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
To bridge all the gaps
As a classroom project, we hear time and again that the Wikipedia assignment is a huge motivator for students. In our Fall 2016 research study into student learning outcomes, for example, we found that “in addition to their value in learning digital/information literacy, critical research, teamwork, and technology skills, Wikipedia-based assignments also help increase students’ motivation … Continued
Teaching and learning in the public sphere with Wikipedia
“I’ve done a complete 180,” commented Marie Butcher, who is currently teaching her first Wiki Education-supported courses this fall. “When I was first approached by Amy [to participate in a Wikipedia teaching project], I was a skeptic. But she’s converted me.” Marie is referring to her colleague, Amy Collier, the Middlebury Associate Provost for Digital … Continued
Celebrating Ada Lovelace Day on Wikipedia
Today is Ada Lovelace Day, a day that stresses the importance of acknowledging, documenting, and celebrating the achievements of women in STEM. Women have made valuable contributions to science and mathematics throughout the ages, but aren’t remembered in history as often or as accurately as their male colleagues. Ada Lovelace, for example, did not receive the recognition … Continued
Lifting Our Voices: Highlighting the Global Contributions of Women in STEM on Wikipedia
Dr. Denneal Jamison-McClung is Interim Director of the Biotech Program at UC Davis, as well as Director of BioTech SYSTEM and DEB Program Coordinator. She also serves on the Our Voices blog editorial board and as an ex officio member of the UC Davis ADVANCE management team. She has utilized Wiki Education’s tools and support in her … Continued
Student-written Wikipedia articles compiled in textbook for future classmates
This term, Dr. David Webster is trying something new. “This year’s textbook [is] written by previous years’ students,” he announced over Twitter, much to the excitement of his followers. Dr. Webster has taught his students at Bishop University how to contribute to Wikipedia as a classroom assignment for a few terms now. In his Spring 2016 course, Memory, truth … Continued
STEM students learn applied communication skills by contributing to Wikipedia
For a number of years Dr. Kelee Pacion has both taught with Wikipedia and encouraged others to implement the assignment in their own courses. In July 2018 she spoke with instructional design specialist and host of the podcast In Vino Fabulum Dr. Patrice Prusko about the value of such an assignment — especially for women in STEM — and why she … Continued
Year long project: Women in STEM Wikipedia Biographies
Dr. Rebecca Barnes is Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at Colorado College. This academic year, she’s using Wiki Education resources to teach with Wikipedia in all of her courses. This is a republishing of her thoughts on the far reaching benefits of such an assignment. All year students in my environmental science courses will work on profiles … Continued
Changing students and the world: why instructors continue to teach with Wikipedia
Term after term, virtually all of the instructors who participate in our Classroom Program (between 97 and 99%) indicate that they will run another Wikipedia assignment in the near future. While we’re happy to report this success year after year, a far more interesting story is why so many instructors adopt the Wikipedia assignment as a main-stay … Continued
Teaching students to contribute to Wikipedia
Dr. Tracy Perkins is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at Howard University. In Fall of 2017 she taught with Wikipedia in her course, Sociology of Food and Agriculture, in which her students added nearly 8,000 words to Wikipedia. Here she shares why she’ll incorporate a Wikipedia assignment into her course again in … Continued