Science Summaries…

The Field Guide to Early Man. David Lambert. Illustrated by the Diagram Group. New York: Facts On File, 1987. 256 pp. $10.95 (paper). Reviewed by Malcolm F. Farmer.

Genes, Medicine, and You. Alvin Silverstein and Virginia Silverstein. Hillside, N.J.: Enslow, 1989. 160 pp. $16.95. Reviewed by Donald J. Nash.

Dinosaur Plots and Other Intrigues in Natural History. Leonard Krishtalka. New York: Morrow, 1989. 316 pp. $17.95. Reviewed by Emanuel D. Rudolph.

Bugs for Dinner: The Eating Habits of Neighborhood Creatures. Sam Epstein and Beryl Epstein. New York: Macmillan, 1989. 48 pp. $12.95. Reviewed by Walter L. Gojmerac.

No Bones: A Key to Bugs and Slugs, Worms and Ticks, Spiders and Centipedes, and Other Creepy Crawlies. Elizabeth Shepherd. New York: Macmillan, 1988. 90 pp. $13.95. Reviewed by Walter L. Gojmerac.     

Lights,Camera…Citizen Science: Assessing the Effectiveness of Smartphone-Based Video Training in Invasive Plant Identification

The rapid growth and increasing popularity of smartphone technology is putting sophisticated data-collection tools in the hands of more and more citizens. This has exciting implications for the expanding field of citizen science. With smartphone-based applications (apps), it is now increasingly practical to remotely acquire high quality citizen-submitted data at a fraction of the cost of a traditional study. Yet, one impediment to citizen science projects is the question of how to train participants. The traditional “in-person” training model, while effective, can be cost prohibitive as the spatial scale of a project increases. To explore possible solutions, we analyze three training models: 1) in-person, 2) app-based video, and 3) app-based text/images in the context of invasive plant identification in Massachusetts. Encouragingly, we find that participants who received video training were as successful at invasive plant identification as those trained in-person, while those receiving just text/images were less successful. This finding has implications for a variety of citizen science projects that need alternative methods to effectively train participants when in-person training is impractical.     

Science or alchemy?

Hyperbole has become a common and accepted practice in science nowadays. We sell our results, we hide our ignorance and we use stock terms that gain spurious weight through repeated use. I illustrate from the field of developmental genetics.     

Perceptions…

Strong school-university partnerships yield effective music teachers. However, music teacher preparation curriculum has undergone little reform over the years, resulting in a homogeneous P–12 curriculum. Encouraging preservice music teachers to consider cultural and pedagogical differences holds promise for changing music teacher preparation and preservice music teachers’ views regarding content and contextually relevant practice. In this article, an international collaborative course is presented as one model to help preservice teachers confront previously held attitudes regarding music education, develop flexible cultural competency, and become more open to curricular innovation. Recommendations for policy that would enact an international partnership agenda for music teacher preparation to meet these aims are provided.