What citizen science is being done in school contexts? A tool for evaluation

Citizen science initiatives, where non-professional citizens contribute to the development of science, have been increasing in recent years, extending their application into school classrooms. This collaboration presents a huge range of challenges, as the objectives of professional science often do not align with educational objectives. This article explores the quality of initiatives carried out in the school contexts. To address this issue, a tool has been developed to characterize and assess the key dimensions of these initiatives. It has been applied to a set of 46 initiatives selected from a systematic literature review. The analysis allows us to point out some reflections on the quality and aspects that should be taken into account for their design in school classrooms.