1. Helping Citizen Scientists
Read and Write Like Scientists:
Learning Analytics & Authentic Enquiry
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk
http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/simsek/
PhD Research Student
Knowledge Media Institute
The Open University, UK
uk.linkedin.com/in/duygusimsek
@duygusimsekPhD

2. http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/openscience/
Practical Science Outside the Laboratory
App App App App App
LA LA LA LA LA
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

3. Outline:
 Overview of Citizen Science
 What is it?
 What are the example projects?
 What is the role of citizens in these projects?
 Aims of the PhD Project
 Approaches & Methods
 Brief overview of Authentic Enquiry
 Relevant analytics technologies
 Cohere
 XIP
 OpenMentor
 Suggestions and Ideas
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

4. Citizen Science:
 Citizen science:
 Scientific research conducted by non-professionals (citizens) who
mainly volunteer or are sometimes deployed by professional
researchers to participate in the data collection and classification
processes of a project.
 Successful Citizen Science Projects:
http://www.galaxyzoo.org/ http://www.ispot.org.uk/
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

5. Citizens’ Involvement:
 When scientific projects invite citizen engagement, it is mainly for
gathering and classifying data. It usually doesn’t go beyond that.
 We want to support citizens to engage with different aspects of the
scientific ecosystem.
 They can engage with the literature, reading & critically evaluating it as a
scientist, produce their own evidence-based arguments and claims and
communicate the results in a written format.
 Nobody has tried developing citizen scientists in this way before.
 And no one has used learning analytics to support the learning processes of
citizens. So another key element of this work will be using learning analytics
to provide feedback to citizens.
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

6.  Aims:
 Enabling citizens to become citizen scientists.
 Developing citizens’ everyday language and
scientific thinking, reading and writing abilities.
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

7. Approaches & Methods:
Citizens’ Scientific Critical thinking
Reading
Abilities Writing
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

8. Approaches & Methods:
Using Web 2.0:
 Creating Arguments &
Inquiry-based Claims
 Annotating Documents
Process  Science Blogging
 Reflective Writing
Citizens’ Scientific Critical thinking
Reading
Abilities Writing
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

9. Approaches & Methods:
Providing automated timely
feedback for citizens.
Learning Analytics
Understanding how citizens
learn through this process.
Using Web 2.0:
 Creating Arguments &
Inquiry-based Claims
 Annotating Documents
Process  Science Blogging
 Reflective Writing
Citizens’ Scientific Critical thinking
Reading
Abilities Writing
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

10. Authentic Enquiry:
 “Approach to learning which begins with the learner’s interest and
experience, rooted in concrete place object or artefact and moves from
there through a process of facilitated knowledge construction, to a particular
negotiated outcome which meets publicly agreed assessment criteria.”
http://learningemergence.net/about/authentic-enquiry/
 “Authentic” because it is authored by the learner and because it is real and
genuine in their life story.
 We are considering using this approach because it
 Stimulates curiosity
 Increases engagement
 Is based on personal interest
 Enables knowledge construction
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

11. Candidate Analytics Technologies:
Cohere
Discourse-centric Learning Analytics
 A web application for
http://cohere.open.ac.uk/
 social bookmarking
 annotating web resources collaboratively
 making meaningful connections between ideas (idea-linking)
 visualising argumentation
 Cohere allows its users to make sense of complex issues.
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

12. Candidate Analytics Technologies:
Cohere
Discourse-centric Learning Analytics
 A web application for
http://cohere.open.ac.uk/
 social bookmarking
 annotating web resources collaboratively
 making meaningful connections between ideas (idea-linking)
 visualising argumentation.
 Cohere allows its users to make sense of complex issues.
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

13. Candidate Analytics Technologies:
Cohere
Discourse-centric Learning Analytics
 A web application for
http://cohere.open.ac.uk/
 social bookmarking
 annotating web resources collaboratively
 making meaningful connections between ideas (idea-linking)
 visualising argumentation.
 Cohere allows its users to make sense of complex issues.
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

14. Candidate Analytics Technologies:
Cohere
Discourse-centric Learning Analytics
 A web application for
http://cohere.open.ac.uk/
 social bookmarking
 annotating web resources collaboratively
 making meaningful connections between ideas (idea-linking)
 visualising argumentation.
 Cohere allows its users to make sense of complex issues.
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

15. Candidate Analytics Technologies:
XIP (Xerox Incremental Parser)
Textual (Discourse) Analysis
 Analytics for scholarly writing. http://open.xerox.com/Services/XIPParser
 XIP carries out linguistic analysis (parsing) of text documents.
 Discourse analysis within documents:
 Sentence detection based on rhetorical markers
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

16. Candidate Analytics Technologies:
XIP (Xerox Incremental Parser)
Textual (Discourse) Analysis
 Analytics for scholarly writing. http://open.xerox.com/Services/XIPParser
 XIP carries out linguistic analysis (parsing) of text documents.
 Discourse analysis within documents:
 Sentence detection based on rhetorical markers
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

17. Candidate Analytics Technologies:
XIP (Xerox Incremental Parser)
Textual (Discourse) Analysis
 Analytics for scholarly writing.
HUMAN ANNOTATION
http://open.xerox.com/Services/XIPParser
 XIP carries out linguistic analysis (parsing) of text documents.
 Discourse analysis within documents:
 Sentence detection based on rhetorical markers
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

18. Candidate Analytics Technologies:
XIP (Xerox Incremental Parser)
Textual (Discourse) Analysis
 Analytics for scholarly writing.
HUMAN ANNOTATION
http://open.xerox.com/Services/XIPParser
MACHINE ANNOTATION
 XIP carries out linguistic analysis (parsing) of text documents.
 Discourse analysis within documents:
 Sentence detection based on rhetorical markers
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

19. Candidate Analytics Technologies:
OpenMentor
Feedback system to deliver meaningful assessment to students
 An open source mentoring tool for http://openmentor.kcl.ac.uk/openmentor-web/
tutors to:
 Help them to reflect on the quality of
the feedback they give their students
on online submitted assignments.
 Analyse tutor’s feedback based on
categories: positive/negative reactions,
questions and attempted answers.
 Provide analysis reports to show and
enhance tutor’s feedback styles.
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk

20. Suggestions & Ideas?
Have you ever heard of or used similar
tools that you can recommend to me
that could enhance scientific reading
and writing abilities of trainee
scientists?
Duygu Simsek
duygu.simsek@open.ac.uk