DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1g1jwstv8
title: Changes in participant behaviour and attitudes are associated with knowledge and skills gained by using a turtle conservation citizen science app

description: Citizen science has become a popular way to collect biodiversity data and
 engage the wider public in scientific research. It has the potential to
 improve the knowledge and skills of participants, and positively change
 their behaviour and attitude towards the environment. Citizen science
 outcomes are particularly valuable for wildlife conservation, as they
 could help alleviate human impacts on the environment. We used an online
 questionnaire to investigate the consequences of participating in an
 Australian turtle mapping app, TurtleSAT, on skills and knowledge gain,
 and test for any association between these gains with behavioural or
 attitudinal changes reported by the participants. 148 citizen scientists
 completed our questionnaire, mostly from the states of New South Wales and
 Victoria. Participants listed TurtleSAT as the third most common source of
 knowledge about turtle ecology and conservation, after a talk about
 turtles and personal observations/research. Citizen scientists who
 participated more often were more knowledgeable about turtles than
 infrequent users. Self-reported gains in knowledge and skills were
 positively linked to attitudinal and behavioural changes, such as being
 more aware of turtles on roads. However, behaviour and attitude changes
 were not related to participation rate. Respondents also reported that
 after learning about the current decline in turtle populations, they
 adopted several turtle-friendly practices, such as habitat restoration or
 moving turtles out of harm’s way, underlining the importance of increasing
 people’s awareness on species declines. The reported changes in attitudes
 and behaviours are likely to positively impact the conservation of
 Australian freshwater turtles. Engagement with citizen science projects
 like TurtleSAT may result in participants being more interested in the
 natural world, by learning more about it and being more exposed to it, and
 therefore contribute more actively to its protection.
description: The dataset was collected through an online questionnaire. We
 built our questionnaire on the REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture)
 online system (Harris <i>et al.</i> 2009), which was hosted by
 The University of Sydney. Anyone who uploaded at least one sighting to
 TurtleSAT was invited to answer our questionnaire. We recruited
 respondents by advertising our questionnaire on the TurtleSAT social media
 channels, and by sending two e-mails to all TurtleSAT participants that
 provided their e-mail address upon registration to the project (University
 of Sydney Human Ethics approval 2017/981). The two e-mails were sent 11
 months apart to maximise recruitment. Informed consent was obtained from
 all participants. The questionnaire was available online from the
 7<sup>th</sup> of June 2018 to the 11<sup>th</sup>
 September 2019, and was anonymous. The dataset has been
 cleaned up and processed using MS Excel, and any identifiers or variables
 not used in this study were removed. 
description: <strong>Questionnaire sheet:</strong>
 Missing values are represented by "NA". 
 Obs_type = type of observation (live turtle, dead turtle, nest,
 dr = don't recall). N_obs = number of observations
 uploaded. N_obs_noDR = number of observations uploaded,
 with any "don't recall" answer changed to NA.
 Knowledge_skills_turtlesat_score = s-k gain score
 Knowledge_sum = Number of correct answers from the knowledge
 test Knowledge_sum_turtlesat = Number of correct
 answers from the knowledge test coming from TurtleSAT
 Responses coded as 1 for strongly disagree to 5 for strongly
 agree: Learned_more = Using TurtleSAT I learned more
 about turtles Ability_to_ID = Participating in
 TurtleSAT has improved my ability to identify freshwater turtle
 species Ability_find_nest = Participating in TurtleSAT
 has improved my ability to find turtle nests New_skills
 = Using TurtleSAT I developed new skills
 Attitude_change = Have your attitudes towards turtles changed
 since you started participating in TurtleSAT? (binary 0-1)
 More_interested_nature = After using TurtleSAT I am more
 interested in the natural world Feel_like_helping = By
 participating in TurtleSAT I feel like I am helping turtles
 More_aware_roads = Participating in TurtleSAT made me more aware
 of turtles on roads Inspire_to_participate = TurtleSAT
 inspired me to participate in other citizen science / volunteering
 projects to help wildlife More_worried = After
 participating in TurtleSAT, I am more worried about Australian freshwater
 turtles than I was before Learned_more_01 (and all
 other _01 variables) = Scores turned into binary 0-1
 N_actions = What practices have you adopted since learning about
 the current freshwater turtles' decline? (number of actions
 ticked) Read_info_web = Have you read information about
 Australian freshwater turtles and their decline on the TurtleSAT website?
 (Yes/No/I didn't know there was such information on the
 website) Aware_decline_before_join = Were you aware of
 an Australian freshwater turtle decline before joining TurtleSAT?
 (yes/no/This is the first time I hear about it)
 Causes_decline_before_join = Did you know what causes Australian
 freshwater turtle deaths before joining TurtleSAT? (yes/no/I still
 don't know) <strong>Source of correct answer
 sheet: if answered correctly asked the source of the
 information.</strong> Spring = Do you know when
 the Eastern long-necked turtle (<i>Chelodina longicollis</i>)
 nesting season is? Rainfall = Can weather trigger
 freshwater turtle nesting? Decline = How much have
 populations of common species of freshwater turtles declined in the last
 40 years along the Murray River? Foxes = How many
 turtle nests do foxes destroy along the River Murray?
 <strong>Turtle friendly practices
 sheet:</strong> 1 = adopted the
 practice 0 = did not