Inquiry Hub: Ecosystems: Digital Curriculum for Citizen Science from a Design Research Partnership

Inquiry Hub is a design research partnership between Denver Public Schools and a multidisciplinary research team that includes experts in science education, curriculum design, and educational technology from the University of Colorado Boulder and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. In design research partnerships, educators and researchers collaboratively design, build, and test solutions to persistent problems of practice. Together we are studying how next generation learning technologies can provide all students with opportunities to engage in personally relevant science that reflects the vision of A Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2012).

Inquiry Hub is co-designing and testing an innovative high school biology curriculum that uses technology to break down classroom walls and engage students in community-based, citizen science initiatives. Citizen science projects can promote student agency and authenticity. Engaging students in authentic science can expand their sense of identification with science, which is a key aspect of inclusive science instruction.

This poster was presented at the 7th Annual Symposium on STEM Education at the University of Colorado Boulder on September 21, 2015.