The Potential Role of School Citizen Science Programs in Infectious Disease Surveillance: A Critical Review

Ayat Abourashed, Laura Doornekamp, Santi Escartin, Constantianus J. M. Koenraadt, Maarten Schrama, Marlies Wagener, Frederic Bartumeus and Eric C. M. van Gorp
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Ayat Abourashed: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Laura Doornekamp: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Santi Escartin: Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), 17300 Blanes, Spain
Constantianus J. M. Koenraadt: Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University & Research, 6708PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
Maarten Schrama: Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, 2300RA Leiden, The Netherlands
Marlies Wagener: Center of Expertise Innovations in Care, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, 3015EK Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Frederic Bartumeus: Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), 17300 Blanes, Spain
Eric C. M. van Gorp: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 13, 1-18

Abstract: Public involvement in science has allowed researchers to collect large-scale and real-time data and also engage citizens, so researchers are adopting citizen science (CS) in many areas. One promising appeal is student participation in CS school programs. In this literature review, we aimed to investigate which school CS programs exist in the areas of (applied) life sciences and if any projects target infectious disease surveillance. This review’s objectives are to determine success factors in terms of data quality and student engagement. After a comprehensive search in biomedical and social databases, we found 23 projects. None of the projects found focused on infectious disease surveillance, and the majority centered around species biodiversity. While a few projects had issues with data quality, simplifying the protocol or allowing students to resubmit data made the data collected more usable. Overall, students at different educational levels and disciplines were able to collect usable data that was comparable to expert data and had positive learning experiences. In this review, we have identified limitations and gaps in reported CS school projects and provided recommendations for establishing future programs. This review shows the value of using CS in collaboration with traditional research techniques to advance future science and increasingly engage communities.

Keywords: citizen science; education; infectious diseases; life sciences; public health; schools; surveillance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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