Citizen Inquiry ─ Synthesising Science and Inquiry Learning

Citizen inquiry is located at the intersection between 'citizen science' and 'inquiry-based learning' and refers to mass participation of the public in inquiry-led scientific investigations. This edited volume will be the first book in the field to draw together two large bodies of knowledge - citizen science and inquiry-based learning - and illustrate, through accounts of evidence-based practice, how melding the two approaches holds certain pedagogical advantages, including the strengths of collaborative learning and collective intelligence for identifying scientifically-sound solutions to real-life phenomena and the engagement of the public with online lifelong learning endeavours.

Christothea Herodotou is Lecturer in Innovating Pedagogy at the Open University, UK. She is interested in the evaluation of technology for learning and engagement through the use of innovative research methods, including crowdsourcing and learning analytics. She holds funding from the National Science Foundation (USA) and Wellcome Trust (UK) for evaluating online learning in museum-led citizen science projects. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Mike Sharples is Professor of Educational Technology at the Open University, UK and Academic Lead at Futurelearn.com. He was Founding President of the International Association for Mobile Learning and is Associate Editor in Chief of IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies. He has over 300 published papers on educational technology, mobile learning and inquiry science learning. His projects as principal investigator include nQuire: Young Citizen Inquiry, and Personal Inquiry to support inquiry-based learning of science topics between formal and non-formal settings. He co-edited Orchestrating Enquiry Learning (Routledge, 2012) with Karen Littleton and Eileen Scanlon.

Eileen Scanlon is Regius Professor of Open Education and Associate Director of Research and Innovation in the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University, UK. Eileen completed her PhD in 1990 studying cognitive models of physics problem solving and has published extensively in the fields of technology-enhanced learning and science communication. She co-edited Orchestrating Inquiry Learning (Routledge, 2012) with Karen Littleton and Mike Sharples.