Biochemistry major Jenny Fulton didn’t have to look far for inspiration for her Wikipedia assignment in Whitworth University’s Organismal Diversity course – she only had to step out her back door at home to remember how connected her coursework was to the real world.
“Each of the articles that my classmates and I worked on were all lacking information,” explained Fulton, a sophomore. “Our goal was to improve and transform these ‘stub’ articles. I chose to work on the article Oemleria cerasiformis, which is a plant that is native to the Pacific Northwest, and it’s also growing in my yard at home!”
Fully embracing the challenge to transform the article, Fulton expanded the lead and added new sections on the plant’s taxonomy, description, phenology, and habitat, as well as several subsections throughout the text. She also significantly improved the article’s existing content, including information about the plant’s fossil record and the uses of its wood and fruit, which is the source of its common name osoberry.
To reshape and radically expand the article, Fulton drew from a variety of scientific research publications, including journals and books that explore botany, ecology, and biology.
“As I worked on this article, I learned lots of new information on this plant – that I see very often – that I did not know beforehand,” shared Fulton. “I also learned how to edit a Wikipedia article for the first time. Working on this article helped introduce me to professional writing on a scientific subject for a wide audience, a skill that will help me in school and in my future career.”
Fulton was not alone in her editing efforts, nor in the considerable impact she made on Wikipedia’s coverage of plants. Thanks to the work of her fellow classmates, the Wikipedia articles about species like Abelmoschus ficulneus (or white wild musk mallow) and Artemisia abrotanum (the southern wormwood), both flowering plants used medicinally, are now considerably more informative for readers.
And unlike Fulton, some students in the course looked far beyond their own backyards as they chose a species to research.
One student contributed more than 1,300 words and 26 citations to enhance the content of plants like Angelica glauca, which grows at high altitudes in areas from eastern Afghanistan through the western Himalayas and Tibet. Another student editor created a new article about an endangered variety of conifer endemic to Taiwan, Cephalotaxus harringtonii var. wilsoniana (commonly known as the Taiwan plum yew).
Collectively, Fulton and her classmates brought an impressive 23,000 new words and 328 citations to Wikipedia’s coverage of plant species – and have since inspired other Wikipedia editors to engage with the content and make their own contributions, as well.
Hero image of Oemleria cerasiformis by Michael Wolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Our support for STEM classes like Jenny Fulton’s is available thanks to the Guru Krupa Foundation.
Interested in incorporating a Wikipedia assignment into your course? Visit teach.wikiedu.org to learn more about the free resources, digital tools, and staff support that Wiki Education offers to postsecondary instructors in the United States and Canada.
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