Abstract

There is an increasing interest and growing practice in Citizen Science (CS) that goes along with the usage of websites for communication as well as for capturing and processing data and materials. From an educational perspective, it is expected that by integrating information about CS in a formal educational setting, it will inspire teachers to create learning activities. This is an interesting case for using bots to automate the process of data extraction from online CS platforms to better understand its use in educational contexts. Although this information is publicly available, it has to follow GDPR rules. This paper aims to explain (1) how CS communicates and is promoted on websites, (2) how web scraping methods and anonymization techniques have been designed, developed and applied to collect information from online sources and (3) how these data could be used for educational purposes. After the analysis of 72 websites, some of the results obtained show that only 24.8% includes detailed information about the CS project and 48.61% includes information about educational purposes or materials. 

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) monitoring has become an effective tool for assessing indoor air quality and promoting evidence-based environmental education. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a pedagogical strategy based on participatory CO₂ monitoring on environmental awareness and research competencies among students from educational institutions in Sucre, Colombia.

A quasi-experimental study was conducted involving 126 students from three educational institutions. Continuous measurements of CO₂, temperature and relative humidity were obtained using low-cost sensors integrated into Micro:bit platforms. Environmental knowledge tests and perception surveys were applied before and after the intervention.

Significant differences were found among evaluated environments (ANOVA, p<0.001), with average CO₂ concentrations of 1,148±172 ppm in classrooms, 793±116 ppm in corridors and 612±85 ppm in green areas. Research competencies significantly improved after the intervention (Cohen's d=2.8). Furthermore, 92.1% of students reported increased awareness of the relationship between environmental quality and health.

Participatory CO₂ monitoring represents an innovative educational strategy capable of promoting environmental awareness and strengthening scientific competencies among school students.

Keywords: Carbon dioxide, air quality, environmental education, citizen science, STEM education.