A META-SYNTHESIS STUDY OF DATA VISUALIZATION IN CITIZEN SCIENCE

Abstract

How can citizen science use data visualization technology? What are the current status and the boundaries? As part of the systematic meta-synthesis study, a feedback loop has been developed to show how current statutes on citizen science data visualization can be interpreted in a comprehensive manner. In a Citizen Science context, data visualization goes beyond technical efficiency, abstract data, and symbolic meaning, incorporating material traces, and social domains such as viewer perceptions, individual experience, and pre-knowledge into meaning-making interpretations of visualization. Visual practices are available throughout all the phases of Citizen Science projects. Furthermore, it has been shown that the process of visualizing data in Citizen Science is also a learning experience. Lessons learned from best practices in the literature lead to recommendations that can assist educators in using data visualization technology in Higher Education to support students' learning.