DISCUSSION AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Working within this collaboration with a shared purpose was a mutually beneficial experience for both the academic research group and the secondary school science department, consistent with the key principle of engagement necessary for quality citizen science projects. All partners shared clear aims and expected outcomes, that were defined at the start of the project and were realistic for the time and resources available. The highly collaborative nature of the partnership was an important part of its success. It was recognized and valued that everyone involved in the project contributed different expertise. To facilitate this collaborative relationship, ‘open-communication’ was maintained between everyone involved in the project, which ensured that there was a clear sense of shared ownership of the project (Maclaughlin et al. 2004). This school-university partnership is recognized to have all the important elements for success and this project provided an opportunity to strengthen the new relationships which will likely evolve over time (Green at al. 2019).
As a project aiming to facilitate learning, it was considered a success because the students appeared to enjoy using the online tools during this project as well as learning about grass and pollen. The students were also able to learn about how this project related to the bigger ‘public health’ context, which was a challenging and new experience that the school and the students had never undertaken before.
Throughout the duration of this project 42 data points were entered into the EpiCollect5 tool and these points were distributed across Brisbane (within a ~100km area). The students answered all of the survey questions in the tool, however, some of the required images were not properly uploaded or the incorrect part of the grass was photographed. This is partially due description of the features to be photographed, processes of this online tool, and not providing steps in sufficient detail in the learning resources. This highlighted the need for refinement of detail in the learning resources to ensure that the data collected is of high quality. Although not all of the data from the current project could be used for future research, this citizen science project did provide a significant insight into what aspects need to be improved prior to further use. Overall, it was evident that the type of data collected could be highly useful in increasing local current peri-urban and rural grassland diversity and phenology. The research team were able to identify grass species present in different regions across Brisbane and when they were seen to flower. The outcomes of this project suggest that further use and extension of this citizen science approach would therefore enhance our current knowledge of grass distribution and phenology.
Throughout development and implementation of this project, the QUT ARG and CSHS have both learned about the process and regulations of engaging in a school/university partnership. For members of the QUT ARG this was very valuable. It provided early stage researchers with insight on how they can effectively communicate their research themes to the general community. Whereas CSHS gained insights on how to use vertical integration and university partnerships to help students learn Twenty First Century skills in a real-world multi-disciplinary research context.
Although the agricultural coordinator at the school was aware that some students would struggle with extended written tests, he learnt during this project that twelve and thirteen year old’s do not always have the ability to navigate their way through difficult tasks without the face-to-face assistance of a teacher. This therefore highlighted the overall importance of teaching students how to deconstruct and address complex problems.
Whilst the school and university team members used an online file sharing and messaging software to communicate, it would be advantageous to use an online communication and collaboration platform (e.g. Microsoft Teams, Slack, Discord) for the students to discuss, connect with peers and upload files relating to this project. An online hub could provide a centralized location for all project resources and data. The use of this type of platform would also provide students with an extra level of peer to peer support to communicate any issues or questions.
Another improvement that should be made is consideration of how the students can extend use of the data after it is collected. Activities should be developed for the students to graph and analyse the collected data, gather other data sets online (e.g. local rainfall or temperature) and answer a range of basic questions exploring mathematical, physical and biological relationships. Moreover, the project would also benefit from sample research data where the students could graph and form links between grass flowering times, pollen counts and spikes in allergy symptoms.
The QUT ARG reflected on the effectiveness of this project design and whether they are able to obtain information from this type of citizen science activity that has utility for research endeavors. The project can be modified and extended for use in other schools, community groups and the general public. However, funding will be a required input to expand activity, which will involve more grant applications to support for the research team and this citizen science project. It was evident that lay language should be used to describe scientific concepts and transfer knowledge to public audiences, but writing in plain language is a skill that needs to be developed. The ability to write effectively in this way is necessary to increase the visibility, transparency and impact of science in the community (Kuehue & Olden 2015). From this perspective, the learning modules were written for an intended audience of junior high school students, but the language was further simplified by the secondary school teacher. The learning modules should now be transferrable for effective engagement of lay people in community for a wider citizen science project.
The science coordinator at the school hopes to continue undertaking this project with the next cohort of junior high Agricultural Technology students in subsequent semesters. In the future, this project will tie in with the plant identification topics of the science curriculum which is a natural fit. Post COVID-19 lockdown, there may also be an opportunity to run hands-on activities as part of the Junior Agricultural Technology camp that is held at Oxley Creek Common, where one of QUT ARG’s pollen monitoring site is located. Overall, this project has been one of the highlights of the agricultural science course and this will only improve in the future.
Whilst serving as a learning and engagement experience in the context of the unique social setting of the CoViD-19 lockdown, undertaking this type of citizen science project opens the opportunity to re-evaluate approaches to conventional science learning.  Collaboration between secondary and tertiary education sectors deepens the nexus between teaching and community participation in real-world scientific research.