These scientists are improving the public’s knowledge of science
When members of the public read of a new astronomical discovery, learn about a unique endangered animal, fact-check claims about climate change, or educate themselves about an illness, Wikipedia is often their first stop. The encyclopedia that anyone can edit provides a wealth of information on a wide range of topic areas, but also presents many opportunities … Continued
Alternatives in education
With the Wikipedia Assignment, Wiki Education provides instructors with an alternative to traditional assignments. Instead of having students create one-time-use term papers, they create work that can reach thousands. Essentially, we love challenging educational paradigms in search of models that better fit the needs of students and instructors. It was fitting, therefore, when a student … Continued
Who gets to be an expert on Wikipedia?
Dr. Erin Siodmak is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the City University of New York in Women and Gender Studies and Sociology. Last fall, Dr. Siodmak learned how to help close the gender gap on Wikipedia through our online course. Here, Dr. Siodmak talks about what it means to claim the title of “expert” on … Continued
The Historian’s Craft
One of the first things that a budding historian learns is the value of good research skills. The second is how to take those results and pull them together into a comprehensive and readable work that can be shared with others. It is no coincidence that these are two skills that Wikipedia volunteers also quickly … Continued
Telling the whole story of US women’s suffrage
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the enactment of the 19th amendment, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is opening a museum exhibit called Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote. It will highlight both the told and untold history of women’s suffrage in America. Consider that even before the amendment’s passage, some women could vote … Continued
When students become experts and experts become students
Now that Wiki Education is regularly supporting around 400 Wikipedia assignments each term, it would be easy for us to simply leave well enough alone. Term after term, the vast majority of instructors (over 90%) indicate that they will run another Wikipedia assignment with many of those making it a mainstay of their pedagogical repertoire. … Continued
Students write 50 Wikipedia biographies of women in STEM in less than a year
In Fall 2018, Dr Rebecca Barnes of Colorado College began asking her environmental science students to write Wikipedia pages for women scientists. In response, her students have risen to the occasion, producing a total of 52 new biographies for women in a wide variety of STEM fields since then. “I am excited for my students … Continued
Why Wikipedia often overlooks stories of women in history
Associate Professor Dr. Tamar Carroll and Librarian Lara Nicosia use our resources to teach students at Rochester Institute of Technology how to edit and create new Wikipedia pages related to women’s and gender history. Here they reflect on why having students improve the living, public archive is so important. Movements like #MeToo are drawing increased … Continued
Make sure every woman in science has a Wikipedia bio
When young women see women in STEM succeed and thrive, they feel empowered to follow their passions into those careers as well. The gender imbalance of STEM fields is not only a daunting, self-reinforcing cycle, but also a barrier to new scientific discovery (diversity and inclusion make a difference!). It’s something that must be corrected … Continued
Experimenting with Wikipedia as a woman in STEM
Chelsea Sutcliffe is a post-doctoral research fellow in earth sciences at the University of Toronto. She completed our recent professional development course in order to improve Wikipedia’s representation of women in STEM. Here she shares her biggest take-aways. Late last year an email was sent around to the members of an academic organization I am affiliated with, … Continued