Professor receives teaching award for having students write Wikipedia
Dr. Kathleen Sheppard has been teaching her students how to edit Wikipedia as an assignment since 2017, with the support of our Wikipedia Student Program technology and staff. She has found that the “real-world” implications of the assignment inspire her students to work harder and better. “Students, and in my experience especially the non-humanities engineering majors, think that … Continued
A Senior Adventure with Wikipedia
JoAnne Growney recently learned Wikipedia editing in one of our professional development courses, where she created and expanded Wikipedia biographies about women mathematicians. Here she shares why she pushed to overcome the challenges facing new Wikipedia editors. From my beginning, I have been a fan of encyclopedias. I grew up on a farm and when … Continued
Why a student wrote “oat milk” into Wikipedia
The current cultural buzz around oat milk weaves together conversations around food sustainability, plant science, health, pop culture, and new industry growth. But before December 10, 2018, you couldn’t find anything about oat milk on Wikipedia. Now, thanks to a student in Yin-long Qiu’s Plants and Human Health course at the University of Michigan, the … Continued
Campus visit to Wayne State kicks off Wikidata collaboration
Earlier this month, I visited Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, to delve into planning a collaboration with their School of Information Sciences around integrating Wikidata assignments into the curriculum. Wikidata is a Wikimedia project that is an open structured data repository; Wiki Education is eager to get started on improving the quality, quantity, and … Continued
Practical solutions for supporting open science
At the American Geophysical Union’s fall meeting this year, scientists gathering from all around the world were asked to ponder one question. What does science stand for? AGU proposed their own answer to be discussed over the course of the meeting: science stands for inclusion, creativity, and thinking bigger. Director of Partnerships Jami Mathewson and … Continued
A November to remember
We hear time and again that people understand the importance of having well referenced information on Wikipedia. But most simply don’t know how to do something about it. “I did this at an edit-a-thon recently,” one conference attendee said, “and I loved it! How can I do more?” In November, I traveled to three academic … Continued
Understanding masculinity from a sociological perspective
November 25th was International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women this year. Part of moving towards a more equitable and safe future for all humans is to increase awareness of and reduce stigma around the violence faced by women around the world. That includes understanding how violence pervades cultures in subtle, as well as obvious … Continued
How to counterbalance the inequalities women encounter in STEM
Youngah (Karen) Kwon is a graduate student at Columbia University and a member of the American Chemical Society who recently completed our Wikipedia professional development course. With a background in physical chemistry and material science, Karen expanded Wikipedia articles on women who have made major contributions to the sciences. Read her reflections about the experience below. … Continued
How humanities scholars and social scientists can make a difference for public knowledge
“I see my contributions to Wikipedia as a form of academic activism,” says Dr. Jenn Brandt about her recent experience in our professional development course. “At a time when the academy, institutions, and the very nature of ‘fact’ are being challenged more than ever, knowledge, in itself, may not be enough. Rather, it’s what we do with … Continued
Wikipedia as a tool for public engagement with science
Helen Siaw is a PhD candidate and research assistant at Emory University Department of Chemistry. She is interested in using Wikipedia as a tool for science education and public outreach. She creates and updates Wikipedia articles related to current biophysical chemistry or general chemistry research. Helen recently completed Wiki Education’s professional development course as a member … Continued