How better to have students practice science communication than by having them explain course topics to a general audience of millions?
Dr. Amy Carleton, an instructor in our Student Program, has won MIT’s Teaching With Digital Technology Award this year for her approach to teaching thoughtful and impactful science communication. The student-nominated award recognizes “instructors who have effectively used digital technology to improve teaching and learning at MIT” and aims to “give the MIT community the opportunity to learn from their practices.”* Dr. Carleton joins three other faculty winners, among the 117 total faculty nominated for the award.
Source: MIT Open Learning
Dr. Carleton teaches a course Science Writing for the Public, in which students utilize different modes of media to practice their science writing. Among these modes is an option to write a Wikipedia article, which sparks conversations about collaboration online, tone, digital literacy, and more. She has conducted a similar assignment at Northeastern University, as well, which we’ve blogged about before.
Students can make a big impact communicating science on Wikipedia, and they learn valuable skills in the process. If you’re interested in incorporating a Wikipedia writing assignment into your courses for this fall, visit teach.wikiedu.org. To hear more from instructors who have utilized our tools to conduct an assignment like this, explore here.
