, and atmospheric modeling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenerette, D.; Wang, J.; Chandler, M.; Ripplinger, J.; Koutzoukis, S.; Ge, C.; Castro Garcia, L.; Kucera, D.; Liu, X.

    2017-12-01

    Large uncertainties remain in identifying the distribution of urban air quality and temperature risks across neighborhood to regional scales. Nevertheless, many cities are actively expanding vegetation with an expectation to moderate both climate and air quality risks. We address these uncertainties through an integrated analysis of satellite data, atmospheric modeling, and in-situ environmental sensor networks maintained by citizen scientists. During the summer of 2017 we deployed neighborhood-scale networks of air temperature and ozone sensors through three campaigns across urbanized southern California. During each five-week campaign we deployed six sensor nodes that included an EPA federal equivalent method ozone sensor and a suite of meteorological sensors. Each node was further embedded in a network of 100 air temperature sensors that combined a randomized design developed by the research team and a design co-created by citizen scientists. Between 20 and 60 citizen scientists were recruited for each campaign, with local partners supporting outreach and training to ensure consistent deployment and data gathering. We observed substantial variation in both temperature and ozone concentrations at scales less than 4km, whole city, and the broader southern California region. At the whole city scale the average spatial variation with our ozone sensor network just for city of Long Beach was 26% of the mean, while corresponding variation in air temperature was only 7% of the mean. These findings contrast with atmospheric model estimates of variation at the regional scale of 11% and 1%. Our results show the magnitude of fine-scale variation underestimated by current models and may also suggest scaling functions that can connect neighborhood and regional variation in both ozone and temperature risks in southern California. By engaging citizen science with high quality sensors, satellite data, and real-time forecasting, our results help identify magnitudes of climate and air quality risk variation across scales and can guide individual decisions and urban policies surrounding vegetation to moderate these risks.

  6. 16 CFR 1204.16 - Production testing.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Production testing. 1204.16 Section 1204.16 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS SAFETY STANDARD FOR OMNIDIRECTIONAL CITIZENS BAND BASE STATION ANTENNAS Certification § 1204.16 Production testing...

  7. [Survey of physical activity and health among Chinese senior citizens over 70 years old].

    PubMed

    Wang, Hongyu

    2015-11-01

    To investigate characteristics of physical activities among Chinese senior citizens over 70 years old, and analyze the relationship between physical activities and health. Using multistage stratified sampling method, 1 960 senior citizens over 70 years old were included in the investigation from 7 cities of 5 provinces in the northeast, east, center and west of China from March to September 2014. After removing missing samples, 1 420 samples were kept. Time duration, intensity, frequency and physical condition scores of each physical activities were obtained by using a questionnaire of physical activities and a simplified version of life quality scale (SF-12 scale). Physical condition scores of different groups with different genders and ages were analyzed by using t-test of two independent samples; and physical conditions of different physical activities were compared by χ(2)-test. Senior citizens did physical activities 6-7 times per week (79.2%, 1 125/1 420) with low and moderate intensity (41.6%, 591/1 420) for 0.5-1.0 hour per time (42.5%, 604/1 420). Total scores of senior citizen were (63.7 ± 15.1), and health scores of men (67.3 ± 14.8) were higher than those in women (60.1 ± 17.8) (t = 8.31, P < 0.001). Health scores for the group with the age of 70-74 (69.5 ± 14.6) were higher than those in the group of 80-84 and the group ≥ 85 (62.1 ± 17.0, 57.3 ± 17.9) (F were 2.53 and 3.02, respectively, P < 0.001). Health scores for the group with the age of 75-79 (66.0 ± 16.9) were higher than those in the group ≥ 85 (57.3 ± 17.9) (F = 2.47, P < 0.001). Total detection rates of senior citizen were (64.8%, 920/1 420), health detection rates for the groups with higher and medium physical activities (69.8%, 268/384) and (66.8%, 436/653) were both higher than those in the low group (56.4%, 216/383) (χ(2) were 14.78 and 11.13, respectively, P < 0.001). Senior citizens have physical activities quite frequently with low and medium intensity for a short time period. Health condition declines with age increases; physical health situations are better for men than those for women. Medium and high physical activities do good to health for senior citizens.

  8. Trial of validation of two devices for self-measurement of blood pressure according to the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol: the Citizen CH-432B and the Citizen CH-656C.

    PubMed

    Cotte, Uwe V; Faltenbacher, Verena H; von Willich, Werner; Bogner, Johannes R

    2008-02-01

    Two devices for self-measurement of blood pressure, one at the upper arm (Citizen CH-432B) and one at the wrist (Citizen CH-656C), were evaluated according to the International Protocol of the European Society of Hypertension. The International Protocol is divided into two phases: the first phase is performed on 15 selected participants with five participants in three different blood pressure ranges. If the devices passed this phase, 18 additional participants selected on the basis of the same criteria as in phase 1 were included. Two skilled observers performed the following blood pressure measurements: five measurements were performed with the mercury standard alternating with four measurements with each of the test devices per participant. The first measurement result from each device instrument was not included in the analysis. The difference between the blood pressure value given by the devices and that obtained by the two observers (mean of the two observers) was calculated for each pair of measurements and classified into three categories (within 5, 10 and 15 mmHg). The results were compared to the pass criteria established by the European Society of Hypertension. Afterwards the number of measurement differences falling within 5 mmHg was determined for every person. At least 22 of the 33 participants should have two of their three comparisons within 5 mmHg and there should be a maximum of three participants without a measurement difference within the 5 mmHg range. Both tested devices passed the first phase of the validation process by exceeding the required number of comparisons falling within the 5, 10 and 15 mmHg error zones. Even the second phase confirmed the validation criteria with average differences between the device and the mercury sphygmomanometer of 0.7+/-4.4 and -3.6+/-4.0 mmHg for systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, respectively, for the Citizen CH-432B device and -0.7+/-6.0 and -1.2+/-4.5 mmHg for the Citizen CH-656C device. Phase 2 contains furthermore an individual analysis of the 33 participants, the requirements of which were also fulfilled by both devices. The Citizen CH-432B and the Citizen CH-656C devices pass the validation recommendations of the International Protocol. They can be recommended for clinical use.

  9. H.R. 3627: This Act may be cited as the Brownfield Community Empowerment Act, introduced in the House of Representatives, One Hundred Fifth Congress, Second Session, April 1, 1998

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    NONE

    1998-12-31

    The purpose of this bill is to assist local governments and local citizens` organizations in the assessment and remediation of brownfield sites, and for other purposes. Attention is focused on the following: Sec. 101. Inventory, assessment, and training and grant program; Sec. 112. Grants for revolving loan programs; Sec. 113. Economic redevelopment grants; Sec. 114. Reports; Sec 115. Limitations on use of funds; Sec. 116 Siting of TSD facilities; Sec. 117. Effect on other laws; Sec. 118. Regulations; Sec. 119. Authorizations of appropriations; Sec 120. Research, development, and demonstration; Sec. 121. Assistance for workforce training; Sec. 122. Worker training andmore » education grants; and Sec. 201. Economic development grants in connection with community development loan guarantees.« less

  10. Paralegal Assistants. Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Representation of Citizen Interests of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-third Congress, Second Session on Paralegal Assistants.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

    Testimony of various witnesses, including representatives from a paralegal training institute, paralegals, educators, lawyers, and bar associations, respond to the assertions that because they save from one-quarter to one-half of the cost of a lawyer's time, paralegals can be a major factor in lowering the cost and increasing the availability of…

  11. Training the Neglected Core of Army Leadership- Troop-Leading Procedures

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-06-01

    tactical operations center ( TOC ) to reconnoiter, using the MDMP to complete their plans, etc. TLP are considered procedures, and the Army’s previous...and establishing an effective and responsive Prevention of Sexual Haras- sment (POSH)/Equal Opportunity (EO) program. Since dedicated citizen...8. One unit posted signs all over its TOC that read, “Who else needs to know!” 03A - COE/Full-Spectrum Operations/Why We Fight 03C - Perform Cultural

  12. TOTAL FORCE INTEGRATION: PROVIDING STABILITY FOR CITIZEN SOLDIERS IN AN EVER CHANGING AIR FORCE

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-10-01

    Active Duty manpower vacancies, such as Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) instructor duties, are being filled through unique...has invested in a variety of ways to fill manpower gaps, to include using enlisted Active Duty members to conduct what was previously considered...entire Air Force airlift mission, resulting in substantial stressors on civilian careers and family life, which has always been the cornerstone of

  13. Telemedicine as a Tool for Europe-Africa Cooperation: A Practical Experience

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dinis, Manuel; Santiago, Fernando; Silva, Luís; Ferreira, Ricardo; Machado, José; Castela, Eduardo

    This paper presents the experience of an Europe-Africa telemedicine network, focused on the pediatric area, and involving hospitals located in Luanda (Angola), Benguela (Angola), Praia (Cape Verde) and Coimbra (Portugal). In the scope of this network, the cooperation between these hospitals goes beyond the teleconsultation sessions. Tele-training, clinical experience exchange, patient transfer agreements and health staff training to local development of new medical capabilities are some of the involved activities. It is therefore agreed that this kind of technical and knowledge network could also be expanded to other African countries with clear benefits to the local citizens, overcoming the digital-divide and improving the cooperation between developed and developing countries.

  14. Croatia is a safe tourist destination – study of foreign citizen mortality in Splitsko-dalmatinska and Primorsko-goranska County during the period 2001-2010

    PubMed Central

    Bečić, Kristijan; Jandrić Bečić, Darija; Čengija, Morana; Ćurić, Goran; Alujević, Antonio; Definis-Gojanović, Marija

    2013-01-01

    Aim To investigate the mortality rate of foreign citizens in Croatia. Methods Data were collected from the Departments for Forensic Pathology in Split and Rijeka, which are the autopsy centers of the counties with approximately 35% of total foreign visitors, as well as from the Croatian Central Bureau for Statistics for the period 2001-2010. The mortality rate (number of deaths of members of each nationality per 100 000 entrances ratio) and standardized mortality ratio (ratio between the observed and expected number of deaths) were calculated, and χ2 goodness of fit test was used for statistical analyses. Results There were 447 deaths (325 men, 72.7%) of foreign citizens (mortality rate of 0.0015%). A total of 207 deaths (46.3%) were by natural causes, more often among older people, and 240 deaths (53.7%) were injury deaths, more often among younger people, mostly by drowning or traffic-related (22.2% and 18.6% of all deaths, respectively). Most represented were citizens of German, Austrian, Czech, and Italian nationality, with 115 (25.7%), 59 (13.2%), 58 (13.0%), and 52 deaths (11.6%), respectively. Mortality rate by nationality showed no significant difference (P < 0.05). The standardized mortality ratio was lowest in Hungarian and Czech citizens (0.17) and highest in US citizens (0.35). Conclusions Croatia has low foreign citizens’ mortality rate and could be considered a safe tourist destination. PMID:23771761

  15. International issues: Obtaining an adult neurology residency position in the United States: an overview.

    PubMed

    Jordan, Justin T; Sellner, Johann; Struhal, Walter; Schneider, Logan; Mayans, David

    2014-04-08

    Around the world, there are marked differences in neurology training, including training duration and degree of specialization. In the United States, adult neurology residency is composed of 1 year of internal medicine training (preliminary year) and 3 years of neurology-specific training. Child neurology, which is not the focus of this article, is 2 years of pediatrics and 3 years of neurology training. The route to adult neurology residency training in the United States is standardized and is similar to most other US specialties. Whereas US medical graduates often receive stepwise guidance from their medical school regarding application for residency training, international graduates often enter this complex process with little or no such assistance. Despite this discrepancy, about 10%-15% of residency positions in the United States are filled by international medical graduates.(1,2) In adult neurology specifically, 35% of matched positions were filled by international graduates in 2013, 75% of whom were not US citizens.(1) In an effort to provide a preliminary understanding of the application process and related terminology (table 1) and thereby encourage international residency applicants, we describe the steps necessary to apply for neurology residency in the United States.

  16. Citizen Science Air Monitoring in the Ironbound Community ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) mission is to protect human health and the environment. To move toward achieving this goal, EPA is facilitating identification of potential environmental concerns, particularly in vulnerable communities. This includes actively supporting citizen science projects and providing communities with the information and assistance they need to conduct their own air pollution monitoring efforts. The Air Sensor Toolbox for Citizen Scientists1 was developed as a resource to meet stakeholder needs. Examples of materials developed for the Toolbox and ultimately pilot tested in the Ironbound Community in Newark, New Jersey are reported here. The Air Sensor Toolbox for Citizen Scientists is designed as an online resource that provides information and guidance on new, low-cost compact technologies used for measuring air quality. The Toolbox features resources developed by EPA researchers that can be used by citizens to effectively collect, analyze, interpret, and communicate air quality data. The resources include information about sampling methods, how to calibrate and validate monitors, options for measuring air quality, data interpretation guidelines, and low-cost sensor performance information. This Regional Applied Research Effort (RARE) project provided an opportunity for the Office of Research and Development (ORD) to work collaboratively with EPA Region 2 to provide the Ironbound Community with a “Toolbox” specific for c

  17. Increasing patient engagement in rehabilitation exercises using computer-based citizen science.

    PubMed

    Laut, Jeffrey; Cappa, Francesco; Nov, Oded; Porfiri, Maurizio

    2015-01-01

    Patient motivation is an important factor to consider when developing rehabilitation programs. Here, we explore the effectiveness of active participation in web-based citizen science activities as a means of increasing participant engagement in rehabilitation exercises, through the use of a low-cost haptic joystick interfaced with a laptop computer. Using the joystick, patients navigate a virtual environment representing the site of a citizen science project situated in a polluted canal. Participants are tasked with following a path on a laptop screen representing the canal. The experiment consists of two conditions: in one condition, a citizen science component where participants classify images from the canal is included; and in the other, the citizen science component is absent. Both conditions are tested on a group of young patients undergoing rehabilitation treatments and a group of healthy subjects. A survey administered at the end of both tasks reveals that participants prefer performing the scientific task, and are more likely to choose to repeat it, even at the cost of increasing the time of their rehabilitation exercise. Furthermore, performance indices based on data collected from the joystick indicate significant differences in the trajectories created by patients and healthy subjects, suggesting that the low-cost device can be used in a rehabilitation setting for gauging patient recovery.

  18. WATERS - Integrating Science and Education Through the Development of an Education & Outreach Program that Engages Scientists, Students and Citizens

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eschenbach, E. A.; Conklin, M. H.

    2007-12-01

    The need to train students in hydrologic science and environmental engineering is well established. Likewise, the public requires a raised awareness of the seriousness of water quality and availability problems. The WATERS Network (WATer and Environmental Research Systems Network ) has the potential to significantly change the way students, researchers, citizens, policy makers and industry members learn about environmental problems and solutions regarding water quality, quantity and distribution. This potential can be met if the efforts of water scientists, computer scientists, and educators are integrated appropriately. Successful pilot projects have found that cyberinfrastructure for education and outreach needs to be developed in parallel with research related cyberinfrastructure. We propose further integration of research, education and outreach activities. Through the use of technology that connects students, faculty, researchers, policy makers and others, WATERS Network can provide learning opportunities and teaching efficiencies that can revolutionize environmental science and engineering education. However, there are a plethora of existing environmental science and engineering educational programs. In this environment, WATERS can make a greater impact through careful selection of activities that build upon its unique strengths, that have high potential for engaging the members, and that meet identified needs: (i) modernizing curricula and pedagogy (ii) integrating science and education, (iii) sustainable professional development, and (iv) training the next generation of interdisciplinary water and social scientists and environmental engineers. National and observatory-based education facilities would establish the physical infrastructure necessary to coordinate education and outreach activities. Each observatory would partner with local educators and citizens to develop activities congruent with the scientific mission of the observatory. An unprecedented opportunity exists for educational research of both formal and informal environmental science and engineering education in order to understand how the Network can be efficiently used to create effective technology-based learning environments for all participants.

  19. Competency Testing: Assessment or Politics? Draft.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carter, David G., Sr.

    Competency testing legislation is the result of citizen pressure and lacks the benefit of careful deliberation by professionals. Hastily passed legislation has forced state departments of education and school districts to accept their duty to implement competency testing programs without the appropriate resources. Many of the basic problems of…

  20. International perspectives on education, training, and practice in clinical neuropsychology: comparison across 14 countries around the world.

    PubMed

    Grote, Christopher L; Novitski, Julia I

    2016-11-01

    To review and summarize data provided by special issue authors regarding the education, training, and practice of neuropsychologists from 14 surveyed countries. A table was constructed to present an overview of variables of interest. There is considerable diversity among surveyed countries regarding the education and training required to enter practice as a clinical neuropsychologist. Clinical neuropsychologists are typically well compensated, at least in comparison to what constitutes an average salary in each country. Despite substantial variations in education and training pathways, and availability of neuropsychologists from country to country, two common areas for future development are suggested. First, identification, development, and measurement of core competencies for neuropsychological education and practice are needed that can serve as a unifying element for the world's clinical neuropsychologists. Second, greater emphasis on recognizing and addressing the need for assessment and treatment of diverse populations is needed if the world's citizens can hope to benefit from the expertise of practitioners in our field.

  1. College Admissions: Beyond Conventional Testing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sternberg, Robert J.

    2012-01-01

    Standardized admissions tests such as the SAT (originally stood for "Scholastic Aptitude Test") and the ACT measure only a narrow segment of the skills needed to become an active citizen and possibly a leader who makes a positive, meaningful, and enduring difference to the world. The problem with these tests is that they promised, under…

  2. Plea to lower English test pass marks for EEA nurses.

    PubMed

    Longhurst, Chris

    2017-08-09

    Nurses from a group campaigning for the rights of EU citizens in the UK after Brexit are meeting the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to press for the pass mark for English language tests to be lowered.

  3. Citizen Science Seismic Stations for Monitoring Regional and Local Events

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zucca, J. J.; Myers, S.; Srikrishna, D.

    2016-12-01

    The earth has tens of thousands of seismometers installed on its surface or in boreholes that are operated by many organizations for many purposes including the study of earthquakes, volcanos, and nuclear explosions. Although global networks such as the Global Seismic Network and the International Monitoring System do an excellent job of monitoring nuclear test explosions and other seismic events, their thresholds could be lowered with the addition of more stations. In recent years there has been interest in citizen-science approaches to augment government-sponsored monitoring networks (see, for example, Stubbs and Drell, 2013). A modestly-priced seismic station that could be purchased by citizen scientists could enhance regional and local coverage of the GSN, IMS, and other networks if those stations are of high enough quality and distributed optimally. In this paper we present a minimum set of hardware and software specifications that a citizen seismograph station would need in order to add value to global networks. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

  4. Improving and integrating data on invasive species collected by citizen scientists

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    2010-01-01

    Limited resources make it difficult to effectively document, monitor, and control invasive species across large areas, resulting in large gaps in our knowledge of current and future invasion patterns. We surveyed 128 citizen science program coordinators and interviewed 15 of them to evaluate their potential role in filling these gaps. Many programs collect data on invasive species and are willing to contribute these data to public databases. Although resources for education and monitoring are readily available, groups generally lack tools to manage and analyze data. Potential users of these data also retain concerns over data quality. We discuss how to address these concerns about citizen scientist data and programs while preserving the advantages they afford. A unified yet flexible national citizen science program aimed at tracking invasive species location, abundance, and control efforts could be designed using centralized data sharing and management tools. Such a system could meet the needs of multiple stakeholders while allowing efficiencies of scale, greater standardization of methods, and improved data quality testing and sharing. Finally, we present a prototype for such a system (see www.citsci.org).

  5. A journey to citizenship: constructions of citizenship and identity in the British Citizenship Test.

    PubMed

    Gray, Debra; Griffin, Christine

    2014-06-01

    The British Citizenship Test was introduced in 2005 as one of a raft of new procedures aimed at addressing the perceived problems of integration and social cohesion in migrant communities. In this study, we argue that this new citizenship procedure signals a shift in British political discourse about citizenship - particularly, the institutionalization of a common British citizen identity that is intended to draw citizens together in a new form of political/national community. In line with this, we examine the British Citizenship Test from a social psychological perspective to interrogate the ways in which the test constitutes identity, constitutes citizenship, and constitutes citizenship-as-identity. Analysis of the test and its associated documents highlights three ways in which Britishness-as-identity is constituted, that is, as a collective identity, as a superordinate and national identity, and finally as both a destination and a journey. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for models of citizenship and models of identity. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

  6. The notes from nature tool for unlocking biodiversity records from museum records through citizen science

    PubMed Central

    Hill, Andrew; Guralnick, Robert; Smith, Arfon; Sallans, Andrew; Rosemary Gillespie; Denslow, Michael; Gross, Joyce; Murrell, Zack; Tim Conyers; Oboyski, Peter; Ball, Joan; Thomer, Andrea; Prys-Jones, Robert; de Torre, Javier; Kociolek, Patrick; Fortson, Lucy

    2012-01-01

    Abstract Legacy data from natural history collections contain invaluable and irreplaceable information about biodiversity in the recent past, providing a baseline for detecting change and forecasting the future of biodiversity on a human-dominated planet. However, these data are often not available in formats that facilitate use and synthesis. New approaches are needed to enhance the rates of digitization and data quality improvement. Notes from Nature provides one such novel approach by asking citizen scientists to help with transcription tasks. The initial web-based prototype of Notes from Nature is soon widely available and was developed collaboratively by biodiversity scientists, natural history collections staff, and experts in citizen science project development, programming and visualization. This project brings together digital images representing different types of biodiversity records including ledgers , herbarium sheets and pinned insects from multiple projects and natural history collections. Experts in developing web-based citizen science applications then designed and built a platform for transcribing textual data and metadata from these images. The end product is a fully open source web transcription tool built using the latest web technologies. The platform keeps volunteers engaged by initially explaining the scientific importance of the work via a short orientation, and then providing transcription “missions” of well defined scope, along with dynamic feedback, interactivity and rewards. Transcribed records, along with record-level and process metadata, are provided back to the institutions.  While the tool is being developed with new users in mind, it can serve a broad range of needs from novice to trained museum specialist. Notes from Nature has the potential to speed the rate of biodiversity data being made available to a broad community of users. PMID:22859890

  7. Gravity Spy - Integrating LIGO detector characterization, citizen science, and machine learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zevin, Michael; Gravity Spy

    2016-06-01

    On September 14th 2015, the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (aLIGO) made the first direct observation of gravitational waves and opened a new field of observational astronomy. However, being the most complicated and sensitve experiment ever undertaken in gravitational physics, aLIGO is susceptible to various sources of environmental and instrumental noise that hinder the search for more gravitational waves.Of particular concern are transient, non-Gaussian noise features known as glitches. Glitches can mimic true astrophysical gravitational waves, occur at a high enough frequency to be coherent between the two detectors, and generally worsen aLIGO's detection capabilities. The proper classification and charaterization of glitches is paramount in optimizing aLIGO's ability to detect gravitational waves. However, teaching computers to identify and morphologically classify these artifacts is exceedingly difficult.Human intuition has proven to be a useful tool in classifcation probelms such as this. Gravity Spy is an innovative, interdisciplinary project hosted by Zooniverse that combines aLIGO detector characterization, citizen science, machine learning, and social science. In this project, citizen scientists and computers will work together in a sybiotic relationship that leverages human pattern recognition and the ability of machine learning to process large amounts of data systematically: volunteers classify triggers from the aLIGO data steam that are constantly updated as aLIGO takes in new data, and these classifications are used to train machine learning algorithms which proceed to classify the bulk of aLIGO data and feed questionable glithces back to the users.In this talk, I will discuss the workflow and initial results of the Gravity Spy project with regard to aLIGO's future observing runs and highlight the potential of such citizen science projects in promoting nascent fields such as gravitational wave astrophysics.

  8. Citizen's Charter in a primary health-care setting of Nepal: An accountability tool or a "mere wall poster"?

    PubMed

    Gurung, Gagan; Gauld, Robin; Hill, Philip C; Derrett, Sarah

    2018-02-01

    Despite some empirical findings on the usefulness of citizen's charters on awareness of rights and services, there is a dearth of literature about charter implementation and impact on health service delivery in low-income settings. To gauge the level of awareness of the Charter within Nepal's primary health-care (PHC) system, perceived impact and factors affecting Charter implementation. Using a case study design, a quantitative survey was administered to 400 participants from 22 of 39 PHC facilities in the Dang District to gauge awareness of the Charter. Additionally, qualitative interviews with 39 key informants were conducted to explore the perceived impact of the Charter and factors affecting its implementation. Few service users (15%) were aware of the existence of the Charter. Among these, a greater proportion were literate, and there were also differences according to ethnicity and occupational group. The Charter was usually not properly displayed and had been implemented with no prior public consultation. It contained information that provided awareness of health facility services, particularly the more educated public, but had limited potential for increasing transparency and holding service providers accountable to citizens. Proper display, consultation with stakeholders, orientation or training and educational factors, follow-up and monitoring, and provision of sanctions were all lacking, negatively influencing the implementation of the Charter. Poor implementation and low public awareness of the Charter limit its usefulness. Provision of sanctions and consultation with citizens in Charter development are needed to expand the scope of Charters from information brochures to tools for accountability. © 2017 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. The notes from nature tool for unlocking biodiversity records from museum records through citizen science.

    PubMed

    Hill, Andrew; Guralnick, Robert; Smith, Arfon; Sallans, Andrew; Rosemary Gillespie; Denslow, Michael; Gross, Joyce; Murrell, Zack; Tim Conyers; Oboyski, Peter; Ball, Joan; Thomer, Andrea; Prys-Jones, Robert; de Torre, Javier; Kociolek, Patrick; Fortson, Lucy

    2012-01-01

    Legacy data from natural history collections contain invaluable and irreplaceable information about biodiversity in the recent past, providing a baseline for detecting change and forecasting the future of biodiversity on a human-dominated planet. However, these data are often not available in formats that facilitate use and synthesis. New approaches are needed to enhance the rates of digitization and data quality improvement. Notes from Nature provides one such novel approach by asking citizen scientists to help with transcription tasks. The initial web-based prototype of Notes from Nature is soon widely available and was developed collaboratively by biodiversity scientists, natural history collections staff, and experts in citizen science project development, programming and visualization. This project brings together digital images representing different types of biodiversity records including ledgers , herbarium sheets and pinned insects from multiple projects and natural history collections. Experts in developing web-based citizen science applications then designed and built a platform for transcribing textual data and metadata from these images. The end product is a fully open source web transcription tool built using the latest web technologies. The platform keeps volunteers engaged by initially explaining the scientific importance of the work via a short orientation, and then providing transcription "missions" of well defined scope, along with dynamic feedback, interactivity and rewards. Transcribed records, along with record-level and process metadata, are provided back to the institutions.  While the tool is being developed with new users in mind, it can serve a broad range of needs from novice to trained museum specialist. Notes from Nature has the potential to speed the rate of biodiversity data being made available to a broad community of users.

  10. Translations on Eastern Europe Political, Sociological, and Military Affairs, Number 1445.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1977-09-13

    cooperation is the exchange of scholars and specialists. The protocol from the 8th meeting of the permanent commission, signed in Warsaw on 26...the USSR for 14-day training periods, while Soviet trainers of handball , basketball, canoeing, track and field sports, cycling, and football will come... injury and brawls, the gypsy citizens accounted for 14.7 percent, for disturbing the peace 15.7 percent and in cases of larceny even 11 22.5 percent

  11. Al Qaeda and Affiliates: Historical Perspective, Global Presence, and Implications for U.S. Policy

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-02-05

    mountainous tribal belt of northwest Pakistan, where it continues to train operatives, recruit, and disseminate propaganda. But Al Qaeda franchises or...April 2005 to U.S. charges of involvement in the September 11 plot, apparently visited Malaysia and met with cell members in 2000. Additionally, the...Qaeda leader, Malaysia was viewed as an ideal location for transiting and meeting because it allowed visa-free entry to citizens of most Gulf states

  12. Army Logistician. Volume 40, Issue 6, November-December 2008

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-12-01

    1775–1783) Although the British had a larger and better trained army than the Americans , they had to transport sol- diers and supplies across the...effectiveness of the Confeder- ate forces by disrupting or destroying parts of their supply chain. Plains Indian Wars After the Civil War, white American ...Soldiers and with all Americans to commemorate a century of service to the Nation by America’s Warrior Citizens. Birth of a Federal Reserve Force

  13. Every Citizen a Soldier: Historic Foundations for Gender Integrated Training (GIT) and Implications for Air Force Readiness

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1999-04-01

    masculine world. Noted military experts suggest pluralism is the desired end state for successful gender integrated service, and this concept is...book in progress, Dr. Dunivin discusses two, current U.S. 5 military culture models. The first is the Traditional Model, termed the Combat Masculine ... Masculine Warrior. Charles Moskos, cited by Dunivin, describes what the 6 Combat Masculine Warrior paradigm actually means to the military: “Thus a

  14. Whose banner are we waving? Exploring STEM partnerships for marginalized urban youth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ridgeway, Monica L.; Yerrick, Randy K.

    2018-03-01

    This case study examines after school programming in citizen science from the perspective of Critical Race Theory. During the course of enacting community outreach projects this data was used to examine the positioning of experts, student, and teachers within the program. This study explores the role of race and ethnicity, and the ways in which marginalization can manifest itself with black urban youth and teachers. Implications for partner selection and training are addressed.

  15. Drug Testing in the Schools. Implications for Policy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bozeman, William C.; And Others

    Drug testing of district employees and students is examined from several perspectives: implications for school policy, legality, administration and protocol, and test reliability and accuracy. Substance abuse has become a major concern for educators, parents, and citizens as illegal drugs are more readily available. It is also pointed out that the…

  16. [The ability of drivers to give first aid--testing by questionnaire].

    PubMed

    Goniewicz, M

    1998-01-01

    Road accidents have become a serious social problem. The scale and complexity of this problem shows clearly that there is a necessity to improve citizens' ability to give first aid which is especially essential in the case of drivers. Thus special training how to give first aid at the accident place seems to be of the primary importance. The objective of this paper is to: 1) identify to what extent the drivers of motor vehicles are prepared to provide first aid for casualties of the road accidents, 2) evaluate the training system of teaching motorists how to give first aid before professional help arrives, 3) identify drivers' views on possibilities of decreasing the number of fatal casualties of the road accidents. The questionnaire was given to 560 employees of local government institutions in the city of Lublin either professional or non-professional drivers. The direct method and anonymous questionnaire were used. The results of the questionnaire revealed clearly that very few drivers are well-prepared to give proper first aid at the accident site. No matter what sex, education or driving experience, the drivers have not got enough skills to give first aid and the effect is enhanced by various psychological barriers. The questioned drivers shared the opinion that first aid training is badly run. The drivers stressed bad quality of the training and the fact that it is impossible to acquire practical skills that may be required in the case of emergency. Drivers' views on possibilities of decreasing the number of fatal casualties of the road accidents included, among others, the following propositions: in addition to the driving licence exam first aid exam should be compulsory severe enforcement and execution of the law which regulates the mandatory first aid giving.

  17. CREW TRAINING - STS-33/51L - JSC

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1985-09-19

    S85-40510 & S85-40511 (23 Sept. 1985) --- Two women representing the Teacher-in-Space Project undergo training in preparation for the 51-L mission in two photographs made in the Johnson Space Center’s mission simulation and training facility. In S85-40510, Sharon Christa McAuliffe (second right), prime crew member; and Barbara R. Morgan (second left), backup, are briefed in the shuttle mission simulator’s instruction station by Jerry Swain, right, instruction team leader. Others pictured are Michelle Brekke (far left) of the payload specialists’ office and Patricia A. Lawson (lower left foreground). Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka, in S85-40511, assists Morgan with a head set as the two trainees are familiarized with launch and entry stations in the motion base shuttle mission simulator (SMS). The citizen observer (McAuliffe) is scheduled to be seated on the middeck. This picture, however, was taken at the mission specialists’ station on the flight deck. Photo credit: NASA

  18. 15 CFR 255.2 - Qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.2...

  19. 15 CFR 255.2 - Qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.2...

  20. 15 CFR 255.2 - Qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.2...

  1. 15 CFR 255.2 - Qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.2...

  2. Mobile phone technology identifies and recruits trained citizens to perform CPR on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims prior to ambulance arrival.

    PubMed

    Ringh, Mattias; Fredman, David; Nordberg, Per; Stark, Tomas; Hollenberg, Jacob

    2011-12-01

    In a two-parted study, evaluate a new concept were mobile phone technology is used to dispatch lay responders to nearby out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs). Mobile phone positioning systems (MPS) can geographically locate selected mobile phone users at any given moment. A mobile phone service using MPS was developed and named Mobile Life Saver (MLS). Simulation study: 25 volunteers named mobile responders (MRs) were connected to MLS. Ambulance time intervals from 22 consecutive OHCAs in 2005 were used as controls. The MRs randomly moved in Stockholm city centre and were dispatched to simulated OHCAs (identical to controls) if they were within a 350 m distance. Real life study: during 25 weeks 1271-1801 MRs trained in CPR were connected to MLS. MLS was activated at the dispatch centre in parallel with ambulance dispatch when an OHCA was suspected. The MRs were dispatched if they were within 500 m from the suspected OHCA. Simulation study: mean response time for the MRs compared to historical ambulance time intervals was reduced by 2 min 20s (44%), p<0.001, (95% CI, 1 min 5s - 3 min 35s). The MRs reached the simulated OHCA prior to the historical control in 72% of cases. Real life study: the MLS was triggered 92 times. In 45% of all suspected and in 56% of all true OHCAs the MRs arrived prior to ambulance. CPR was performed by MRs in 17% of all true OHCAs and in 30% of all true OHCAs if MRs arrived prior to ambulance. Mobile phone technology can be used to identify and recruit nearby CPR-trained citizens to OHCAs for bystander CPR prior to ambulance arrival. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. 16 CFR 1204.15 - Qualification testing.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Qualification testing. 1204.15 Section 1204.15 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS SAFETY STANDARD FOR OMNIDIRECTIONAL CITIZENS BAND BASE STATION ANTENNAS Certification § 1204.15...

  4. 16 CFR 1204.14 - Certification tests.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Certification tests. 1204.14 Section 1204.14 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS SAFETY STANDARD FOR OMNIDIRECTIONAL CITIZENS BAND BASE STATION ANTENNAS Certification § 1204.14 Certification...

  5. Why did persons invited to train in cardiopulmonary resuscitation not do so?

    PubMed

    Lejeune, P O; Delooz, H H

    1987-03-01

    All citizens (N = 22066) aged 16 to 65 of a medium-sized Belgian town were personally invited to CPR training sessions held in their neighbourhood. 1152 responded by attending a training session. Those who did not so respond were surveyed (random sample N = 600) for reasons of their not coming. The sample fitted well with census data for gender, age and suburb location but not for job, because retired persons and women at home were overrepresented. 123 persons did not want to answer the questions. 116 persons said they were already trained in CPR, 276 said they would accept on a future occasion and 82 said they would not. Three persons did not answer this question. There was no discrimination for job, gender and suburb location between those who did not accept a future training opportunity, nor was the existence of a heart patient among relatives. The older the person, the less inclined was that person to participate in CPR training (age effect chi 2 = 17 X 17, d.f. = 9, P less than 0.05). The 276 who accepted future training, chose their workplace (221) and/or their social meeting place (club etc.) as the place where this future training should be held. We suggest that CPR training is well accepted and that the training opportunities should be given at places of work and social gatherings.

  6. CATE 2016 Indonesia: Optics and Focus Strategy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McKay, M. A.; Jenson, L.; Kovac, S. A.; Bosh, R.; Mitchell, A. M.; Hare, H. S.; Watson, Z.; Penn, M. J.

    2016-12-01

    The 2017 solar eclipse will be a natural phenomenon that will sweep across the United State would provide an excellent opportunity to observe and study the solar corona. The Citizens Continental Astronomical Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) Experiment directed my Matt Penn, intends to take advantage of this scientific opportunity by organizing 60 sites along the path of totality from Oregon to South Carolina to observe the eclipse and make a 90 min continuous video of the solar corona. The preliminary observation was done with the 2016 eclipse in Indonesia, with 5 sites along the path of totality. The sites were provided with an 80mm diameter Telescope with a 480mm focal length with an extension tube, Celestron equatorial mount, a CMOS camera, a Dell dual processor running Windows, GPS and an Arduino box, more details will be provided. I observed at the furthest east site in Ternate, Indonesia, with Dr. Donald Walter. The day of the eclipse we had clouds but still had a successful observation. The observation was successful with 4 out of the 5 sites collected eclipse data, due to weather the other site was not able to observe. The data was then collected and processed over the summer. To prepare for the observation in 2017, the 60 sites will be provided with the equipment, software and training. The groups will then practice by doing solar and lunar observations, where they will follow an almost identical procedure for the eclipse to do their observations. These test will increase our chances to have a successful observation among all sites. The focus will play a crucial role in this observation to provide a high quality image. Currently, a new focusing method using an image derivative method to provide quantitative feedback to the user is being developed. Finally, a Graphical User Interface is also being developed using the codes produces from the summer 2016 data analysis, to process the images from each site with minimal effort and produce quality scientific images. This work was made possible through the NSO Training for the 2017 Citizen CATE Experiment funded by NASA (NASA NNX16AB92A).

  7. The Voyage of a Navigator An aspiring scholar's inside observations on the Affordable Care Act's rocky roll-out in North Carolina.

    PubMed

    Tripp, Hollie L

    2015-01-01

    North Carolina, a federally facilitated marketplace under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), stumbled in 2013 when opening its health-insurance exchange. Trouble was easy to foresee, as North Carolina had instituted a law barring any state agency from assisting enrollment in health-insurance plans made available through the ACA. Trained workers were needed to help citizens and legal immigrants "navigate" to these plans. Some of these "navigators" could be paid with federal funds, but many others had to work as volunteers. I was one of these volunteer navigators. Much went wrong in training, staffing, and operations, but much still was accomplished. Here I report observations, share assessments, and offer suggestions for similarly complex situations.

  8. [Health disparities: local realities and future challenges].

    PubMed

    Bodenmann, P; Green, A R

    2012-11-28

    Since 1887, the Policlinique Médicale Universitaire (PMU) has brought care to vulnerable populations who are at risk of poor physical, mental and social health. These include marginalised Swiss natives and immigrant communities (asylum seekers, undocumented immigrants). These patients are at risk of health disparities given their poor access to the health care system and lack of adapted quality care. Clinical approach must address these potential disparities, reinforced by a research describing them in order to explain their cause, and propose possible solutions, and a medical training addressing these topics from the undergraduate to the attending level. Through those holistic clinical approach, robust research and improved medical training, health providers will contribute to give quality care to all citizens, without exception!

  9. Scaling Up Family Therapy in Fragile, Conflict-Affected States.

    PubMed

    Charlés, Laurie L

    2015-09-01

    This article discusses the design and delivery of two international family therapy-focused mental health and psychosocial support training projects, one in a fragile state and one in a post-conflict state. The training projects took place in Southeast Asia and the Middle East/North Africa. Each was funded, supported, and implemented by local, regional, and international stakeholders, and delivered as part of a broader humanitarian agenda to develop human resource capacity to work with families affected by atrocities. The two examples illustrate how task-shifting/task-sharing and transitional justice approaches were used to inform the scaling-up of professionals involved in each project. They also exemplify how state-citizen phenomena in each location affected the project design and delivery. © 2014 Family Process Institute.

  10. Assessing How Participators Combine Acts in Their "Political Tool Kits": A Person-Centered Measurement Approach for Analyzing Citizen Participation.

    PubMed

    Oser, Jennifer

    2017-01-01

    Scholars have recognized that a recent increase in the ways citizens participate beyond the electoral arena may be a promising avenue of renewal for citizen participation. In this article we test the theory that different kinds of citizenship norms motivate some citizens to specialize in electoral-oriented activities (e.g. voting), while others specialize in non-institutionalized activities (e.g. protest). The latent class analysis of data from the U.S. Citizen, Involvement and Democracy Survey (2005) in the current study assesses how actors combine a variety of acts in their "political tool kits" of participation, and facilitates a comparison to prior findings that analyze single political behaviors. Results indicate a participatory type that specializes in non-institutionalized acts, but the group's high probability of voting does not align with the expectations in the literature. An electoral-oriented specialist type is not identified; instead, the findings show that a majority of the population is best characterized as disengaged, while a small group of all-around activists embrace all possible opportunities for political action. The actor-centered theoretical and measurement approach in this study identifies caveats to the theory that changing citizenship norms are leading to civic and political renewal. We discuss the implications of these findings for measuring different aspects of democratic (dis)engagement and participatory (in)equality.

  11. The High-Performance Computing and Communications program, the national information infrastructure and health care.

    PubMed Central

    Lindberg, D A; Humphreys, B L

    1995-01-01

    The High-Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) program is a multiagency federal effort to advance the state of computing and communications and to provide the technologic platform on which the National Information Infrastructure (NII) can be built. The HPCC program supports the development of high-speed computers, high-speed telecommunications, related software and algorithms, education and training, and information infrastructure technology and applications. The vision of the NII is to extend access to high-performance computing and communications to virtually every U.S. citizen so that the technology can be used to improve the civil infrastructure, lifelong learning, energy management, health care, etc. Development of the NII will require resolution of complex economic and social issues, including information privacy. Health-related applications supported under the HPCC program and NII initiatives include connection of health care institutions to the Internet; enhanced access to gene sequence data; the "Visible Human" Project; and test-bed projects in telemedicine, electronic patient records, shared informatics tool development, and image systems. PMID:7614116

  12. The METIS project for generalist ultrasonography.

    PubMed

    Bono, F; Campanini, A

    2007-12-01

    Reorganization of the community healthcare system and the growing presence of group practices in the field of general medicine have increased the demands placed on primary-care medicine, in terms of the skills required and the level of responsibility. Satisfying the need for rapid, effective primary-care solutions to the health problems of citizens is easier thanks to technological and medical advances that provide high level equipment at costs within the reach of general practitioners (GPs). In the near future, trained GPs equipped with appropriate diagnostic scanners will be able to handle up to 40% of the requests of ultrasound examinations of each primary-care group (each PCG includes approximately 15,000-20,000 citizens). The Italian Federation of General Practitioners (Federazione Italiana dei Medici di Medicina Generale - FIMMG) and its Scientific Society, METIS, have organized national courses for those GPs who wish to become generalist ultrasonographers, in a joint effort with the two most important Italian scientific societies of imaging, the Italian Society of Ultrasonology in Medicine and Biology and the Italian Society of Medical Radiology.

  13. Urine Trouble: Drug Testing of Students and Teachers in Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Butler, Frank

    2012-01-01

    Non-individualized (so-called "random") drug testing in public schools presents issues of Constitutional law on both the federal and state levels, particularly with regard to citizens' freedom from "unreasonable searches and seizures." The trend toward increasing acceptance of such testing by the courts (and particularly the U.S. Supreme Court)…

  14. 15 CFR 255.4 - Allowances and expenses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.4...

  15. 15 CFR 255.4 - Allowances and expenses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.4...

  16. 15 CFR 255.4 - Allowances and expenses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.4...

  17. 15 CFR 255.4 - Allowances and expenses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.4...

  18. 15 CFR 255.4 - Allowances and expenses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.4...

  19. Effect of citizen engagement levels in flood forecasting by assimilating crowdsourced observations in hydrological models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mazzoleni, Maurizio; Cortes Arevalo, Juliette; Alfonso, Leonardo; Wehn, Uta; Norbiato, Daniele; Monego, Martina; Ferri, Michele; Solomatine, Dimitri

    2017-04-01

    In the past years, a number of methods have been proposed to reduce uncertainty in flood prediction by means of model updating techniques. Traditional physical observations are usually integrated into hydrological and hydraulic models to improve model performances and consequent flood predictions. Nowadays, low-cost sensors can be used for crowdsourced observations. Different type of social sensors can measure, in a more distributed way, physical variables such as precipitation and water level. However, these crowdsourced observations are not integrated into a real-time fashion into water-system models due to their varying accuracy and random spatial-temporal coverage. We assess the effect in model performance due to the assimilation of crowdsourced observations of water level. Our method consists in (1) implementing a Kalman filter into a cascade of hydrological and hydraulic models. (2) defining observation errors depending on the type of sensor either physical or social. Randomly distributed errors are based on accuracy ranges that slightly improve according to the citizens' expertise level. (3) Using a simplified social model to realistically represent citizen engagement levels based on population density and citizens' motivation scenarios. To test our method, we synthetically derive crowdsourced observations for different citizen engagement levels from a distributed network of physical and social sensors. The observations are assimilated during a particular flood event occurred in the Bacchiglione catchment, Italy. The results of this study demonstrate that sharing crowdsourced water level observations (often motivated by a feeling of belonging to a community of friends) can help in improving flood prediction. On the other hand, a growing participation of individual citizens or weather enthusiasts sharing hydrological observations in cities can help to improve model performance. This study is a first step to assess the effects of crowdsourced observations in flood model predictions. Effective communication and feedback about the quality of observations from water authorities to engaged citizens are further required to minimize their intrinsic low-variable accuracy.

  20. How Fit is Your Citizen Science Data?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fischer, H. A.; Gerber, L. R.; Wentz, E. A.

    2017-12-01

    Data quality and accuracy is a fundamental concern with utilizing citizen science data. Although many methods can be used to assess quality and accuracy, these methods may not be sufficient to qualify citizen science data for widespread use in scientific research. While Data Fitness For Use (DFFU) does not provide a blanket assessment of data quality, it does assesses the data's ability to be used for a specific application, within a given area (Devillers and Bédard 2007). The STAAq (Spatial, Temporal, Aptness, and Accuracy) assessment was developed to assess the fitness for use of citizen science data, this assessment can be used on a stand alone dataset or be used to compare multiple datasets. The citizen science data used in this assessment was collected by volunteers of the Map of Life- Denali project, which is a tourist-centric citizen science project developed through a partnership with Arizona State University, Map of Life at Yale University, and Denali National Park and Preserve. Volunteers use the offline version of the Map of Life app to record their wildlife, insect, and plant observations in the park. To test the STAAq assessment data from different sources- Map of Life- Denali, Ride Observe and Record, and NPS wildlife surveys- were compared to determined which dataset is most fit for use for a specific research question; What is the recent Grizzly bear distribution in areas of high visitor use in Denali National Park and Preserve? These datasets were compared and ranked according to how well they performed in each of the components of the STAAq assessment. These components include spatial scale, temporal scale, aptness, and application. The Map of Life- Denali data and the ROAR program data were most for use for this research question. The STAAq assessment can be adjusted to assess the fitness for use of a single dataset or being used to compare any number of datasets. This data fitness for use assessment provides a means to assess data fitness instead of data quality for citizen science data.

  1. Community radiation monitoring program. Annual report, October 1, 1992--September 30, 1993

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cooper, E.N.

    1994-08-01

    The Community Radiation Monitoring Program (CRMP) is a cooperative effort between the US Department of Energy (DOE), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Desert Research Institute (DRI), a division of the University and Community College System of Nevada, and the Nuclear Engineering Laboratory of the University of Utah (UUNEL). The thirteenth year of this program began in the fall of 1992, and the work continues as an integral part of the DOE--sponsored long-term offsite radiological monitoring effort that has been conducted by EPA and its predecessors since the inception of nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). Themore » CRMP began by enhancing and centralizing environmental monitoring and sampling equipment at 15 communities in the then-existing EPA monitoring network around the NTS, and has since expanded to 19 locations in Nevada, Utah, and California. The primary objectives of this program are still to increase the understanding by the people who live in the area surrounding the NTS of the activities for which DOE is responsible, to enhance the performance of radiological sampling and monitoring, and to inform all concerned of the results of these efforts. One of the primary methods used to improve the communication link with the people in the potentially impacted area has been the hiring and training of local citizens as Station Managers and program representatives in those selected communities in the offsite area. These mangers, active science teachers wherever possible, have succeeded through their training, experience, community standing, and effort in becoming a very visible, able, and valuable asset in this link.« less

  2. Citizen Science: The Small World Initiative Improved Lecture Grades and California Critical Thinking Skills Test Scores of Nonscience Major Students at Florida Atlantic University.

    PubMed

    Caruso, Joseph P; Israel, Natalie; Rowland, Kimberly; Lovelace, Matthew J; Saunders, Mary Jane

    2016-03-01

    Course-based undergraduate research is known to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics student achievement. We tested "The Small World Initiative, a Citizen-Science Project to Crowdsource Novel Antibiotic Discovery" to see if it also improved student performance and the critical thinking of non-science majors in Introductory Biology at Florida Atlantic University (a large, public, minority-dominant institution) in academic year 2014-15. California Critical Thinking Skills Test pre- and posttests were offered to both Small World Initiative (SWI) and control lab students for formative amounts of extra credit. SWI lab students earned significantly higher lecture grades than control lab students, had significantly fewer lecture grades of D+ or lower, and had significantly higher critical thinking posttest total scores than control students. Lastly, more SWI students were engaged while taking critical thinking tests. These results support the hypothesis that utilizing independent course-based undergraduate science research improves student achievement even in nonscience students.

  3. [Novelities in resuscitation training methods].

    PubMed

    López-Messa, J B; Martín-Hernández, H; Pérez-Vela, J L; Molina-Latorre, R; Herrero-Ansola, P

    2011-10-01

    The importance of cardiac arrest as a health problem makes training in resuscitation a topic of great interest. It is necessary to enhance resuscitation training for all citizens, starting in schools and institutes, targeting teachers and nurses for training, to in turn become future trainers. The model of short courses with video-instruction and the use of mannequins is useful for the dissemination of resuscitation techniques. Liberalization of the use of automated external defibrillators (AED) and reduction of the training requirements in basic life support and AED for those non-health professionals who can use them, seems appropriate. Training must be improved in schools of medicine and nursing schools at undergraduate level. Health professionals should be trained according to their needs, with emphasis on non-technical skills such as leadership and teamwork. The model based on the use of trainers and low-fidelity mannequins remains a basic and fundamental element in training. Training through performance evaluation is a technique that should be implemented in all areas where cases of cardiac arrest are seen and the healthcare team has intervened. Simulation appears to be defined as the current and future modality for training in various medical areas, including of course the important field of resuscitation. Lastly, research in resuscitation training should be considered an example of translational science, where rigorous studies of skill acquisition with outcome measures serve to transfer the results to the clinical environment for analysis of their impact upon patient care. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier España, S.L. y SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

  4. Citizen and Satellite Measurements Used to Estimate Lake Water Storage Variations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Parkins, G.; Pavelsky, T.; Yelton, S.; Ghafoor, S. K.; Hossain, F.

    2017-12-01

    Of the roughly 20-40 million lakes in the world larger than 0.01 km2, perhaps a few thousand receive regular water level monitoring, and only approximately a thousand are included in the largest lake level databases. The prospect for on-the-ground, automated monitoring of a significant fraction of the world's lakes is not high given the considerable expense involved. In comparison to many other measurements, however, measuring lake water level is relatively simple under most conditions. A staff gauge installed in a lake, essentially a leveled ruler, can be read relatively simply by both experts and ordinary citizens. Reliable staff gauges cost far less than automated systems, making them an attractive alternative. However, staff gauges are only effective when they are regularly observed and when those observations are communicated to a central database. We have developed and tested a system for citizen scientists to monitor water levels in 15 lakes in Eastern North Carolina, USA and to easily report those measurements to our project team. We combine these citizen measurements with Landsat measurements of inundated area to track variations in lake water storage. Here, we present the resulting lake water level, inundation extent, and lake storage change time series and assess measurement accuracy. Our primary validation method for citizen-measured lake water levels is comparison with heights from pressure transducers also installed in all fifteen lakes. We use the validated results to understand spatial patterns in the lake hydrology of Eastern North Carolina. Finally, we consider the motivations of citizens who participate in the project and discuss the feedback they have provided regarding our measurement and communication systems.

  5. Investigation of the Relationship Between Organizational Learning and Organizational Citizen Behavior Among the Staff of Teaching Hospital

    PubMed Central

    Kiaei, Mohammad Zakaria; Hasanpoor, Edris; Sokhanvar, Mobin; Mohseni, Mohammad; Ziaiifar, Hajarbibi; Moradi, Mahin

    2014-01-01

    Background: Today, the concept of organizational learning has attracted the attention of many managers and researchers in scientific and research circles as well as those in the organization-related studies. Taking the organizational learning into account might offer a means of organizational effectiveness that has gone unnoticed. Thus the present study aimed at investigating the relationship between the organizational learning in each of its four aspects as independent variables and organizational citizen behavior of the staff as constituting the dependent variable of the study. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study with a practical approach conducted in 2010. The sample included 167 staff members working in educational health centers affiliated with Qazvin University of Medical Sciences. The data were collected via both the organizational learning questionnaire and organizational citizen behavior questionnaire and analyzed by using SPSS software and Spearman test. Results: The results indicated that the mean of organizational learning indicator was 2.9±0.648 and that of organizational citizen behavior 3.78±0.413. In addition, the spearman correlation coefficient ranging from 0.058 to 0.129 between the elements of the organizational learning and the organizational citizen behavior was not statistically significant (p>0.05). The findings also indicated that the correlation between them was average among the staff of Shahid Raja’ee Educational health center (0.319), thus the relationship between the two sets of variables proved significant (p=0.031). However, the same was not true in other centers. Conclusion: It was concluded that management commitment, open space, transfer of knowledge, and systemic vision could all enhance the level of organizational learning in hospitals which calls for focus on the elements of organizational citizen behavior. PMID:25568629

  6. Investigation of the relationship between organizational learning and organizational citizen behavior among the staff of teaching hospital.

    PubMed

    Kiaei, Mohammad Zakaria; Hasanpoor, Edris; Sokhanvar, Mobin; Mohseni, Mohammad; Ziaiifar, Hajarbibi; Moradi, Mahin

    2014-10-01

    Today, the concept of organizational learning has attracted the attention of many managers and researchers in scientific and research circles as well as those in the organization-related studies. Taking the organizational learning into account might offer a means of organizational effectiveness that has gone unnoticed. Thus the present study aimed at investigating the relationship between the organizational learning in each of its four aspects as independent variables and organizational citizen behavior of the staff as constituting the dependent variable of the study. This was a descriptive-analytical study with a practical approach conducted in 2010. The sample included 167 staff members working in educational health centers affiliated with Qazvin University of Medical Sciences. The data were collected via both the organizational learning questionnaire and organizational citizen behavior questionnaire and analyzed by using SPSS software and Spearman test. The results indicated that the mean of organizational learning indicator was 2.9±0.648 and that of organizational citizen behavior 3.78±0.413. In addition, the spearman correlation coefficient ranging from 0.058 to 0.129 between the elements of the organizational learning and the organizational citizen behavior was not statistically significant (p>0.05). The findings also indicated that the correlation between them was average among the staff of Shahid Raja'ee Educational health center (0.319), thus the relationship between the two sets of variables proved significant (p=0.031). However, the same was not true in other centers. It was concluded that management commitment, open space, transfer of knowledge, and systemic vision could all enhance the level of organizational learning in hospitals which calls for focus on the elements of organizational citizen behavior.

  7. Association between public cardiopulmonary resuscitation education and the willingness to perform bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation: a metropolitan citywide survey.

    PubMed

    Son, Jeong Woo; Ryoo, Hyun Wook; Moon, Sungbae; Kim, Jong-Yeon; Ahn, Jae Yun; Park, Jeong Bae; Seo, Kang Suk; Kim, Jong Kun; Kim, Yun Jeong

    2017-06-01

    Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an important factor associated with improved survival rates and neurologic prognoses in cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. We assessed how factors related to CPR education including timing of education, period from the most recent education session, and content, affected CPR willingness. In February 2012, trained interviewers conducted an interview survey of 1,000 Daegu citizens through an organized questionnaire. The subjects were aged ≥19 years and were selected by quota sampling. Their social and demographic characteristics, as well as CPR and factors related to CPR education, were investigated. Chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate how education-related factors affected the willingness to perform CPR. Of total 1,000 cases, 48.0% were male. The multivariate analyses revealed several factors significantly associated with CPR willingness: didactic plus practice group (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 3.38; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.3 to 5.0), group with more than four CPR education session (AOR, 7.68; 95% CI, 3.21 to 18.35), interval of less than 6 months from the last CPR education (AOR, 4.47; 95% CI 1.29 to 15.52), and education with automated external defibrillator (AOR, 5.98; 95% CI 2.30 to 15.53). The following were associated with increased willingness to perform CPR: practice sessions and automated electrical defibrillator training in public CPR education, more frequent CPR training, and shorter time period from the most recent CPR education sessions.

  8. Association between public cardiopulmonary resuscitation education and the willingness to perform bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation: a metropolitan citywide survey

    PubMed Central

    Son, Jeong Woo; Ryoo, Hyun Wook; Moon, Sungbae; Kim, Jong-yeon; Ahn, Jae Yun; Park, Jeong Bae; Seo, Kang Suk; Kim, Jong Kun; Kim, Yun Jeong

    2017-01-01

    Objective Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an important factor associated with improved survival rates and neurologic prognoses in cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. We assessed how factors related to CPR education including timing of education, period from the most recent education session, and content, affected CPR willingness. Methods In February 2012, trained interviewers conducted an interview survey of 1,000 Daegu citizens through an organized questionnaire. The subjects were aged ≥19 years and were selected by quota sampling. Their social and demographic characteristics, as well as CPR and factors related to CPR education, were investigated. Chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate how education-related factors affected the willingness to perform CPR. Results Of total 1,000 cases, 48.0% were male. The multivariate analyses revealed several factors significantly associated with CPR willingness: didactic plus practice group (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 3.38; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.3 to 5.0), group with more than four CPR education session (AOR, 7.68; 95% CI, 3.21 to 18.35), interval of less than 6 months from the last CPR education (AOR, 4.47; 95% CI 1.29 to 15.52), and education with automated external defibrillator (AOR, 5.98; 95% CI 2.30 to 15.53). Conclusion The following were associated with increased willingness to perform CPR: practice sessions and automated electrical defibrillator training in public CPR education, more frequent CPR training, and shorter time period from the most recent CPR education sessions. PMID:28717777

  9. Citizen social science: a methodology to facilitate and evaluate workplace learning in continuing interprofessional education.

    PubMed

    Dadich, Ann

    2014-05-01

    Workplace learning in continuing interprofessional education (CIPE) can be difficult to facilitate and evaluate, which can create a number of challenges for this type of learning. This article presents an innovative method to foster and investigate workplace learning in CIPE - citizen social science. Citizen social science involves clinicians as co-researchers in the systematic examination of social phenomena. When facilitated by an open-source online social networking platform, clinicians can participate via computer, smartphone, or tablet in ways that suit their needs and preferences. Furthermore, as co-researchers they can help to reveal the dynamic interplay that facilitates workplace learning in CIPE. Although yet to be tested, citizen social science offers four potential benefits: it recognises and accommodates the complexity of workplace learning in CIPE; it has the capacity to both foster and evaluate the phenomena; it can be used in situ, capturing and having direct relevance to the complexity of the workplace; and by advancing both theoretical and methodological debates on CIPE, it may reveal opportunities to improve and sustain workplace learning. By describing an example situated in the youth health sector, this article demonstrates how these benefits might be realised.

  10. Citizen science for water quality monitoring: Data implications of citizen perspectives.

    PubMed

    Jollymore, Ashlee; Haines, Morgan J; Satterfield, Terre; Johnson, Mark S

    2017-09-15

    Citizen science, where citizens play an active role in the scientific process, is increasingly used to expand the reach and scope of scientific research while also achieving engagement and educational goals. Despite the emergence of studies exploring data outcomes of citizen science, the process and experience of engaging with citizens and citizen-lead groups through participatory science is less explored. This includes how citizen perspectives alter data outcomes, a critical upshot given prevalent mistrust of citizen versus scientist data. This study uses a citizen science campaign investigating watershed impacts on water quality to interrogate the nature and implications of citizen involvement in producing scientifically and societally relevant data. Data representing scientific outcomes are presented alongside a series of vignettes that offer context regarding how, why, and where citizens engaged with the project. From these vignettes, six specific lessons are examined towards understanding how integration of citizen participation alters data outcomes relative to 'professional' science. In particular, elements of participant social identity (e.g., their motivation for participation), and contextual knowledge (e.g., of the research program itself) can shape participation and resulting data outcomes. Such scientific outcomes are particularly relevant given continued concerns regarding the quality of citizen data, which could hinder scientific acceptance of citizen sciences. Importantly, the potential for meaningful engagement with citizen and participants within citizen groups - given significant capacity within the community - represents a substantial and under-realized opportunity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Information dissemination and training: two key issues for consolidating and strengthening the results of health telematic projects.

    PubMed

    Arcarese, T; Boi, S; Gagliardi, R

    2000-01-01

    The concepts expressed in this paper concerns the activities to be developed within HEALTHLINE, a European project under the Telematics Application programme. HEALTHLINE is an umbrella project which takes initiatives and provides links to other international projects on health telematics. The projects involved are NIVEMES and RISE; they represent the starting point from which a common approach will be developed. The experience gained from these projects has highlighted two emerging requirements: information dissemination and training. To fulfil the needs of information, an Internet corner will be set up; it will allow citizens and health professionals to find and exchange information as well as to discuss themes concerning health care. Due to the most advanced technologies recently introduced, the Health care sector has had to modify its traditional ways of working to aid professionals in exploiting new training techniques and Health Care provision methods. HEALTHLINE will focus on training and on the development of the use of new tools and services. Furthermore, the project will exploit the training methodologies based on multimedia technology for developing training-on-the-job modules. The entire system, in its final stage, will consist of a network for co-operating training and information dissemination; European sites in the project will share information, training material and provide education and information on tele-health, medical and health-care issues to health care providers, beneficiaries and the general public.

  12. Changes in Participants’ Scientific Attitudes and Epistemological Beliefs During an Astronomical Citizen Science Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Price, Aaron

    2012-01-01

    Citizen science projects offer opportunities for non-scientists to take part in scientific research. While their contribution to scientific data collection has been well documented, there is limited research on changes that may occur to their volunteer participants. In this study, we investigated (1) how volunteers’ attitudes towards science and beliefs in the nature of science changed over six months of participation in an astronomy-themed citizen science project and (2) how the level of project participation accounted for these changes. To measure attitudes towards science and beliefs about the nature of science, identical pre- and post-tests were used. We used pre-test data from 1,375 participants and post-test data collected from 175 participants. Responses were analyzed using the Rasch Rating Scale Model. The pre-test sample was used to create the Rasch scales for the two scientific literacy measures. For the pre/post-test comparisons, data from those who completed both tests were used. Fourteen participants who took the pre/post-tests were interviewed. Results show that overall scientific attitudes did not change, p = .812. However, we did find significant changes related towards two scientific attitude items about science in the news (positive change; p < .001, p < .05) and one related to scientific self-efficacy (negative change, p < .05). These changes were related to the participants’ social activity in the project. Beliefs in the nature of science significantly increased between the pre- and post-tests, p = .014. Relative positioning of individual items on the belief scale did not change much and this change was not related to any of our recorded project activity variables. The interviews suggest that the social aspect of the project is important to participants and the change in self-efficacy is not due to a lowering of esteem but rather a greater appreciation for what they have yet to learn.

  13. CosmoAcademy Training and Certification for Scientists and Engineers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Noel-Storr, Jacob; Buxner, Sanlyn; Grier, Jennifer A.; Gay, Pamela L.; CosmoQuest Team

    2016-10-01

    CosmoQuest is a virtual research facility bringing together scientists, citizens, and learners of all ages. CosmoQuest offers classes, training, and learning opportunities online through CosmoAcademy, offering opportunities for all kinds of learners to become more connected to the science of the Universe. In this poster we describe CosmoAcademy opportunities for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), scientists and engineers who are interested in broadening their impact of their work by providing learning opportunities for those outside of the scientific community. CosmoAcademy offers SME programs at a variety of levels and across a variety of topics in formal and informal education and outreach -- ranging from sharing the results of your work on social media, through delivering an online class series, to partnering with teachers and schools. SMEs may combine sequences of training to earn certification at various levels for their participation in the CosmoAcademy programs. SMEs who have been trained may also apply to teach CosmoAcademy classes for the community on subjects of their expertise to build a rich and engaging learning resource for members of society who wish to understand more about the Universe.

  14. Involvement of citizens in hazardous waste management and use of recycling centres in the city of Madrid (Spain).

    PubMed

    Díaz, María José; Martínez, Elvira; Piñeiro, Concepción; Palavecinos, Mireya; Benayas, Javier; Toribio, M Angeles

    2012-07-01

    In Spain, hazardous household waste management by citizens occurs via fixed recycling centres (FRC) and mobile recycling centres (MRC) which usually depend on local governments. This paper addresses a request by the Madrid City Council, in an attempt to improve the service it provides to the city of Madrid. The aim of the study involved analysing the information people possess in relation to hazardous waste and to the use of available equipment, and conducting a post-evaluation of the effectiveness of an environmental communication campaign conducted by the Madrid City Council and aimed at providing awareness of the existence of new FRCs and MRCs. To this end, a questionnaire was conducted with 5644 inhabitants of the city of Madrid. Qualitative data was categorized using content analysis followed by chi-squared tests, considering some socio-demographic characteristics of the sample, such as age or place of residence (district). Communication campaigns influenced citizen awareness of what constituted hazardous waste, of how to properly separate waste and of the existence of FRCs and MRCs. However, few citizens actually used FRCs or MRC (18% across four districts), a fact that might be related to a lack of knowledge of downstream waste treatment issues, or to self-limiting hindrances to householders, such as distance to recycling centres. It is recommended that future communication campaigns investigate householder needs and pre-conceptions in relation to recycling, as well as tailored education aimed at addressing the barriers, perceived or otherwise, facing citizens.

  15. The Challenges of Digital Literacy in the Context of the Spanish Government Educational Policies: The Statement of the Question

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Díaz, Carmen Guillén; Quílez, Mariá Teresa Blasco

    The "(r)evolution" of the literacy concept and our duty as Languages' Teachers' Trainers at the Faculty of Education and Social Work in Valladolid's University (Spain), guides this research in progress. Our research develops in the framework of the Spanish Higher Education System, within the development of the eight key competences established by the European Council, for the Education and Training of the European citizens for lifelong learning in the knowledge society. We focus on the competences 1, 2 and 4: Communication in the mother tongue, Communication in foreign languages and Digital competence, both as essential competences in the professional language's teacher's profile and as a challenge in the Teacher's Education and Training in the Spanish government policies context.

  16. Lean for Government: Eliminating the Seven Wastes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shepherd, Christena C.

    2012-01-01

    With shrinking budgets and a slow economy, it is becoming increasingly important for all government agencies to become more efficient. Citizens expect and deserve efficient and effective services from federal, state and local government agencies. One of the best methods to improve efficiency and eliminate waste is to institute the business process improvement methodologies known collectively as Lean; however, with reduced budgets, it may not be possible to train everyone in Lean or to engage the services of a trained consultant. It is possible, however, to raise awareness of the "Seven Wastes" of Lean in each employee, and encourage them to identify areas for improvement. Management commitment is vital to the success of these initiatives, and it is also important to develop the right metrics that will track the success of these changes.

  17. Testing and Standards: A Brief Encyclopedia.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilde, Sandra

    This reference guide contains clear and concise explanations of concepts related to educational testing and standards. The book may be read straight through as a primer on educational assessment or may be used as a reference for particular topics. The sections are: (1) Accountability (Consumers, Taxpayers, and Citizens); (2) Authenticity in…

  18. 37 CFR 102.21 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence into the United... not limited to, test calculations of retirement benefits, explanations of health and life insurance...

  19. 37 CFR 102.21 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence into the United... not limited to, test calculations of retirement benefits, explanations of health and life insurance...

  20. 37 CFR 102.21 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence into the United... not limited to, test calculations of retirement benefits, explanations of health and life insurance...

  1. 37 CFR 102.21 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence into the United... not limited to, test calculations of retirement benefits, explanations of health and life insurance...

  2. 37 CFR 102.21 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence into the United... not limited to, test calculations of retirement benefits, explanations of health and life insurance...

  3. 16 CFR Figures 3 and 4 to Part 1204 - High Voltage Test Facility and Antenna System Test Setup

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false High Voltage Test Facility and Antenna System Test Setup 3 Figures 3 and 4 to Part 1204 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS SAFETY STANDARD FOR OMNIDIRECTIONAL CITIZENS BAND BASE STATION ANTENNAS Pt. 1204, Figs. 3, 4 Figures 3 and 4...

  4. Preparing for Emergency Situations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Asproth, Viveca; Amcoff Nyström, Christina

    2010-11-01

    Disaster relief can be seen as a dynamic multi actor process with actors both joining and leaving the relief work during the help and rescue phase after the disaster has occurred. Actors may be governmental agencies, non profit voluntary organisations or spontaneous helpers comprised of individual citizens or temporal groups of citizens. Hence, they will vary widely in agility, competence, resources, and endurance. To prepare for for disasters a net based Agora with simulation of emergency situations for mutual preparation, training, and organisational learning is suggested. Such an Agora will ensure future security by: -Rising awareness and preparedness of potential disaster responders by help of the components and resources in the netAgora environment; -Improving cooperation and coordination between responders; -Improving competence and performance of organisations involved in security issues; -Bridging cultural differences between responders from different organizations and different backgrounds. The developed models are intended to reflect intelligent anticipatory systems for human operator anticipation of future consequences. As a way to catch what should be included in this netbased Agora and to join the split pictures that is present, Team Syntegrity could be a helpful tool. The purpose of Team Syntegrity is to stimulate collaboration and incite cross fertilization and creativity. The difference between syntegration and other group work is that the participants are evenly and uniquely distributed and will collectively have the means, the knowledge, the experience, the perspectives, and the expertise, to deal with the topic. In this paper the possibilities with using Team Syntegrity in preparation for the development of a netbased Agora is discussed. We have identified that Team Syntegrity could be useful in the steps User Integration, Designing the netAgora environment, developing Test Scenarios, and assessment of netAgora environment.

  5. Crisis Communication in the Area of Risk Management: The CriCoRM Project.

    PubMed

    Scarcella, Carmelo; Antonelli, Laura; Orizio, Grazia; Rossmann, Costanze; Ziegler, Lena; Meyer, Lisa; Garcia-Jimenez, Leonarda; Losada, Jose Carlos; Correia, Joao; Soares, Joana; Covolo, Loredana; Lirangi, Enrico; Gelatti, Umberto

    2013-09-02

    During the last H1N1 pandemic has emerged the importance of crisis communication as an essential part of health crisis management. The Project aims specifically to improve the understanding of crisis communication dynamics and effective tools and to allow public health institutions to communicate better with the public during health emergencies. THE PROJECT WILL PERFORM DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES: i) state of the art review; ii) identification of key stakeholders; iii) communicational analysis performed using data collected on stakeholder communication activities and their outcomes considering the lessons learnt from the analysis of the reasons for differing public reactions during pandemics; iv) improvement of the existing guidelines; v) development of Web 2.0 tools as web-platform and feed service and implementation of impact assessment algorithms; vi) organization of exercises and training on this issues. In the context of health security policies at an EU level, the project aims to find a common and innovative approach to health crisis communication that was displayed by differing reactions to the H1N1 pandemic policies. The focus on new social media tools aims to enhance the role of e-health, and the project aims to use these tools in the specific field of health institutions and citizens. The development of Web 2.0 tools for health crisis communication will allow an effective two-way exchange of information between public health institutions and citizens. An effective communication strategy will increase population compliance with public health recommendations. Significance for public healthThe specific aim of the project is to develop a European strategy approach on how to communicate with the population and with different stakeholders groups involved in the crisis management process, based on an analysis of the communication process during the H1N1 pandemic (content analysis of press releases, press coverage and forum discussions) and on interviews with key stakeholders in health crisis communication. The development of web 2.0 tools, providing rapid responses will allow real-time verification of awareness of social trends and citizens' response. Furthermore, the project would like to offer these resources to the EU Public Health Institutions and EU citizens to improve their interaction, and hence reinforce citizens' right to patient-centred health care. The project proposal has been designed in accordance with the general principles of ethics and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights with regard to human rights, values, freedom, solidarity, and better protection of European citizens.

  6. Foster family care review by judicial-citizen panels: an evaluation.

    PubMed

    Lindsey, E W; Wodarski, J S

    1986-01-01

    The findings of this study are mixed. In general, after one year of judicial-citizen review, there is no clear indication that this alternative to internal case review has led to more positive outcomes for children in foster care. This finding should be heartening to public child welfare agency personnel whose motivation for accountability has been called into question by proponents of external foster care review. At least when compared with a new citizen review system, the already existing internal review system measured up quite well. Although the study did not indicate a clear pattern of more positive outcomes for the study group, there is evidence of some favorable characteristics of CRPs that may show promise for the future. With additional training in developing behaviorally measurable and time-limited parental objectives, citizen panels may be able to maintain some of their initial strength in this area. Increased involvement of juvenile court judges in cases where little or no progress is made could motivate some parents to meet specified objectives and speed up the process of terminating parental rights when no progress has been demonstrated within specified time periods. The data also indicate a need for some adjustment to the process used to involve parents in case reviews. Another potentially positive outcome was highlighted during interviews with the juvenile court judges and the DFCS staff in the three study counties. Many of these respondents believed that the process had the potential for moving children out of foster care more quickly than does the internal review process. In addition to this primary goal, however, respondents were excited about the potential for heightened community awareness and education as citizens come to understand more about the plight of foster children and family conditions that can lead to placement. Interviews with panel members themselves indicated a definite belief that the community needed to accept more responsibility for children in foster care. One panel member's comment reflects the general sentiment expressed by other respondents: "These are kids we used to call 'those kids,' but now they are 'our kids'." It is hoped that the judicial-citizen review process will help to create a community environment in which needed resources can be developed both to prevent placement and to provide more support for families and children when placement occurs. This is the sentiment of the three juvenile court judges and almost all DFCS staff members who were interviewed, when they asserted that they felt the CRP process should be continued and expanded statewide.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

  7. "Know Your Well" A Groundwater Quality Project to Inform Students and Well-Owners

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Olson, C.; Snow, D.; Samal, A.; Ray, C.; Kreifels, M.

    2017-12-01

    Over 15 million U.S. households rely on private, household wells for drinking water, and these sources are not protected under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Data on private well water quality is slowly being collected and evaluated from a number of different agencies, sources and projects. A new project is designed both for training high school students and to help assess the quality of water from rural domestic wells in Nebraska. This "crowd sourced" program engaging high school agricultural education programs, FFA chapters, and science classes with students sampling and testing water sampling from rural domestic wells from 12 districts across the state. Students and teachers from selected school were trained through multiple school visits, both in the classroom and in the field. Classroom visits were used to introduce topics such as water quality and groundwater, and testing methods for specific analytes. During the field visit, students were exposed to field techniques, the importance of accuracy in data collection, and what factors might influence the water in sampled wells. High school students learn to sample and test water independently. Leadership and initiative is developed through the program, and many experience the enlightenment that comes with citizen science. A customized mobile app was developed for ease of data entry and visualization, and data uploaded to a secure website where information was stored and compared to laboratory tests of the same measurements. General water quality parameters, including pH, electrical conductivity, major anions are tested in the field and laboratory, as well as environmental contaminants such as arsenic, uranium, pesticides, bacteria. Test kits provided to each class were used by the students to measure selected parameters, and then duplicate water samples were analyzed at a university laboratory. Five high schools are involved in the project during its first year. Nitrate, bacteria and pesticides represent major concerns for private well owners across the U.S. and preliminary results indicate that nitrate concentrations can range up to 70 mg/L, while detections of bacteria and traces of pesticide residues are consistent with other studies. This project will help both high school students and private well owner become better-informed about water quality in Nebraska.

  8. Visualization and characterization of users in a citizen science project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morais, Alessandra M. M.; Raddick, Jordan; Coelho dos Santos, Rafael D.

    2013-05-01

    Recent technological advances allowed the creation and use of internet-based systems where many users can collaborate gathering and sharing information for specific or general purposes: social networks, e-commerce review systems, collaborative knowledge systems, etc. Since most of the data collected in these systems is user-generated, understanding of the motivations and general behavior of users is a very important issue. Of particular interest are citizen science projects, where users without scientific training are asked for collaboration labeling and classifying information (either automatically by giving away idle computer time or manually by actually seeing data and providing information about it). Understanding behavior of users of those types of data collection systems may help increase the involvement of the users, categorize users accordingly to different parameters, facilitate their collaboration with the systems, design better user interfaces, and allow better planning and deployment of similar projects and systems. Behavior of those users could be estimated through analysis of their collaboration track: registers of which user did what and when can be easily and unobtrusively collected in several different ways, the simplest being a log of activities. In this paper we present some results on the visualization and characterization of almost 150.000 users with more than 80.000.000 collaborations with a citizen science project - Galaxy Zoo I, which asked users to classify galaxies' images. Basic visualization techniques are not applicable due to the number of users, so techniques to characterize users' behavior based on feature extraction and clustering are used.

  9. Health Related Quality of Life in Iranian Elderly Citizens: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Farajzadeh, Mohammad; Ghanei Gheshlagh, Reza; Sayehmiri, Kourosh

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Background: The ever-growing elderly population of Iran and their physical and mental consequences put emphasis on the necessity of determining the quality of life (QoL) in this social group. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the mean score of QoL in Iranian elderly citizens. Methods: Twenty-one articles that were indexed in Iranian (MagIran and Iran Medex) and international (Scientific Information Database, Google Scholars, Science Direct, PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus) databases were selected. The articles have used the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) to measure QoL in Iranian elderly. The collected data were analyzed using a random effects model, while heterogeneity of the studies was measured by I2 index. The data analysis was performed by STATA. Results: The sample size of the 21 articles was 5318 and the mean score of QoL in the healthy and sick elderly citizens was 53.8 (CI 95%: 49.4-58.2) and 50.6 (CI 95%: 38.4-62.9) respectively. In addition, there was no significant relationship between the score of QoL and the year of publication of the articles. (P=0.748) Conclusion: Given that QoL of the studied elderly was almost at an average level, there is a need to codify and implement comprehensive programs through effective training programs toward improving QoL of the elderly. PMID:28409164

  10. Maria Auxiliadora Hospital in Lima, Peru as a model for neurosurgical outreach to international charity hospitals.

    PubMed

    Hayden, Melanie G; Hughes, Samuel; Hahn, Edward J; Aryan, Henry E; Levy, Michael L; Jandial, Rahul

    2011-01-01

    A myriad of geopolitical and financial obstacles have kept modern neurosurgery from effectively reaching the citizens of the developing world. Targeted neurosurgical outreach by academic neurosurgeons to equip neurosurgical operating theaters and train local neurosurgeons is one method to efficiently and cost effectively improve sustainable care provided by international charity hospitals. The International Neurosurgical Children's Association (INCA) effectively improved the available neurosurgical care in the Maria Auxiliadora Hospital of Lima, Peru through the advancement of local specialist education and training. Neurosurgical equipment and training were provided for the local neurosurgeons by a mission team from the University of California at San Diego. At the end of 3 years, with one intensive week trip per year, the host neurosurgeons were proficiently and independently applying microsurgical techniques to previously performed operations, and performing newly learned operations such as neuroendoscopy and minimally invasive neurosurgery. Our experiences may serve as a successful template for the execution of other small scale, sustainable neurosurgery missions worldwide.

  11. Maintaining work capacity in the aged worker via progressive resistance training: the implications for occupational therapy practitioners.

    PubMed

    Branch, N G

    1998-01-01

    Society has an interest in maintaining the work capacity of its aging workers. Fewer and fewer younger workers are entering the workforce to replace older citizens no longer able to perform the worker role. There is a demonstrated relationship between increased strength and work capacity, yet the occupational therapy literature emphasizes generalized exercise programming. This type of programming is ineffective at building strength in the elderly worker. High intensity progressive resistance exercise (PRE) can increase strength in the very old worker, yet therapists are hesitant to employ PRE, perhaps due to a potential bias against the use of high intensity PRE with this cohort. Use of PRE may present some difficulties in the clinical situation where continual supervision and resistance training equipment is not available. The adaptive use of functional activities as a resistance training strategy to build strength may be able to overcome the difficulties attendant with the use of PRE while preserving its benefits. Several other implications for occupational therapy practitioners are discussed.

  12. Citizen Science for public health.

    PubMed

    Den Broeder, Lea; Devilee, Jeroen; Van Oers, Hans; Schuit, A Jantine; Wagemakers, Annemarie

    2018-06-01

    Community engagement in public health policy is easier said than done. One reason is that public health policy is produced in a complex process resulting in policies that may appear not to link up to citizen perspectives. We therefore address the central question as to whether citizen engagement in knowledge production could enable inclusive health policy making. Building on non-health work fields, we describe different types of citizen engagement in scientific research, or 'Citizen Science'. We describe the challenges that Citizen Science poses for public health, and how these could be addressed. Despite these challenges, we expect that Citizen Science or similar approaches such as participatory action research and 'popular epidemiology' may yield better knowledge, empowered communities, and improved community health. We provide a draft framework to enable evaluation of Citizen Science in practice, consisting of a descriptive typology of different kinds of Citizen Science and a causal framework that shows how Citizen Science in public health might benefit both the knowledge produced as well as the 'Citizen Scientists' as active participants.

  13. Catchment-scale stormwater management via economic incentives – An overview and lessons-learned

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Schuster, W.; Garmestani, A.S.; Green, O.O.; Rhea, l.K.; Roy, Allison; Thurston, H.W.; Myers, Baden Robert; Beecham, Simon; Lucke, Terry; Boogaard, Floris

    2013-01-01

    Long-term field studies of the effectiveness and sustainability of decentralized stormwater management are rare. From 2005-2011, we tested an incentive-based approach to citizen participation in stormwater management in the Shepherd Creek catchment, located in Cincinnati, OH, USA. Hydrologic, biological, and water quality data were characterized in a baseline monitoring effort 2005- 2007. Reverse auctions held successively in 2007 and 2008 engaged citizens to voluntarily bid on stormwater control measures (SCMs); and successful bids led to implementation of SCMs, which led to an enhancement of catchment detention capacity. We tested for attributes of sustainability (coconsideration of social, economic, and environmental (hydrologic, soils, aquatic biology) aspects), and summarize lessons-learned. Our results and outcomes provide a basis for planning future field studies that more fully determine the effectiveness of stormwater management in terms of sustainability.

  14. Citizen(s') Science. A Response to "The Future of Citizen Science"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Calabrese Barton, Angela M.

    2012-01-01

    Citizen science is fundamentally about participation within and for communities. Attempts to merge citizen science with schooling must call not only for a democratization of schooling and science but also for the democratization of the ways in which science is taken up by, with, and for citizen participants. Using this stance, along with critical…

  15. Update on the Citizen CATE Experiment: Indonesia to 2017

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McKay, Myles; Penn, Matt; Baer, Robert; Bosh, Robert; Garrison, David; Gelderman, Richard; Hare, Honor; Isberner, Fred; Jensen, Logan; Kovac, Sarah; Mitchell, Adriana; Pierce, Michael; Thompson, Patricia; Ursache, Andrei; Varsik, John R.; Walter, Donald K.; Watson, Zachary; Young, David T.; Citizen CATE Team

    2017-01-01

    The Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) Experiment is a team of students, citizen scientists and professional astronomers who will operate 60 identical telescopes distributed across the country in the path of totality from Oregon to South Carolina during the 21 August 2017 solar eclipse. The project goal is to produce a 90-minute time sequence of calibrated white light images of the solar corona. This unprecedented, continuous, temporal coverage during totality will allow us to address questions related to the dynamics in the inner 2.5 Rsun of the corona.Field testing of the equipment began with one setup located on the Faroe Islands during the March 2015 total solar eclipse. Here we report on the more recent March 2016 eclipse where five CATE teams were sent to Indonesia. This group included university undergraduate students, their faculty mentors and other professional scientists. CATE completed a successful field testing of multiple sites near the equator that were distributed over 20 degrees in longitude. We conclude our discussion with how the experience gained over the past two years is being put to use as we prepare for the full implementation of the CATE Network in August 2017.This work was supported in part by funding from NASA SMD grant NNX16AB92A and the NSF REU program through AST-1460743.

  16. Gradual escalation of use-of-force reduces police officer injury.

    PubMed

    Jetelina, Katelyn K; Reingle Gonzalez, Jennifer M; Bishopp, Stephen A

    2018-02-01

    To examine how escalation through the force continuum predicts officer injury in the presence of citizen aggression, while controlling for extraneous factors, like citizen and officer characteristics. Cross-sectional data were extracted from 2244 use-of-force reports from the Dallas Police Department in 2015. Multilevel, mixed logistic regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between use of force and officer injury. Multilevel path analysis tested indirect and direct relationships between citizen aggression and officer injury. Results suggest that gradual escalation through the force continuum significantly decreases officer injury when a citizen is actively aggressive (β=-1.06, p value <0.001). Further, non-Hispanic black officers (β=-0.22, p value <0.001) and Hispanic officers (β=-0.08, p value <0.05) are less likely to gradually escalate through the force continuum, due to lower odds of verbal commands (black: OR=0.51, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.68; Hispanic: OR=0.77, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.99) and hard-empty hand control (black: OR=0.58, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.77) compared with white officers. Finally, officers with higher tenure (β=-0.01, p value <0.001) are less likely to gradually escalate through the force continuum. Escalation through the force continuum significantly reduces police officer injury. Future research should assess whether further environmental or situational factors contribute to the strong relationship between use of force and officer injury. Also, reliability and validity testing of use-of-force reports is an imperative direction for future research. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  17. GEODE (Geo-Data Explorer) - A U.S. Geological Survey Application for Data Retrieval, Display, and Analysis through the Internet

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Levine, Marc; Schultz, Adam

    2001-01-01

    GEODE (Geo-Data Explorer) is a free service offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on the Internet at http://geode.usgs.gov (fig. 1). It provides digital geographically referenced data to the desktop computers of any user, including policymakers, land and resource managers, educators, industries, and private citizens. The ultimate goal of GEODE is to provide diverse users a gateway (data portal) that will supply real-time data and analysis over the Internet without the need for special hardware, software, and training.

  18. North Dakota Energy Workforce Development

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Carter, Drake

    2014-12-29

    Bismarck State College, along with its partners (Williston State College, Minot State University and Dickinson State University), received funding to help address the labor and social impacts of rapid oilfield development in the Williston Basin of western North Dakota. Funding was used to develop and support both credit and non-credit workforce training as well as four major symposia designed to inform and educate the public; enhance communication and sense of partnership among citizens, local community leaders and industry; and identify and plan to ameliorate negative impacts of oil field development.

  19. Partners in policymaking: the first five years.

    PubMed

    Zirpoli, T J; Wieck, C; Hancox, D; Skarnulis, E R

    1994-12-01

    Many individuals with disabilities and their families are becoming empowered by learning effective self-advocacy strategies. In this article one enpowerment and self-advocacy training program, Partners in Policymaking, for parents of young children and adults with disabilities was described. Initially developed in Minnesota, the Partners program has completed its fifth year, has 163 graduates, and is being replicated in several other states. Follow-up data, qualitative and quantitative, were collected from program graduates. Results indicated both satisfaction with the program and the presence of many active citizen-advocates in the community.

  20. Training vs. Education at the Army War College: The Benefits of a Return to the Past

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-05-22

    strengthen the American economy, and later to recover from the Great Depression . Government officials and citizens also desired to avoid another war, and...of the Depression in 1929, the U.S. government concentrated on economic recovery, leading to an even greater increase in the fiscal restraints...Conference- Dr. Andrew Bacevich,” YouTube video, 8:35, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =X6K6aagV9KU&list=PLBA15ADDE22B06CFB (accessed January 23, 2014

  1. Contributions of paraecologists and parataxonomists to research, conservation, and social development.

    PubMed

    Schmiedel, Ute; Araya, Yoseph; Bortolotto, Maria Ieda; Boeckenhoff, Linda; Hallwachs, Winnie; Janzen, Daniel; Kolipaka, Shekhar S; Novotny, Vojtech; Palm, Matilda; Parfondry, Marc; Smanis, Athanasios; Toko, Pagi

    2016-06-01

    Citizen science has been gaining momentum in the United States and Europe, where citizens are literate and often interested in science. However, in developing countries, which have a dire need for environmental data, such programs are slow to emerge, despite the large and untapped human resources in close proximity to areas of high biodiversity and poorly known floras and faunas. Thus, we propose that the parataxonomist and paraecologist approach, which originates from citizen-based science, is well suited to rural areas in developing countries. Being a paraecologist or a parataxonomist is a vocation and entails full-time employment underpinned by extensive training, whereas citizen science involves the temporary engagement of volunteers. Both approaches have their merits depending on the context and objectives of the research. We examined 4 ongoing paraecologist or parataxonomist programs in Costa Rica, India, Papua New Guinea, and southern Africa and compared their origins, long-term objectives, implementation strategies, activities, key challenges, achievements, and implications for resident communities. The programs supported ongoing research on biodiversity assessment, monitoring, and management, and participants engaged in non-academic capacity development in these fields. The programs in Southern Africa related to specific projects, whereas the programs in Costa Rica, India, and Papua New Guinea were designed for the long term, provided sufficient funding was available. The main focus of the paraecologists' and parataxonomists' activities ranged from collection and processing of specimens (Costa Rica and Papua New Guinea) or of socioeconomic and natural science data (India and Southern Africa) to communication between scientists and residents (India and Southern Africa). As members of both the local land user and research communities, paraecologists and parataxonomists can greatly improve the flow of biodiversity information to all users, from local stakeholders to international academia. © 2016 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  2. The value of citizen science for ecological monitoring of mammals.

    PubMed

    Parsons, Arielle Waldstein; Goforth, Christine; Costello, Robert; Kays, Roland

    2018-01-01

    Citizen science approaches are of great interest for their potential to efficiently and sustainably monitor wildlife populations on both public and private lands. Here we present two studies that worked with volunteers to set camera traps for ecological surveys. The photographs recorded by these citizen scientists were archived and verified using the eMammal software platform, providing a professional grade, vouchered database of biodiversity records. Motivated by managers' concern with perceived high bear activity, our first example enlisted the help of homeowners in a short-term study to compare black bear activity inside a National Historic Site with surrounding private land. We found similar levels of bear activity inside and outside the NHS, and regional comparisons suggest the bear population is typical. Participants benefited from knowing their local bear population was normal and managers refocused bear management given this new information. Our second example is a continuous survey of wildlife using the grounds of a nature education center that actively manages habitat to maintain a grassland prairie. Center staff incorporated the camera traps into educational programs, involving visitors with camera setup and picture review. Over two years and 5,968 camera-nights this survey has collected 41,393 detections of 14 wildlife species. Detection rates and occupancy were higher in open habitats compared to forest, suggesting that the maintenance of prairie habitat is beneficial to some species. Over 500 volunteers of all ages participated in this project over two years. Some of the greatest benefits have been to high school students, exemplified by a student with autism who increased his communication and comfort level with others through field work with the cameras. These examples show how, with the right tools, training and survey design protocols, citizen science can be used to answer a variety of applied management questions while connecting participants with their secretive mammal neighbors.

  3. eHealth Literacy: In the Quest of the Contributing Factors.

    PubMed

    Xesfingi, Sofia; Vozikis, Athanassios

    2016-05-25

    Understanding the factors that influence eHealth in a country is particularly important for health policy decision makers and the health care market, as it provides critical information to develop targeted and tailored interventions for relevant patient-consumer segments, and further suggests appropriate strategies for training the health illiterate part of the population. The objective of the study is to assess the eHealth literacy level of Greek citizens, using the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS), and further explore the factors that shape it and are associated with it. This empirical study relies on a unique sample of 1064 citizens in Greece in the year 2013. The participants were requested to answer various questions about their ability to solve health-related issues using the Internet, and to provide information about their demographic characteristics and life-style habits. Ordered logit models were used to describe a certain citizen's likelihood of being eHealth literate. The demographic factors show that the probability of an individual being eHealth literate decreases by 23% (P=.001) when the individual ages and increases by 53% (P<.001) when he or she acquires higher level of education. Among the life-style variables, physical exercise appears to be strongly and positively associated with the level of eHealth literacy (P=.001). Additionally, other types of technology literacies, such as computer literacy and information literacy, further enhance the eHealth performance of citizens and have the greatest impact among all factors. The factors influencing eHealth literacy are complex and interdependent. However, the Internet is a disruptive factor in the relationship between health provider and health consumer. Further research is needed to examine how several factors associate with eHealth literacy, since, the latter is not only related to health care outcomes but also can be a tool for disseminating social inequalities.

  4. The value of citizen science for ecological monitoring of mammals

    PubMed Central

    Goforth, Christine; Costello, Robert; Kays, Roland

    2018-01-01

    Citizen science approaches are of great interest for their potential to efficiently and sustainably monitor wildlife populations on both public and private lands. Here we present two studies that worked with volunteers to set camera traps for ecological surveys. The photographs recorded by these citizen scientists were archived and verified using the eMammal software platform, providing a professional grade, vouchered database of biodiversity records. Motivated by managers’ concern with perceived high bear activity, our first example enlisted the help of homeowners in a short-term study to compare black bear activity inside a National Historic Site with surrounding private land. We found similar levels of bear activity inside and outside the NHS, and regional comparisons suggest the bear population is typical. Participants benefited from knowing their local bear population was normal and managers refocused bear management given this new information. Our second example is a continuous survey of wildlife using the grounds of a nature education center that actively manages habitat to maintain a grassland prairie. Center staff incorporated the camera traps into educational programs, involving visitors with camera setup and picture review. Over two years and 5,968 camera-nights this survey has collected 41,393 detections of 14 wildlife species. Detection rates and occupancy were higher in open habitats compared to forest, suggesting that the maintenance of prairie habitat is beneficial to some species. Over 500 volunteers of all ages participated in this project over two years. Some of the greatest benefits have been to high school students, exemplified by a student with autism who increased his communication and comfort level with others through field work with the cameras. These examples show how, with the right tools, training and survey design protocols, citizen science can be used to answer a variety of applied management questions while connecting participants with their secretive mammal neighbors. PMID:29610706

  5. How Cool was the Eclipse? Atmospheric Measurements and Citizen Science via NASA's GLOBE Observer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weaver, K. L. K.; Riebeek Kohl, H.

    2017-12-01

    The solar eclipse of 2017 presented an extraordinary opportunity to engage the public in shared science activity across the entire United States. While a natural focus of the eclipse was on astronomy and heliophysics, there was also an opening for excellent connections to Earth science. Because of the excitement of the event, many people gathered for long periods before and after totality, a perfect opportunity for observations and data collection to explore the impact of the eclipse on the atmosphere. The data was collected via NASA's GLOBE Observer app, a subset of the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment Program, a citizen science project which has been active for more than 20 years training teachers to collect many different types of environmental science data with their students. GLOBE Observer expands that audience to citizen scientists who might not be connected to a school, but are still interested in collecting data. In addition to the clouds observations that are normally part of GLOBE Observer, a special temporary protocol was added for the eclipse to include air temperature. Both types of measurements were collected at regular intervals for several hours before and after the point of maximum eclipse. By crowdsourcing data from all across the United States, on and off the path of totality, the hope was to be able to see patterns that wouldn't be apparent with fewer data points. In particular, there are few sources of detailed cloud data from the ground, including cloud type as well as overall cloud cover, especially as collected during a unique natural experiment such as an eclipse. This presentation will report preliminary results of the GLOBE Observer eclipse citizen science project, including participation totals and impact, data site distribution, as well as early analyses of both temperature and cloud data.

  6. Harnessing Technology and Citizen Science to Support Neighborhoods that Promote Active Living in Mexico.

    PubMed

    Rosas, Lisa G; Salvo, Deborah; Winter, Sandra J; Cortes, David; Rivera, Juan; Rodriguez, Nicole M; King, Abby C

    2016-12-01

    Middle- and low-income countries bear 80 % of the global chronic disease burden. Population-level, multi-sectoral approaches to promoting healthful lifestyles that take into local physical, socioeconomic, and sociocultural characteristics of both the environment and the population are needed. The "Nuestra Voz (Our Voice)" is one such approach that involves neighborhood residents acting as "citizen scientists" to systematically gather information on the barriers and facilitators of physical activity in their neighborhoods and then use their data to collectively advocate for local environmental- and policy-level changes to support active living. We pilot tested this approach in Cuernavaca, Mexico with adults and adolescents. This community-engaged and participatory approach is driven by residents, who utilize a GPS-enabled electronic tablet-based application with simple audio-based instructions to take photographs and record audio narratives of facets of their neighborhood that promote or hinder active living. After collecting these data, the citizen scientists come together in a community meeting and use their data to prioritize realistic, multi-level changes for promoting active living in their neighborhoods. A survey assessed participants' acceptability of the approach. Participating citizen scientists included 32 adults and 9 adolescents. The citizen scientists rated the acceptability of five of the nine acceptability survey items with an average of 4.0 or higher out of 5.0, indicating they thought it was "fun," were comfortable carrying the tablet, were likely to use it again, and would recommend it to friends and family. Items with average scores of less than 4 were all related to safety concerns. The most common barriers reported by citizen scientists using the tablet were poor sidewalk quality, presence of trash, negative characteristics of the streets, unpleasant aesthetics (e.g., graffiti), and presence of parks and recreational facilities. The Our Voice citizen scientist approach using the Discovery Tool has high potential for assisting communities in diverse settings to begin to identify both local barriers to active living as well as potentially useful strategies for promoting physical activity in culturally congruent ways that are appropriate and feasible in the local context.

  7. Minimum Competency Testing: Guidelines for Policymakers and Citizens.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gray, Dennis

    Intended to help the laity find their way through the confusion and controversy surrounding minimum competency testing (MCT), this paper explains what MCT is, acknowledges its limitations, weighs the criticisms, and shows how MCT may be used constructively for the benefit of students and for the improvement of schools. Highlights from the paper…

  8. The Tragedy of the Unexamined Cat: Why K-12 and University Education Are Still in the Dark Ages and How Citizen Science Allows for a Renaissance.

    PubMed

    Dunn, Robert R; Urban, Julie; Cavelier, Darlene; Cooper, Caren B

    2016-03-01

    At the end of the dark ages, anatomy was taught as though everything that could be known was known. Scholars learned about what had been discovered rather than how to make discoveries. This was true even though the body (and the rest of biology) was very poorly understood. The renaissance eventually brought a revolution in how scholars (and graduate students) were trained and worked. This revolution never occurred in K-12 or university education such that we now teach young students in much the way that scholars were taught in the dark ages, we teach them what is already known rather than the process of knowing. Citizen science offers a way to change K-12 and university education and, in doing so, complete the renaissance. Here we offer an example of such an approach and call for change in the way students are taught science, change that is more possible than it has ever been and is, nonetheless, five hundred years delayed.

  9. Going off the dole: a prudential and ethical critique of the healthfare state.

    PubMed

    Spicker, S F

    1993-06-01

    The present 'healthfare' state in the United States is neither practically nor morally justified. The nation currently fails to provide adequate access to health care for tens of millions of uninsured citizens. To suggest that the United States' half-million physicians should provide their care as charity is an inadequate solution. The transfer of assets from the 'haves' to the 'have-nots' through taxation in a 'healthfare state' undermines human compassion, and fails to respect minimal moral requirements. However, alternative strategies are possible. During the next 20 years health care could come to be financed on the basis of sound quasi-libertarian moral and prudential principles. In the interim deliberate political action is required to achieve novel health policy, available and affordable job and career training, and universal employment. It is possible to achieve universal access to adequate health care while sustaining individual choice, and at the same time to reduce or virtually eliminate taxpayer-subsidized health care. This approach would, in time, eliminate the healthfare state and eventually encourage and even require citizens to go off the healthfare dole.

  10. 78 FR 48706 - Expansion of Global Entry Eligibility to Certain Citizens of the Republic Of Korea, the Federal...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-08-09

    ... Germany, the State of Qatar, and the United Kingdom AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Department... citizens of the State of Qatar; and a limited number of citizens of the United Kingdom who frequently... citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany, all citizens of the State of Qatar and all citizens of the...

  11. Low-cost Citizen Science Balloon Platform for Measuring Air Pollutants to Improve Satellite Retrieval Algorithms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Potosnak, M. J.; Beck-Winchatz, B.; Ritter, P.

    2016-12-01

    High-altitude balloons (HABs) are an engaging platform for citizen science and formal and informal STEM education. However, the logistics of launching, chasing and recovering a payload on a 1200 g or 1500 g balloon can be daunting for many novice school groups and citizen scientists, and the cost can be prohibitive. In addition, there are many interesting scientific applications that do not require reaching the stratosphere, including measuring atmospheric pollutants in the planetary boundary layer. With a large number of citizen scientist flights, these data can be used to constrain satellite retrieval algorithms. In this poster presentation, we discuss a novel approach based on small (30 g) balloons that are cheap and easy to handle, and low-cost tracking devices (SPOT trackers for hikers) that do not require a radio license. Our scientific goal is to measure air quality in the lower troposphere. For example, particulate matter (PM) is an air pollutant that varies on small spatial scales and has sources in rural areas like biomass burning and farming practices such as tilling. Our HAB platform test flight incorporates an optical PM sensor, an integrated single board computer that records the PM sensor signal in addition to flight parameters (pressure, location and altitude), and a low-cost tracking system. Our goal is for the entire platform to cost less than $500. While the datasets generated by these flights are typically small, integrating a network of flight data from citizen scientists into a form usable for comparison to satellite data will require big data techniques.

  12. Does social insurance enrollment improve citizen assessment of local government performance? Evidence from China.

    PubMed

    Huang, Xian; Gao, Qin

    2018-02-01

    Although many studies claim that social policies are "carrots" that authoritarian leaders use to garner public support, the assumption that social benefits can boost public support of government has been rarely tested empirically, especially at the local levels. This article investigates the effects of social insurance enrollment on citizens' assessment of local government performance using data from the 2010 China Family Panel Study. We use propensity score matching to reduce selection bias and ordered probit regressions with fixed effects to examine these possible effects. We find that social insurance enrollment had a significant positive effect on rural citizens' assessment of government performance, but this effect did not exist for their urban and migrant peers. This discrepancy could be largely due to the groups' different expectations for government redistribution and their distinct experiences of China's social welfare reform. We conclude that the Chinese authoritarian government has achieved partial success in its attempt to use social policies to maintain popular support. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  13. Technology assessment and citizen action

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mottur, E. R.

    1975-01-01

    Citizen participation in the nation's total social, political, economic decisionmaking processes was studied. Impediments are discussed which prevent citizens from taking effective assessment action; these include finance, organization and motivation, and information. The proposal for establishing citizens assessment associations is considered along with implications of citizen assessment action.

  14. Using Sentiment Analysis to Observe How Science is Communicated

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Topping, David; Illingworth, Sam

    2016-04-01

    'Citizen Science' and 'Big data' are terms that are currently ubiquitous in the field of science communication. Whilst opinions differ as to what exactly constitutes a 'citizen', and how much information is needed in order for a data set to be considered truly 'big', what is apparent is that both of these fields have the potential to help revolutionise not just the way that science is communicated, but also the way that it is conducted. However, both the generation of sufficient data, and the efficiency of then analysing the data once it has been analysed need to be taken into account. Sentiment Analysis is the process of determining whether a piece of writing is positive, negative or neutral. The process of sentiment analysis can be automated, providing that an adequate training set has been used, and that the nuances that are associated with a particular topic have been accounted for. Given the large amounts of data that are generated by social media posts, and the often-opinionated nature of these posts, they present an ideal source of data to both train with and then scrutinize using sentiment analysis. In this work we will demonstrate how sentiment analysis can be used to examine a large number of Twitter posts, and how a training set can be established to ensure consistency and accuracy in the automation. Following an explanation of the process, we will demonstrate how automated sentiment analysis can be used to categorise opinions in relation to a large-scale science festival, and will discuss if sentiment analysis can be used to tell us if there is a bias in these communications. We will also investigate if sentiment analysis can be used to replace more traditional, and invasive evaluation strategies, and how this approach can then be adopted to investigate other topics, both within scientific communication and in the wider scientific context.

  15. Relying on experts as we reason together.

    PubMed

    Richardson, Henry S

    2012-06-01

    In various contexts, it is thought to be important that we reason together. For instance, an attractive conception of democracy requires that citizens reach lawmaking decisions by reasoning with one another. Reasoning requires that reasoners survey the considerations that they take to be reasons, proceed by a coherent train of thought, and reach conclusions freely. De facto reliance on experts threatens the possibility of collective reasoning by making some reasons collectively unsurveyable, raising questions about the coherence of the resulting train of thought. De jure reliance on experts threatens the possibility of collective reasoning by seeming to make some conclusions irreversible. The paper argues that collective reasoning that relies on experts would nonetheless be possible if the unsurveyable reasons "mesh," if the expert considerations are at least in principle publicly recoverable, and if de jure authority of expert decision is always subject to appeal.

  16. STS 51-L crewmembers briefed during training session

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1986-01-08

    S86-25186 (December 1985) --- Five members of the prime crew for NASA?s STS-51L mission and a backup crew member are briefed during a training session in the Johnson Space Center?s (JSC) Shuttle Mock-up and Integration Laboratory. From left to right are astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka, mission specialist; Ronald E. McNair, mission specialist; Gregory D. Jarvis, Hughes payload specialist; Judith A. Resnik, mission specialist; Sharon Christa McAuliffe, citizen observer/payload specialist representing the Teacher-in-Space Project; and Barbara R. Morgan, backup payload specialist. The photograph was taken by Keith Meyers of the New York Times. EDITOR?S NOTE: The STS-51L crew members lost their lives in the space shuttle Challenger accident moments after launch on Jan. 28, 1986 from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Photo credit: NASA

  17. Environmental protection belongs to the public: A vision for citizen science at EPA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Parker, A.; Dosemagen, S.

    2017-12-01

    As a collaborative and open approach to science, citizen science has the potential make science more actionable, applicable, and usable, especially when designed with scientists, communities and decision-makers as partners. In response to recent interest in citizen science from the US Environmental Protection Agency, the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology provided EPA with advice and recommendations on how to integrate citizen science into the core work of EPA. The Council's 28 members—representatives of academia; business and industry; nongovernmental organizations; and state, local and tribal governments—identifies citizen science as an invaluable opportunity for EPA to strengthen public support for EPA's mission and the best approach for the Agency to connect with the public on environmental protection. The report recommends that EPA embrace citizen science as a core tenet of environmental protection, invest in citizen science for communities, partners, and the Agency, enable the use of citizen science data at the Agency, integrate citizen science into the full range of work of EPA. This presentation will outline principles and strategy for integrating citizen science into science and policy at the national level, increasing the usability of citizen science data for decision-making and policy, and leveraging citizen science for environmental protection.

  18. Science experiences of citizen scientists in entomology research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lynch, Louise I.

    Citizen science is an increasingly popular collaboration between members of the public and the scientific community to pursue current research questions. In addition to providing researchers with much needed volunteer support, it is a unique and promising form of informal science education that can counter declining public science literacy, including attitudes towards and understanding of science. However, the impacts of citizen science programs on participants' science literacy remains elusive. The purpose of this study was to balance the top-down approach to citizen science research by exploring how adult citizen scientists participate in entomology research based on their perceptions and pioneer mixed methods research to investigate and explain the impacts of citizen science programs. Transference, in which citizen scientists transfer program impacts to people around them, was uncovered in a grounded theory study focused on adults in a collaborative bumble bee research program. Most of the citizen scientists involved in entomology research shared their science experiences and knowledge with people around them. In certain cases, expertise was attributed to the individual by others. Citizen scientists then have the opportunity to acquire the role of expert to those around them and influence knowledge, attitudinal and behavioral changes in others. An intervention explanatory sequential mixed methods design assessed how entomology-based contributory citizen science affects science self-efficacy, self-efficacy for environmental action, nature relatedness and attitude towards insects in adults. However, no statistically significant impacts were evident. A qualitative follow-up uncovered a discrepancy between statistically measured changes and perceived influences reported by citizen scientists. The results have important implications for understanding how citizen scientists learn, the role of citizen scientists in entomology research, the broader program impacts and the value of qualitative methodologies in citizen science research. Citizen science is championed for its ability to extend the geographic, temporal and spatial reach of a research team. It can also extend the educational reach through citizen scientists that have acquired the role of expert.

  19. The role of risk communication planning in the release of the oral rabies vaccine in New Jersey: An evaluation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pflugh, K.K.

    1995-12-01

    Communicating health risk information is a complicated task. Citizen reaction to such information is difficult to predict, which makes it hard to plan an appropriate response. Research indicates that the way citizens respond to risk information often depends on whether the risk is familiar or unfamiliar, whether it is seen as imposed on them, whether it is man made or natural, or whether they have control over the risk. Potentially controversial cases that deal with delivering risk information have a special need for a well planned communication effort. Natural resource issues with an impact on public health are no exception.more » In New Jersey, a proposal to release an experimental bioengineered oral rabies vaccine for raccoons to test the effectiveness of the vaccine in halting the spread of rabies into an as yet unaffected area met with widespread public support and approval due in large part to the use of a unique risk communication planning process. This paper will describe the risk communication planning process used to gain public support and approval for release of oral rabies raccoon vaccine while focusing on the evaluation component of the process. The seven step process includes setting goals, profiling the issue or information gathering, audience identification and assessment, message development, method selection, implementation of the strategy and evaluation and follow-up. The goal of the evaluation component was to determine the effectiveness of the public information campaign on citizen`s knowledge of the field trial nearly three years after the initial announcement. In addition, it sought to learn citizen interest in maintaining the rabies free barrier that was created by the field trial using funds from local taxes. This evaluation includes the results of a mailed survey to 280 citizens, local officials and professional organizations. Finally, this paper will discuss the implications for future outreach efforts dealing complicated technical issues.« less

  20. Do citizens have minimum medical knowledge? A survey

    PubMed Central

    Bachmann, Lucas M; Gutzwiller, Florian S; Puhan, Milo A; Steurer, Johann; Steurer-Stey, Claudia; Gigerenzer, Gerd

    2007-01-01

    Background Experts defined a "minimum medical knowledge" (MMK) that people need for understanding typical signs and/or risk factors of four relevant clinical conditions: myocardial infarction, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and HIV/AIDS. We tested to what degree Swiss adult citizens satisfy this criterion for MMK and whether people with medical experience have acquired better knowledge than those without. Methods Questionnaire interview in a Swiss urban area with 185 Swiss citizens (median age 29 years, interquartile range 23 to 49, 52% male). We obtained context information on age, gender, highest educational level, (para)medical background and specific health experience with one of the conditions in the social surrounding. We calculated the proportion of MMK and examined whether citizens with medical background (personal or professional) would perform better compared to other groups. Results No single citizen reached the full MMK (100%). The mean MMK was as low as 32% and the range was 0 -72%. Surprisingly, multivariable analysis showed that participants with a university degree (n = 84; β (95% CI) +3.7% MMK (0.4–7.1) p = 0.03), (para)medical background (n = 34; +6.2% MMK (2.0–10.4), p = 0.004) and personal illness experience (n = 96; +4.9% MMK (1.5–8.2), p = 0.004) had only a moderately higher MMK than those without, while age and sex had no effect on the level of MMK. Interaction between university degree and clinical experience (personal or professional) showed no effect suggesting that higher education lacks synergistic effect. Conclusion This sample of Swiss citizens did not know more than a third of the MMK. We found little difference within groups with medical experience (personal or professional), suggesting that there is a consistent and dramatic lack of knowledge in the general public about the typical signs and risk factors of relevant clinical conditions. PMID:17540024

  1. Globalizing and crowdsourcing biomedical research.

    PubMed

    Afshinnekoo, Ebrahim; Ahsanuddin, Sofia; Mason, Christopher E

    2016-12-01

    Crowdfunding and crowdsourcing of medical research has emerged as a novel paradigm for many biomedical disciplines to rapidly collect, process and interpret data from high-throughput and high-dimensional experiments. The novelty and promise of these approaches have led to fundamental discoveries about RNA mechanisms, microbiome dynamics and even patient interpretation of test results. However, these methods require robust training protocols, uniform sampling methods and experimental rigor in order to be useful for subsequent research efforts. Executed correctly, crowdfunding and crowdsourcing can leverage public resources and engagement to generate support for scientific endeavors that would otherwise be impossible due to funding constraints and or the large number of participants needed for data collection. We conducted a comprehensive literature review of scientific studies that utilized crowdsourcing and crowdfunding to generate data. We also discuss our own experiences conducting citizen-science research initiatives (MetaSUB and PathoMap) in ensuring data robustness, educational outreach and public engagement. We demonstrate the efficacy of crowdsourcing mechanisms for revolutionizing microbiome and metagenomic research to better elucidate the microbial and genetic dynamics of cities around the world (as well as non-urban areas). Crowdsourced studies have been able to create an improved and unprecedented ability to monitor, design and measure changes at the microbial and macroscopic scale. Thus, the use of crowdsourcing strategies has dramatically altered certain genomics research to create global citizen-science initiatives that reveal new discoveries about the world's genetic dynamics. The effectiveness of crowdfunding and crowdsourcing is largely dependent on the study design and methodology. One point of contention for the present discussion is the validity and scientific rigor of data that are generated by non-scientists. Selection bias, limited sample sizes and limitations for scientists in enforcing standardized protocols are all challenges for those who engage in citizen-science initiatives. Despite the aforementioned concerns, crowdsourced data allow for greater inroads into the field of personalized medicine, whereby community members take an active role in generating data about their personal and environmental health. Crowdsourced viral and metagenomic studies are the next step in elucidating the genomic and epigenomic characterization of urban population health. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. CAN-DOO: The Climate Action Network through Direct Observations and Outreach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Taubman, B.; Sherman, J. P.; Perry, L. B.; Markham, J.; Kelly, G.

    2011-12-01

    The urgency of climate change demands a greater understanding of our climate system, not only by the leaders of today, but by the scientists, policy makers, and citizens of tomorrow. Unfortunately, a large segment of the population currently possesses inadequate knowledge of climate science. In direct response to a need for greater scientific literacy with respect to climate science, researchers from Appalachian State University's Appalachian Atmospheric Interdisciplinary Research (AppalAIR) group, with support from NASA, have developed CAN-DOO: the Climate Action Network through Direct Observations and Outreach. CAN-DOO addresses climate science literacy by 1) Developing the infrastructure for sustaining and expanding public outreach through long-term climate measurements capable of complementing existing NASA measurements, 2) Enhancing public awareness of climate science and NASA's role in advancing our understanding of the Earth System, and 3) Introducing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics principles to homeschooled, public school, and Appalachian State University students through applied climate science activities. Project partners include the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, and local elementary schools. In partnership with Grandfather Mountain, climate science awareness is promoted through citizen science activities, interactive public displays, and staff training. CAN-DOO engages students by involving them in the entire scientific investigative process as applied to climate science. We introduce local elementary and middle school students, homeschooled students throughout North Carolina, and undergraduate students in a new Global Climate Change course and select other courses at Appalachian State University to instrument assembly, measurement techniques, data collection, hypothesis testing, and drawing conclusions. Results are placed in the proper context via comparisons with other student data products, local research-grade measurements, and NASA measurements. Several educational modules have been developed that address specific topics in climate science. The modules are scalable and have been successfully implemented at levels ranging from 2nd grade through first-year graduate as well as with citizen science groups. They also can be applied in user-desired segments to a variety of Earth Science units. In this paper, we will introduce the project activities and present results from the first year of observations and outreach, with a special emphasis on two of the developed modules, the surface energy balance and aerosol optical depth module.

  3. Chinese Teachers' Perceptions of the "Good Citizen": A Personally-Responsible Citizen

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Hui; Tan, Chuanbao

    2017-01-01

    Conceptions of the "good citizen" have implications for defining the goals of civic education and formulating civic education programs. In Mainland China, the concept of "good citizen" is clearly defined by the authorities in the official curriculum guidelines. Teachers' perceptions of a "good citizen", however, may…

  4. Citizen science can improve conservation science, natural resource management, and environmental protection

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    McKinley, Duncan C.; Miller-Rushing, Abe J.; Ballard, Heidi L.; Bonney, Rick; Brown, Hutch; Cook-Patton, Susan; Evans, Daniel M.; French, Rebecca A.; Parrish, Julia; Phillips, Tina B.; Ryan, Sean F.; Shanley, Lea A.; Shirk, Jennifer L.; Stepenuck, Kristine F.; Weltzin, Jake F.; Wiggins, Andrea; Boyle, Owen D.; Briggs, Russell D.; Chapin, Stuart F.; Hewitt, David A.; Preuss, Peter W.; Soukup, Michael A.

    2017-01-01

    Citizen science has advanced science for hundreds of years, contributed to many peer-reviewed articles, and informed land management decisions and policies across the United States. Over the last 10 years, citizen science has grown immensely in the United States and many other countries. Here, we show how citizen science is a powerful tool for tackling many of the challenges faced in the field of conservation biology. We describe the two interwoven paths by which citizen science can improve conservation efforts, natural resource management, and environmental protection. The first path includes building scientific knowledge, while the other path involves informing policy and encouraging public action. We explore how citizen science is currently used and describe the investments needed to create a citizen science program. We find that:Citizen science already contributes substantially to many domains of science, including conservation, natural resource, and environmental science. Citizen science informs natural resource management, environmental protection, and policymaking and fosters public input and engagement.Many types of projects can benefit from citizen science, but one must be careful to match the needs for science and public involvement with the right type of citizen science project and the right method of public participation.Citizen science is a rigorous process of scientific discovery, indistinguishable from conventional science apart from the participation of volunteers. When properly designed, carried out, and evaluated, citizen science can provide sound science, efficiently generate high-quality data, and help solve problems.

  5. Rasch Analysis of Scientific Literacy in an Astronomical Citizen Science Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Price, A.

    2012-06-01

    (Abstract only) We investigate change in attitudes towards science and belief in the nature of science by participants in a citizen science project about astronomy. A pre-test was given to 1,385 participants and a post-test was given six months later to 165 participants. Nine participants were interviewed. Responses were analyzed using the Rasch Rating Scale Model to place Likert data on an interval scale allowing for more sensitive parametric analysis. Results show that overall attitudes did not change, p = .225. However, there was significant change towards attitudes relating to science news (positive) and scientific self efficacy (negative), p = .001 and p = .035, respectively. This change was related to social activity in the project. Beliefs in the nature of science exhibited a small but significant increase, p = .04. Relative positioning of scores on the belief items suggests the increase is mostly due to reinforcement of current beliefs.

  6. Rasch Analysis of Scientific Literacy in an Astronomical Citizen Science Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Price, Aaron

    2011-05-01

    We investigate change in attitudes towards science and belief in the nature of science by participants in a citizen science project about astronomy. A pre-test was given to 1,385 participants and a post-test was given six months later to 165 participants. Nine participants were interviewed. Responses were analyzed using the Rasch Rating Scale Model to place Likert data on an interval scale allowing for more sensitive parametric analysis. Results show that overall attitudes did not change, p = .225. However, there was significant change towards attitudes relating to science news (positive) and scientific self efficacy (negative), p < .001 and p = .035 respectively. This change was related to social activity in the project. Beliefs in the nature of science exhibited a small, but significant increase, p = .04. Relative positioning of scores on the belief items suggests the increase is mostly due to reinforcement of current beliefs.

  7. An overlooked source of physician-scientists.

    PubMed

    Puljak, Livia

    2007-12-01

    A shortage of physician-scientists in the United States is an ongoing problem. Various recommendations have been made to address this issue; however, none of them have ameliorated the situation. Foreign medical school graduates with postdoctoral training in the United States are an overlooked and untapped resource for combating the dearth of physician-scientists. Evaluation of the scientific staff at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center revealed that 11% of all postdoctoral fellows were international medical graduates. Interestingly, a survey taken by these individuals revealed a lack of institutional and/or mentor support for career development and preparation for becoming physician-scientists. Foreign postdoctoral fellows with medical degrees are not even eligible for physician-scientist grants and awards since they are not US citizens. Although physicians educated in the United States usually matriculate from medical school with high educational debt that prevents most of them from entering into scientific careers, doctors trained outside the United States generally have minimal, if any, debt. Furthermore, many of them have a keen interest in remaining in the United States once they complete their postdoctoral training. Thus, foreign-trained medical professionals who have pursued scientific training in the United States can be one of the solutions for the current dearth of physician-scientists.

  8. Fostering a strategic alliance between patients' associations and health care professionals.

    PubMed

    Mosconi, Paola; Colombo, Cinzia

    2010-01-01

    The Laboratory for Medical Research and Consumer Involvement was established in 2005 at Mario Negri Institute, a nonprofit institute for pharmacological research, as a consequence of the increasing interest in boosting citizens' and patients' involvement in the health care debate. It has developed several projects with patients' associations, researchers, and clinicians. Its objectives are to foster a strategic alliance among health care professionals, patients, and their organizations, developing activities with different levels of involvement. Among the laboratory' s activities, the PartecipaSalute project has organized training courses for consumers, published a Web site disseminating evidence-based information and critical appraisal tools, and collected research priorities set by patients. Two consensus conferences have been organized, one dealing with brain injury patients' assistance and the other with hormone therapy and menopause. The quality of health information covered by different sources (press articles, Web sites, and brochures) has also been assessed. Seventy consumers attended the training courses from 2006 to 2008, and between January 2008 and June 2009 the PartecipaSalute Web site registered a mean of 30 500 single visits monthly. At the consensus conference Informing women on hormone replacement therapy, 7 members of the 14-member panel defining the final recommendations were lay people. Other data from the laboratory's main activities are given in this article. The criteria for selecting patients and their organizations, the methods of involvement, and evaluation of the impact of the activities are still open questions. We are now developing ways of evaluating our activities, and trying to boost citizens' and patients' participation in decisional settings, concerning health care assistance and research studies.

  9. Use of dental services by immigration status in the United States.

    PubMed

    Wilson, Fernando A; Wang, Yang; Stimpson, Jim P; McFarland, Kimberly K; Singh, Karan P

    2016-03-01

    There is limited research with mixed findings comparing differences in oral health outcomes and the use of dental services by immigration status. The authors conducted a study by reviewing nationally representative data to describe differences in dental care among noncitizens, naturalized citizens, and US-born citizens in the United States. The authors used nationally representative data from the 2008-2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to examine dental care for US-born citizens, naturalized citizens, and noncitizens 18 years and older. Total analytical sample size was 98,107 adults. They used multivariate logistic regression to model dental service use adjusting for confounding factors. Naturalized citizens and noncitizens were significantly less likely to have at least 1 dental visit within 12 months (39.5% and 23.1%, respectively) compared with US-born citizens (43.6%; P < .001). Among users, a smaller proportion of comprehensive examination visits were for naturalized citizens and noncitizens (75.9% and 71.4%, respectively) compared with US-born citizens (82.8%; P < .01). Noncitizen visits to dentists were also more likely to involve tooth extraction compared with those of US-born citizens (11.3% versus 8.8%; P < .01). Multivariate logistic regression suggests both non- and naturalized citizens had lower adjusted odds of having a comprehensive examination compared with US-born citizens during a visit (P < .01). Noncitizens and naturalized citizens had a lower rate of dental service use, and noncitizens were more likely to have had tooth extraction compared with US-born citizens. Increased outreach efforts tailored to noncitizens and naturalized citizens who are at high risk of experiencing dental problems are needed, particularly to address misperceptions on the necessity of preventive dental visits. Copyright © 2016 American Dental Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Project Citizen: Promoting Action-Oriented Citizen Science in the Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Carie; Medina-Jerez, William

    2012-01-01

    In recent years, citizen science projects have emerged as a means to involve students in scientific inquiry, particularly in the fields of ecology and environmental science. A citizen scientist is "a volunteer who collects and/or processes data as part of a scientific inquiry" (Silverton 2009, p. 467). Participation in citizen science…

  11. Designing a Citizen Involvement Program: A Guidebook for Involving Citizens in the Resolution of Environmental Issues.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howell, Robert E.; And Others

    A model and supportive materials are presented for design and implementation of a program for involving citizens in decision-making concerning significant environmental issues. Chapter topics include: why citizen involvement? (potential benefits of the process); theoretical basis for citizen involvement (three fundamental perspectives underlying…

  12. Immigration, citizenship, and the mental health of adolescents

    PubMed Central

    Fenelon, Andrew; Boudreaux, Michel

    2018-01-01

    Purpose To examine the reported mental health outcomes of adolescent foreign-born non-citizens and adolescent foreign-born U.S. citizens compared to adolescent U.S.-born citizens. Methods Using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in the National Health Interview Survey, we compared mental health status of U.S.-born adolescent citizens to foreign-born citizens and non-citizens in the years 2010–2015, and examined how differences in emotional difficulty changed based on time spent in the U.S. Results Results suggest that non-citizen adolescents experience better mental health outcomes than U.S.-born citizens. However, the mental health status of foreign-born citizens is indistinguishable from that of the U.S.-born, after accounting for basic socio-demographic characteristics. The prevalence of emotional difficulty experienced by immigrant adolescents increased with a family’s duration in the U.S. Conclusion Our findings are consistent with a broader health advantage for the foreign-born, but we present new evidence that the mental health advantage of foreign-born adolescents exists only for non-citizens. PMID:29723297

  13. An Analysis of Citizen Science Based Research: Usage and Publication Patterns

    PubMed Central

    Follett, Ria; Strezov, Vladimir

    2015-01-01

    The use of citizen science for scientific discovery relies on the acceptance of this method by the scientific community. Using the Web of Science and Scopus as the source of peer reviewed articles, an analysis of all published articles on “citizen science” confirmed its growth, and found that significant research on methodology and validation techniques preceded the rapid rise of the publications on research outcomes based on citizen science methods. Of considerable interest is the growing number of studies relying on the re-use of collected datasets from past citizen science research projects, which used data from either individual or multiple citizen science projects for new discoveries, such as for climate change research. The extent to which citizen science has been used in scientific discovery demonstrates its importance as a research approach. This broad analysis of peer reviewed papers on citizen science, that included not only citizen science projects, but the theory and methods developed to underpin the research, highlights the breadth and depth of the citizen science approach and encourages cross-fertilization between the different disciplines. PMID:26600041

  14. An Analysis of Citizen Science Based Research: Usage and Publication Patterns.

    PubMed

    Follett, Ria; Strezov, Vladimir

    2015-01-01

    The use of citizen science for scientific discovery relies on the acceptance of this method by the scientific community. Using the Web of Science and Scopus as the source of peer reviewed articles, an analysis of all published articles on "citizen science" confirmed its growth, and found that significant research on methodology and validation techniques preceded the rapid rise of the publications on research outcomes based on citizen science methods. Of considerable interest is the growing number of studies relying on the re-use of collected datasets from past citizen science research projects, which used data from either individual or multiple citizen science projects for new discoveries, such as for climate change research. The extent to which citizen science has been used in scientific discovery demonstrates its importance as a research approach. This broad analysis of peer reviewed papers on citizen science, that included not only citizen science projects, but the theory and methods developed to underpin the research, highlights the breadth and depth of the citizen science approach and encourages cross-fertilization between the different disciplines.

  15. Technology assessment and citizen action

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mottur, E. R.

    1972-01-01

    The importance of citizen participation in the assessment process is discussed, and a system for citizen assessment action is proposed. A national assessment system is outlined. Citizen participation is considered essential in the assessment process, and impediments to effective action taken by citizens are discussed. These impediments are finance, organization and motivation, and information. The establishment of citizens' assessment associations is proposed, whose functioning would be fostered and regulated by the Citizens' Assessment Administration. The organization, functions, and financing of these associations are described. The implications of citizen action are indicated as the extensive use of class action suits, the broad interpretation of associated costs of litigation, and the use of present scientific research as evidence to assert that it is reasonable to conclude that certain consequences are probable to occur in the future.

  16. Citizen Science and the Urban Ecology of Birds and Butterflies — A Systematic Review

    PubMed Central

    Wang Wei, James; Lee, Benjamin P. Y-H.; Bing Wen, Low

    2016-01-01

    Citizen science has gained widespread currency as a tool for ecological research over the past decade. However, in the discipline of urban ecology, the existing contributions and future potential of citizen science engagement, specifically in terms of knowledge gain, have not yet been comprehensively explored. Here, we present a systematic review of published work on the urban ecology of birds and butterflies in relation to their use of citizen science data between 2005 and 2014. We compared the number of studies that used citizen science data to the number of studies that could potentially have employed data derived from citizen science. The take-up rates of citizen science data were 21% and 26% for birds and butterflies respectively. Most studies that employed citizen science used volunteer-derived data as primary data, and adopted Collegial, Collaborative and Contributional engagement modes to the exclusion of Contractual and Co-created arrangements. There was no evidence that citizen science studies investigated a different organismal scale (community vs. species) compared to the urban ecology literature. For both taxa, citizen science contributions were lower than expected compared to their representation in the urban ecology literature for studies on species-environment relationships at landscape and micro-environment scales, as well as behavioural ecology in general. Other research topics that could benefit from further citizen science involvement include breeding studies and guild analyses for birds, and multi-taxa studies for butterflies. Promising models of citizen science engagement for urban ecology are highlighted in relation to their thematic foci and methodological detail, and a number of research questions that could be productively addressed using citizen science are identified. The dynamics of contemporary engagement between citizen science and urban ecology described by this review could inform the design and refinement of urban ecology–citizen science programmes in order to optimise their scientific contributions. PMID:27285581

  17. Citizen Science and the Urban Ecology of Birds and Butterflies - A Systematic Review.

    PubMed

    Wang Wei, James; Lee, Benjamin P Y-H; Bing Wen, Low

    2016-01-01

    Citizen science has gained widespread currency as a tool for ecological research over the past decade. However, in the discipline of urban ecology, the existing contributions and future potential of citizen science engagement, specifically in terms of knowledge gain, have not yet been comprehensively explored. Here, we present a systematic review of published work on the urban ecology of birds and butterflies in relation to their use of citizen science data between 2005 and 2014. We compared the number of studies that used citizen science data to the number of studies that could potentially have employed data derived from citizen science. The take-up rates of citizen science data were 21% and 26% for birds and butterflies respectively. Most studies that employed citizen science used volunteer-derived data as primary data, and adopted Collegial, Collaborative and Contributional engagement modes to the exclusion of Contractual and Co-created arrangements. There was no evidence that citizen science studies investigated a different organismal scale (community vs. species) compared to the urban ecology literature. For both taxa, citizen science contributions were lower than expected compared to their representation in the urban ecology literature for studies on species-environment relationships at landscape and micro-environment scales, as well as behavioural ecology in general. Other research topics that could benefit from further citizen science involvement include breeding studies and guild analyses for birds, and multi-taxa studies for butterflies. Promising models of citizen science engagement for urban ecology are highlighted in relation to their thematic foci and methodological detail, and a number of research questions that could be productively addressed using citizen science are identified. The dynamics of contemporary engagement between citizen science and urban ecology described by this review could inform the design and refinement of urban ecology-citizen science programmes in order to optimise their scientific contributions.

  18. The Moon Zoo citizen science project: Preliminary results for the Apollo 17 landing site

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bugiolacchi, Roberto; Bamford, Steven; Tar, Paul; Thacker, Neil; Crawford, Ian A.; Joy, Katherine H.; Grindrod, Peter M.; Lintott, Chris

    2016-06-01

    Moon Zoo is a citizen science project that utilises internet crowd-sourcing techniques. Moon Zoo users are asked to review high spatial resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), onboard NASA's LRO spacecraft, and perform characterisation such as measuring impact crater sizes and identify morphological 'features of interest'. The tasks are designed to address issues in lunar science and to aid future exploration of the Moon. We have tested various methodologies and parameters therein to interrogate and reduce the Moon Zoo crater location and size dataset against a validated expert survey. We chose the Apollo 17 region as a test area since it offers a broad range of cratered terrains, including secondary-rich areas, older maria, and uplands. The assessment involved parallel testing in three key areas: (1) filtering of data to remove problematic mark-ups; (2) clustering methods of multiple notations per crater; and (3) derivation of alternative crater degradation indices, based on the statistical variability of multiple notations and the smoothness of local image structures. We compared different combinations of methods and parameters and assessed correlations between resulting crater summaries and the expert census. We derived the optimal data reduction steps and settings of the existing Moon Zoo crater data to agree with the expert census. Further, the regolith depth and crater degradation states derived from the data are also found to be in broad agreement with other estimates for the Apollo 17 region. Our study supports the validity of this citizen science project but also recommends improvements in key elements of the data acquisition planning and production.

  19. Uncertainty in Citizen Science observations: from measurement to user perception

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lahoz, William; Schneider, Philipp; Castell, Nuria

    2016-04-01

    Citizen Science activities concern general public engagement in scientific research activities when citizens actively contribute to science either with their intellectual effort or surrounding knowledge or with their tools and resources. The advent of technologies such as the Internet and smartphones, and the growth in their usage, has significantly increased the potential benefits from Citizen Science activities. Citizen Science observations from low-cost sensors, smartphones and Citizen Observatories, provide a novel and recent development in platforms for observing the Earth System, with the opportunity to extend the range of observational platforms available to society to spatio-temporal scales (10-100s m; 1 hr or less) highly relevant to citizen needs. The potential value of Citizen Science is high, with applications in science, education, social aspects, and policy aspects, but this potential, particularly for citizens and policymakers, remains largely untapped. Key areas where Citizen Science data start to have demonstrable benefits include GEOSS Societal Benefit Areas such as Health and Weather. Citizen Science observations have many challenges, including simulation of smaller spatial scales, noisy data, combination with traditional observational methods (satellite and in situ data), and assessment, representation and visualization of uncertainty. Within these challenges, that of the assessment and representation of uncertainty and its communication to users is fundamental, as it provides qualitative and/or quantitative information that influences the belief users will have in environmental information. This presentation will discuss the challenges in assessment and representation of uncertainty in Citizen Science observations, its communication to users, including the use of visualization, and the perception of this uncertainty information by users of Citizen Science observations.

  20. Making policy decisions about population screening for breast cancer: the role of citizens' deliberation.

    PubMed

    Paul, Charlotte; Nicholls, Rachel; Priest, Patricia; McGee, Rob

    2008-03-01

    To test a method of assessing whether a community of interest - when well informed - would be prepared to support or reject a public policy decision about cancer screening. In particular, whether the New Zealand government should offer free mammography screening to all women aged 40-49 years. Eleven women aged from 40 to 49 years, randomly selected from the electoral roll, agreed to participate in trial of a citizens' jury: a deliberative method of gathering the views of the public. Only selected aspects of the jury method were trialled. Participants met over a day and a half to hear evidence from expert witnesses with differing views and to deliberate the verdict. All but one woman changed their minds during the jury process, and voted against government provision of mammography screening in this age group. The main reasons reported were the inaccuracy of the test and the potential for harm, and the lack of firm evidence of saving lives in this age group. A deliberative 'citizens' jury' approach is a feasible way of eliciting a well informed, considered community view about screening or other population health initiatives. Pro-screening views of affected populations may change when individuals are given accurate information and enabled to deliberate about benefits and harms. This method could be used to determine how complex benefits and harms are weighed by affected populations, particularly where experts and advocacy groups disagree.

  1. Citizen Science Opportunities for Monitoring Air Quality Fact Sheet

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The Citizen Science Opportunities for Monitoring Air Quality fact sheet provides information on what citizen science is and the tools and resources available for citizen scientists interested in monitoring air quality.

  2. Sociological survey in a municipality with a high level separate collection programme in an area of historic unpopularity

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    De Feo, Giovanni, E-mail: g.defeo@unisa.it

    2014-08-15

    Highlights: • Behaviours, opinions and knowledge of citizens on MSW management were investigated. • The knowledge level was better than that of nearby university students and citizens. • The higher the education level, the greater the level of knowledge was. • The local authority showed a leading role in terms of waste management. • Trust is the key to any social program success including waste management programs. - Abstract: Behaviours, opinions and knowledge of citizens on MSW and separate collection were investigated in the city of Mercato San Severino (about 22,000 people), in the Campania region of Southern Italy thatmore » is an area suffering from a serious solid waste emergency that has lasted over 17 years due to the absence of treatment facilities. The image of heaps of rubbish in the streets of Naples and other nearby cities is only one side of the coin. Mercato San Severino has adopted an effective kerbside collection system since 2001 and a pay-as-you-throw program during 2005, guaranteeing more than the minimum level of recycling required by the Italian legislation. Structured questionnaires were administered to a sample of 500 people in 2010. Chi-square tests of independence were applied to state whether the differences were statistically significant (5%). About 90% of the sample stated that the success of the separate collection program was due to either the citizens and local authority or only the local authority, highlighting the leading role of the local authority and confirming that trust is the key to any social program success. The registered level of knowledge was better than that of nearby university students and citizens. The higher the education level, the greater the level of knowledge was.« less

  3. Spatiotemporal monitoring of allergic rhinitis symptoms in The Netherlands using citizen science.

    PubMed

    de Weger, L A; Hiemstra, P S; Op den Buysch, E; van Vliet, A J H

    2014-08-01

    Airborne pollen is a major symptom trigger in allergic rhinitis patients, but the impact of pollen differs among patients and regions and is influenced by environmental factors. To study these complex relationships, there is a need for data on the severity of symptoms in space and time. 'Citizen science' is increasingly recognized as an effective tool to monitor changes in our environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of a citizen science-based survey to monitor spatiotemporal variation in allergic rhinitis symptoms. Participants were recruited through the Web site Allergieradar.nl. After registering by completing an extensive questionnaire, they entered (preferably daily) their symptoms of eyes, nose, and lungs on a scale from 1 to 10, as well as their geographic location. The registration questionnaire revealed that the majority of the participants (77%) had physician-diagnosed hay fever and 65% of the participants had been tested positively for their allergy. This study shows that the symptom scores of the participants are related to (i) pollen concentrations in the air, (ii) the self-reported sensitivity profile, and (iii) the sales of prescription antihistamines in The Netherlands. Our data indicate that the collection of allergic rhinitis symptom data by 'citizen science' is feasible and has an added value in studies on the impact of pollen. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  4. Blogging the Stories of Citizen Science to Inspire Participation, Build Community, and Increase Public Understanding of Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gardiner, L. S.; Cavalier, D.; Ohab, J.; Taylor, L.

    2011-12-01

    Sharing citizen science projects and the experiences that people have with science through blogs provides avenues to foster public understanding of science and showcase ways that people can get involved. Blogs, combined with other social media such as Twitter and Facebook, make science social - adding a human element to the process of scientific discovery. We have been sharing stories of citizen science through two blogs. Intended for a general public audience. The Science for Citizens blog (http://scienceforcitizens.net/blog/) was started in 2010 and links blog posts to a growing network of citizen science projects. Citizen Science Buzz (http://www.talkingscience.org/category/citizen-science-buzz/) was started in 2011 on the TalkingScience blog network, a project of the Science Friday Initiative. Both blogs aim to increase the exposure of citizen science projects, inspire people to do citizen science, and connect people with projects that interest them. The timeliness of blogs also provides a good platform for sharing information about one-time citizen science events and short-lived projects. Utilizing Facebook and Twitter increases traffic to blog posts about citizen science events in a timely manner and can help build community around events. Additionally, the timeliness of blogs provides the opportunity to connect citizen science and current events, helping to form geoscience teachable moments out of recent news. For example, highlighting citizen scientists near Birmingham, Alabama who collect weather data after the April 2011 tornado outbreak ravaged that area offers a positive note on how people are volunteering their time to help us all better understand the planet despite a catastrophic event.

  5. The trial of the new woman: citizens-in-training in the new Soviet Republic.

    PubMed

    Wood, E A

    2001-01-01

    This essay examines the texts of Soviet plays from the 1920s known as agitation trials that deal with issues of women's emancipation and participation in the public sphere. It argues that, far from showing women to be men's equals (the ostensible purpose of the plays), the trials give a shocking portrayal of their heroines' faults, from passivity and meddling to gossip and lack of discipline. Given these weaknesses, the women delegates are supposed to recognise their need for tutelage from the new authorities. Their citizenship is thus held, at best, on contingent approval from those authorities.

  6. The Ottawa Citizen Engagement and Action Model (OCEAM): A Citizen engagement Strategy Operationalized Through The Participatory Research in Ottawa, Management and Point-of-care of Tobacco (PROMPT) Study: A Community Based Participatory Action Research Project in Inner City Ottawa.

    PubMed

    Pakhale, Smita; Kaur, Tina; Florence, Kelly; Rose, Tiffany; Boyd, Robert; Haddad, Joanne; Pettey, Donna; Muckle, Wendy; Tyndall, Mark

    2016-01-01

    The PROMPT study is a community-based research project designed to understand the factors which affect smoking as well as ways to manage, reduce and quit smoking among people who use drugs in Ottawa. There is strong medical evidence that smoking tobacco is related to more than two dozen diseases and conditions. Smoking tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable death and has negative health impacts on people of all ages. Although Ottawa has one of the lowest smoking rates in Ontario (12 %), major differences exist, with approximately a 96 % smoking rate among those who use drugs in the city of Ottawa. To address this inequity, we recruited and trained four community research peers who were representative of the study target population (ex- or currently homeless, insecurely housed or multi-drug users). We designed the ten-step Ottawa Citizen Engagement and Action Model (OCEAM) for the PROMPT study. In this paper we have described this process in a step-by-step fashion, as used in the PROMPT study. The eighty PROMPT participants are being followed for six months and are being provided with free and off-label Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). Objectives The PROMPT study, Participatory Research in Ottawa, Management and Point-of-care of Tobacco, is a prospective cohort study which utilizes community-based participation and social network-based approaches to address tobacco dependence in inner city Ottawa. The project was designed to: facilitate retention of participants; to understand the barriers and facilitators of smoking; optimize ways to manage, reduce, and quit tobacco use among people who use drugs in Ottawa, Canada. The purpose of this paper is to describe the processes utilized in citizen or patient engagement in academic research, through our tobacco dependence management project in the inner city population in Ottawa, Canada. Background Tobacco smoking is inequitably distributed in Canada with rates at 12 % in Ottawa, as compared to 18 % in rest of Canada. However, the PROUD Study (Participatory Research in Ottawa: Understanding Drugs) demonstrated that 96 % of the inner city population, of Ottawa currently smoke tobacco. This distinct inequity in tobacco use translates into inequitable distribution of health outcomes, such morbidity and mortality in this population. Consequently, a community-based participatory, peer-led research project was conducted in the inner city population of Ottawa. Methods We recruited and trained four community research peers who were representative of the study target population. We conceived, designed and operationalized the ten-step Ottawa Citizen Engagement and Action Model (OCEAM) for the PROMPT study. The peers have co-led all aspects of the project from conceptualizing the study question to participating in knowledge translation. Each step of the project had defined objectives and outcome measures. Discussion The involvement of peers in recruitment ensured representation of tobacco and drug users-individuals truly representative of the intended target population. Peer, participant engagement and trust was established from the conception of the project. For historical and self-evident reasons, trust and engagement is rarely found in this population. Peers successfully participated in all ten steps of the Citizen Engagement and Action model. The PROMPT study utilized the CBPR (Community Based Participatory research) approach to encourage engagement and build trust in a difficult to reach and hard to treat, inner city population. The ten-step OCEAM model was conceived, designed and operationalized and the PROMPT study will continue to follow the eighty PROMPT participants for six months to understand the optimal ways to manage, reduce, and quit smoking within an inner city population.

  7. Citizen surveillance for environmental monitoring: combining the efforts of citizen science and crowdsourcing in a quantitative data framework.

    PubMed

    Welvaert, Marijke; Caley, Peter

    2016-01-01

    Citizen science and crowdsourcing have been emerging as methods to collect data for surveillance and/or monitoring activities. They could be gathered under the overarching term citizen surveillance . The discipline, however, still struggles to be widely accepted in the scientific community, mainly because these activities are not embedded in a quantitative framework. This results in an ongoing discussion on how to analyze and make useful inference from these data. When considering the data collection process, we illustrate how citizen surveillance can be classified according to the nature of the underlying observation process measured in two dimensions-the degree of observer reporting intention and the control in observer detection effort. By classifying the observation process in these dimensions we distinguish between crowdsourcing, unstructured citizen science and structured citizen science. This classification helps the determine data processing and statistical treatment of these data for making inference. Using our framework, it is apparent that published studies are overwhelmingly associated with structured citizen science, and there are well developed statistical methods for the resulting data. In contrast, methods for making useful inference from purely crowd-sourced data remain under development, with the challenges of accounting for the unknown observation process considerable. Our quantitative framework for citizen surveillance calls for an integration of citizen science and crowdsourcing and provides a way forward to solve the statistical challenges inherent to citizen-sourced data.

  8. Citizen Science and Emerging Technologies

    EPA Science Inventory

    This session will discuss challenges and opportunities associated with citizen science and how emerging technologies can support citizen science activities. In addition, the session will provide an overview of low-cost environmental monitors and sensors and introduce the Citizen...

  9. Linking Consumer Rights with Citizen Roles: An Opportunity for Consumer Educators.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stevens, Georgia L.

    1994-01-01

    Consumer educators can help students develop consumer/citizen roles through curricula linking consumer rights with citizen responsibilities. Dialogue about issues, community needs assessment, and community volunteer service enable students to practice citizen roles. (SK)

  10. "We the People" Curriculum: Results of Pilot Test. A Report to the Center for Civic Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hartry, Ardice; Porter, Kristie

    2004-01-01

    In the United States, civic educators are debating the need to mandate the inclusion of civic education in high school curriculum. This report describes the result of a pilot test for one curriculum, "We the People: the Citizen and the Constitution." In January 2003, the Center for Civic Education contracted with MPR Associates, Inc. to…

  11. "It's Not the Test, It's How It's Used!" Critical Analysis of Public Response to NAPLAN and MySchool Senate Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ragusa, Angela T.; Bousfield, Kellie

    2017-01-01

    Public education is commonly perceived as a social good endowed with the capacity to equalise western citizens' chance of 'success'. In 2008 Australia introduced standardised testing and reporting procedures to improve educational quality and equity through two policy tools (NAPLAN/MySchool). Ensuing public debate culminated in two Senate…

  12. Planetary Exploration Rebooted! New Ways of Exploring the Moon, Mars and Beyond

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fong, Terrence W.

    2010-01-01

    In this talk, I will summarize how the NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group has been developing and field testing planetary robots for human exploration, creating automated planetary mapping systems, and engaging the public as citizen scientists.

  13. ICT Learning by Older Adults and Their Attitudes toward Computer Use

    PubMed Central

    González, Antonio; Ramírez, María Paz; Viadel, Vicente

    2015-01-01

    Information and communication technologies have proven to be an effective way of helping older adults improve independence outcomes, but such technologies are yet not widely used by this segment of the population. This paper aims to study computer use and senior citizens' attitudes toward computer technology in the context of a 20-hour course in basic skills. A questionnaire was used to conduct pre- and postcourse analyses with a sample of 191 adults over the age of 60. The findings show that direct contact with computers generates more positive attitudes toward computer use and also positive relationships with attitudes, user behavior, training expectations, and self-confidence. Results are discussed in the light of need-to-know attitudes toward computer use and training in new technologies as an opportunity for life-long learning and for improving quality of life in old age. PMID:26346158

  14. Knowledge Management - A Necessity For The Training Of Future Specialists Of The Sustainable Entreprises

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rotaru, Ionela Magdalena

    2015-09-01

    The world we are living in is shaped by what is a reality for years already: globalisation of economy. The lack of borders makes the impact that technology has on society to be a major one. The virtual world so accessible today is not just about new markets, access to cheaper work force, work online but also fierce competition. The common denominator of most efforts in the area of industry is performance. Limits continuously moving willingness to pay for products that delineate the performance delivered be the same range. Here too we can see the role of the education. For example, Landes shows that both knowledge and know-how are the ones that determine how well off societies are. The education of engineers is therefore critical to every nation to ensure the prosperity of its citizens. This paper here intends to approach the educational process of the engineering specific area of knowledge from the management perspective. The training process becomes sustainable in accordance with the requirements of the future: trained specialists for sustainable enterprises.

  15. Extended family medicine training: Measuring training flows at a time of substantial pedagogic change.

    PubMed

    Slade, Steve; Ross, Shelley; Lawrence, Kathrine; Archibald, Douglas; Mackay, Maria Palacios; Oandasan, Ivy F

    2016-12-01

    To examine trends in family medicine training at a time when substantial pedagogic change is under way, focusing on factors that relate to extended family medicine training. Aggregate-level secondary data analysis based on the Canadian Post-MD Education Registry. Canada. All Canadian citizens and permanent residents who were registered in postgraduate family medicine training programs within Canadian faculties of medicine from 1995 to 2013. Number and proportion of family medicine residents exiting 2-year and extended (third-year and above) family medicine training programs, as well as the types and numbers of extended training programs offered in 2015. The proportion of family medicine trainees pursuing extended training almost doubled during the study period, going from 10.9% in 1995 to 21.1% in 2013. Men and Canadian medical graduates were more likely to take extended family medicine training. Among the 5 most recent family medicine exit cohorts (from 2009 to 2013), 25.9% of men completed extended training programs compared with 18.3% of women, and 23.1% of Canadian medical graduates completed extended training compared with 13.6% of international medical graduates. Family medicine programs vary substantially with respect to the proportion of their trainees who undertake extended training, ranging from a low of 12.3% to a high of 35.1% among trainees exiting from 2011 to 2013. New initiatives, such as the Triple C Competency-based Curriculum, CanMEDS-Family Medicine, and Certificates of Added Competence, have emerged as part of family medicine education and credentialing. In acknowledgment of the potential effect of these initiatives, it is important that future research examine how pedagogic change and, in particular, extended training shapes the care family physicians offer their patients. As part of that research it will be important to measure the breadth and uptake of extended family medicine training programs. Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

  16. Floating Forests: Validation of a Citizen Science Effort to Answer Global Ecological Questions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rosenthal, I.; Byrnes, J.; Cavanaugh, K. C.; Haupt, A. J.; Trouille, L.; Bell, T. W.; Rassweiler, A.; Pérez-Matus, A.; Assis, J.

    2017-12-01

    Researchers undertaking long term, large-scale ecological analyses face significant challenges for data collection and processing. Crowdsourcing via citizen science can provide an efficient method for analyzing large data sets. However, many scientists have raised questions about the quality of data collected by citizen scientists. Here we use Floating-Forests (http://floatingforests.org), a citizen science platform for creating a global time series of giant kelp abundance, to show that ensemble classifications of satellite data can ensure data quality. Citizen scientists view satellite images of coastlines and classify kelp forests by tracing all visible patches of kelp. Each image is classified by fifteen citizen scientists before being retired. To validate citizen science results, all fifteen classifications are converted to a raster and overlaid on a calibration dataset generated from previous studies. Results show that ensemble classifications from citizen scientists are consistently accurate when compared to calibration data. Given that all source images were acquired by Landsat satellites, we expect this consistency to hold across all regions. At present, we have over 6000 web-based citizen scientists' classifications of almost 2.5 million images of kelp forests in California and Tasmania. These results are not only useful for remote sensing of kelp forests, but also for a wide array of applications that combine citizen science with remote sensing.

  17. Engaging the broader community in biodiversity research: the concept of the COMBER pilot project for divers in ViBRANT

    PubMed Central

    Arvanitidis, Christos; Faulwetter, Sarah; Chatzigeorgiou, Georgios; Penev, Lyubomir; Bánki, Olaf; Dailianis, Thanos; Pafilis, Evangelos; Kouratoras, Michail; Chatzinikolaou, Eva; Fanini, Lucia; Vasileiadou, Aikaterini; Pavloudi, Christina; Vavilis, Panagiotis; Koulouri, Panayota; Dounas, Costas

    2011-01-01

    Abstract This paper discusses the design and implementation of a citizen science pilot project, COMBER (Citizens’ Network for the Observation of Marine BiodivERsity, http://www.comber.hcmr.gr), which has been initiated under the ViBRANT EU e-infrastructure. It is designed and implemented for divers and snorkelers who are interested in participating in marine biodiversity citizen science projects. It shows the necessity of engaging the broader community in the marine biodiversity monitoring and research projects, networks and initiatives. It analyses the stakeholders, the industry and the relevant markets involved in diving activities and their potential to sustain these activities. The principles, including data policy and rewards for the participating divers through their own data, upon which this project is based are thoroughly discussed. The results of the users analysis and lessons learned so far are presented. Future plans include promotion, links with citizen science web developments, data publishing tools, and development of new scientific hypotheses to be tested by the data collected so far. PMID:22207815

  18. Citizen science identifies the effects of nitrogen dioxide and other environmental drivers on tar spot of sycamore.

    PubMed

    Gosling, Laura; Ashmore, Mike; Sparks, Tim; Bell, Nigel

    2016-07-01

    Elevated sulphur dioxide (SO2) concentrations were the major cause of the absence of symptoms of tar spot (Rhytisma acerinum) of sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), in urban areas in the 1970s. The subsequent large decline in SO2 concentrations has not always been accompanied by increased tar spot symptoms, for reasons that have remained unresolved. We used a large citizen science survey, providing over 1000 records across England, to test two competing hypotheses proposed in earlier studies. We were able to demonstrate the validity of both hypotheses; tar spot symptoms were reduced where there were fewer fallen leaves as a source of inoculum, and elevated nitrogen dioxide concentrations reduced tar spot symptoms above a threshold concentration of about 20 μg m(-3). Symptom severity was also lower at sites with higher temperature and lower rainfall. Our findings demonstrate the power of citizen science to resolve competing hypotheses about the impacts of air pollution and other environmental drivers. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  19. Citizen Science and Citizen Space Exploration: Potentials for Professional Collaboration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wright, E.

    2012-12-01

    Citizens in Space is a project of the United States Rocket Academy, with the goal of promoting citizen science and citizen space exploration. This goal is enabled by the new reusable suborbital spacecraft now under development by multiple companies in the US. For the first phase of this project, we have acquired a contract for 10 flights on the Lynx suborbital spacecraft, which is under construction by XCOR Aerospace in Mojave, CA. This represents, to the best of our knowledge, the largest single bulk purchase of suborbital flights to date. Citizens in Space has published an open call for experiments to fly on these missions, which we expect will begin in late 2013 or early 2014. We will be selecting approx. 100 small experiments and 10 citizen astronauts to fly as payload operators. Although our primary goal is to encourage citizen science, these flight opportunities are also open to professional researchers who have payloads that meet our criteria. We believe that the best citizen-science projects are collaborations between professional and citizen scientists. We will discuss various ways in which professional scientists can collaborate with citizen scientists to take advantage of the flight opportunities provided by our program. We will discuss the capabilities of the Lynx vehicle, the 1u- and 2u-CubeSat form factor we are using for our payloads, and general considerations for payload integration. As an example of the payloads we can accommodate, we will discuss a NASA-inspired experiment to collect particles from the upper atmosphere.;

  20. 15 CFR 255.3 - Award of fellowships.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.3... Standards & Technology, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of State, or the...

  1. 15 CFR 255.3 - Award of fellowships.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.3... Standards & Technology, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of State, or the...

  2. 15 CFR 255.3 - Award of fellowships.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.3... Standards & Technology, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of State, or the...

  3. 15 CFR 255.5 - Progress reports.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.5 Progress... & Technology may determine. [13 FR 8374, Dec. 28, 1948, as amended at 55 FR 38316, Sept. 18, 1990] ...

  4. 15 CFR 255.7 - Official notification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.7... & Technology and approved by the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of State, or the duly authorized...

  5. 15 CFR 255.5 - Progress reports.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.5 Progress... & Technology may determine. [13 FR 8374, Dec. 28, 1948, as amended at 55 FR 38316, Sept. 18, 1990] ...

  6. 15 CFR 255.7 - Official notification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.7... & Technology and approved by the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of State, or the duly authorized...

  7. 15 CFR 255.5 - Progress reports.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.5 Progress... & Technology may determine. [13 FR 8374, Dec. 28, 1948, as amended at 55 FR 38316, Sept. 18, 1990] ...

  8. 15 CFR 255.5 - Progress reports.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.5 Progress... & Technology may determine. [13 FR 8374, Dec. 28, 1948, as amended at 55 FR 38316, Sept. 18, 1990] ...

  9. 15 CFR 255.6 - Duration of fellowships.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.6... be cancelled for cause by the Director of the National Institute of Standards & Technology, with the...

  10. 15 CFR 255.6 - Duration of fellowships.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.6... be cancelled for cause by the Director of the National Institute of Standards & Technology, with the...

  11. 15 CFR 255.7 - Official notification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.7... & Technology and approved by the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of State, or the duly authorized...

  12. 15 CFR 255.6 - Duration of fellowships.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.6... be cancelled for cause by the Director of the National Institute of Standards & Technology, with the...

  13. 15 CFR 255.7 - Official notification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.7... & Technology and approved by the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of State, or the duly authorized...

  14. 15 CFR 255.7 - Official notification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.7... & Technology and approved by the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of State, or the duly authorized...

  15. 15 CFR 255.5 - Progress reports.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.5 Progress... & Technology may determine. [13 FR 8374, Dec. 28, 1948, as amended at 55 FR 38316, Sept. 18, 1990] ...

  16. 15 CFR 255.3 - Award of fellowships.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.3... Standards & Technology, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of State, or the...

  17. 15 CFR 255.6 - Duration of fellowships.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.6... be cancelled for cause by the Director of the National Institute of Standards & Technology, with the...

  18. 15 CFR 255.6 - Duration of fellowships.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.6... be cancelled for cause by the Director of the National Institute of Standards & Technology, with the...

  19. 15 CFR 255.3 - Award of fellowships.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FELLOWSHIPS AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES FELLOWSHIPS IN LABORATORY STANDARDIZATION AND TESTING FOR QUALIFIED CITIZENS OF OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS § 255.3... Standards & Technology, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of State, or the...

  20. Rockin' Readers Coordinator Handbook.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alachua County Schools, Gainesville, FL.

    This coordinator's handbook describes the "Rockin' Readers" program, in which senior-citizen volunteers are matched with specifically targeted at-risk children (usually of kindergarten age or slightly older) in Alachua County, Florida, who tested below their peer group in language development and reading readiness skills. The handbook…

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