Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

Crowston’s grant proposal recommended by NSF for three-year funding

Thursday, July 5, 2012, By Diane Stirling
Share
research

A School of Information Studies professor’s proposal for a project researching the structuring of tasks and the motivation of participants involved in citizen science projects has been recommended for three years of funding by the National Science Foundation.

crowstonProfessor Kevin Crowston has received word that the grant proposal formulated for socio computing research is on track for funding, which permits planning to move ahead for a partnership with Chicago’s Adler Planetarium and the Universe Zoo citizen science project.

“This will be a good opportunity to really try to nail down some of the things [everyone] thinks are happening” in the area of citizen science and human computing interaction,” he says. “There are various ideas about what might make [citizen science] projects more interesting for people, but this hasn’t been rigorously tested. This will be a chance to test some of those aspects more rigorously.”

The Planetarium’s Universe Zoo citizen science project’s systems and methods for involving lay scientists will be examined in a number of ways under this research, Crowston says. In the first year, records of existing citizen scientists will be reviewed to see who participates and what motivates citizens to do so. In years two and three, research will focus on adding experiments. These will be structured to assess what motivates participants and how to increase their potential to learn, add skills and conduct increasingly more sophisticated tasks. The process will examine participant selection; matching of tasks to participant capabilities and structuring work to provide optimal learning opportunities while taking advantage of skill development achievements. The end goals of the research include boosting the scientific validity of outcomes and enriching and continuing motivational aspects for project volunteers.

The interest in citizen science participation derived from earlier work done at the School of Information Studies on open source software, and the basic similarity in those concepts, Crowston notes. Working with him will be iSchool Associate Professor Carson Osterlund, who has been in Denmark for the past two years, but who is returning to Syracuse in the fall. Also on board are two doctoral students, Gabriel Mugar and Katie Hassman.

The involvement in citizen science research with the Universe Zoo and the Adler Planetarium got its start with doctoral student Andrea Wiggins. Her research thesis studying different types of citizen science projects, and the topic of human-centered computing, formed connections to the Adler Planetarium, which grew from there. The Adler group had been interested in doing something to improve its system for some time, and the iSchool had been delving into the general topic of citizen science. That led to the idea to collaborate on a socio-computation research project.

“What’s different [from previous work] is that this will be based around experiments,” Crowston says. “The thing which I think is interesting is that with the Internet, there has been this profusion of different kinds of projects that people get involved in. Some people say it’s like an industrial revolution, an entirely new way for organizing work. So having a better understanding of the conditions that make that work for people and make it interesting for people [to do] is going to be important,” he says. “Certainly we’re hoping it will teach us something about how people learn; [citizen science] really is training a workforce.”

In addition to getting citizens to voluntarily do scientific work and finding ways to continue to motivate them, there are questions about whether volunteers can ramp up their skills “to begin to actually do more of the science and to be self-directed” in their efforts, Crowston says. Questions regarding the reliability of data collected by laymen is another aspect for stud under the grant program.

  • Author

Diane Stirling

  • Recent
  • Most Read
  • Related
  • Chancellor Syverud Addresses University Senate
    Wednesday, December 11, 2019, By News Staff
  • Call for entries: 2020 Mirror Awards
    Wednesday, December 11, 2019, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • Faculty and Staff Discount Tickets Available for Dec. 21, 28 and Jan. 4 Men’s Basketball Games and Jan. 2 and Feb. 20 Women’s Basketball Games
    Wednesday, December 11, 2019, By News Staff
  • Submit Your Favorite Recipe to Food Services
    Wednesday, December 11, 2019, By Jennifer Horvath
  • Lydia Wasylenko to Receive Syracuse University Libraries Assembly 2019 Distinguished Service Award
    Wednesday, December 11, 2019, By Cristina Hatem
  • SU in the News: Tuesday, July 3
    Tuesday, July 3, 2012, By News Staff
  • Syracuse University Permanently Expels Theta Tau Chapter
    Saturday, April 21, 2018, By News Staff
  • Seven Syracuse Alumni Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Lists
    Thursday, January 5, 2017, By John Boccacino
  • Syracuse University Announces $118 Million Investment to Create a New Stadium Experience
    Monday, May 14, 2018, By News Staff
  • 100 Years after WWI: The Lasting Impacts of the Great War
    Monday, July 28, 2014, By Kathleen Haley
  • Brooks Gump Awarded NIH Grant to Study Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Children
    Wednesday, February 20, 2013, By Michele Barrett
  • Professors Look to Geologic Past to Predict Future Environmental Conditions
    Wednesday, June 22, 2016, By Rob Enslin
  • SU, Partners to Study Black Holes and Neutron Stars
    Thursday, September 19, 2013, By Rob Enslin
  • Ancient rocks provide clues for oxygen appearance in Earth’s atmosphere
    Thursday, December 1, 2011, By News Staff
  • Syracuse University to host international indoor air quality and building energy conservation conference Aug. 15-18
    Wednesday, August 11, 2010, By Kelly Homan Rodoski

More In Uncategorized

Syracuse’s Seasons: What’s To Blame For Our Harsh Winters?

Tripti Bhattacharya, assistant professor of earth sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, was interviewed for the Syracuse.com article “25 things that make Syracuse great: The seasons.” In the article, Bhattacharya explains the science behind the seasons and how…

How New Media Has Created Ethical Challenges For PR Practitioners

Anthony D’Angelo, public relations professor at Newhouse, was a presenter at the PRSA  2019 International Conference in San Diego, California on “Ethical Practices in the 21st Century.” In his presentation, D’Angelo contributed to the discussion about ethical challenges in the…

Tariffs Placed on China May Do More Harm Than Good

Mary Lovely, professor of economics in the Maxwell School, was interviewed for the PolitiFact story “PolitiFact’s guide to understanding tariffs and international trade.” In the article, Lovely explains the impact of U.S. imposed tariffs on China, including a spike in…

Abandoned Malls Are Paving the Way For Something New

Amanda Nicholson, former professor of retail practice and assistant provost and dean for student success, was interviewed for the Washington Post article “Abandoned malls are sputtering back to life with megachurches, rooftop pools and homeless shelters.” Nicholson commented on the…

YouTube Fails In Its Fight Against Disinformation

Jennifer Grygiel, assistant professor of communications in the Newhouse School, was quoted in the Pro Publica article “YouTube Promised to Label State-Sponsored Videos But Doesn’t Always Do So.”

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2019 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.