Instructors receive awards for Wikipedia work in the classroom
From the very beginning, we’ve had our champions — students, faculty, and institutions alike — who have recognized what a Wikipedia writing assignment can achieve for student learning and for the world. Thanks to word-of-mouth, as well as the great work these individuals have accomplished using our resources (work that speaks for itself), more and … Continued
Incorporating Wikipedia as an experiential learning activity in an editing course
Melony Shemberger, Ed.D. is Associate Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication at Murray State University. Here she provides a framework for teaching Wikipedia writing assignments in the journalism classroom. When I agreed to teach News Editing for the Spring 2019 semester, I went into full throttle to plan for a course that I had not … Continued
An instructional designer’s thoughts on Wikipedia
Johnathon Neist is an instructional designer at the Medical College of Wisconsin who incorporated Wiki Education assignment templates and tools into a recent course. Here, he shares why he thinks others should get their students involved in the Wikipedia movement. I recently co-directed a Wiki Education-supported class with Dr. Amin Azzam aimed at getting medical … Continued
An Audience of 500 Million: Editing Wikipedia as a Writing Assignment
Dr. Alexandra Edwards is a 2nd Year Brittain Fellow at Georgia Tech. This is a republishing of her reflection that appeared in Tech Style this last September. How can we help our students feel that their work in the writing classroom matters? Students struggle to see the point of crafting meticulous assignments when their work … Continued
A word from the wise: tips from experienced instructors
Running a Wikipedia assignment for the first time can be exciting, but it can also be a bit overwhelming. To help ease some of those first-time jitters, here are some tips directly from veteran instructors. Be flexible As one instructor put it, “It will be chaotic, there will be confusion. Embrace that and let the … Continued
Public archaeology at its most effective
“Wikipedia’s popularity and reach mean that archaeologists should actively engage with the website by adding and improving archaeological content.” Academia is changing its mind about Wikipedia. Peer-reviewed research studies published in the last few years have found value in teaching students how to evaluate the site, rather than turning them away from using it altogether. One … Continued
When social media savvy students write for Wikipedia
Dr. Carolyn Cunningham is Associate Professor of Communication & Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University. Here she shares what it was like for her media students to join the “Wikipedia ecosystem” in an assignment. I teach in the Communication and Leadership Studies program at Gonzaga University. This is a Masters level program offered in a hybrid … Continued
Wikipedia assignments are perfect for my Freshman Composition students
Instead of turning her students away from Wikipedia, Janice Airhart decided to have her students at Tulsa Community College write articles related to their course. Here’s what she and her students thought of the assignment. In some ways, a Wikipedia assignment is the perfect method for instructing Freshman Composition students. It’s a class that essentially … Continued
Academia is changing its mind about Wikipedia
“Most medical students use Wikipedia, yet most medical schools do not train students to improve Wikipedia or use it critically.” So begins the research study published by MedEdPublish this spring about the use of Wikipedia in medical education. The article ultimately encourages the implementation of Wikipedia writing assignments “across all health professional schools.” Attitudes toward … Continued
An emerging movement of health professional students contributing to Wikipedia
Dr. Amin Azzam, MD, MA, Adjunct Professor at the UCSF School of Medicine shares how health professional students are improving Wikipedia as part of their formal curricula. Since 2013 I’ve had the great privilege of running a Wikipedia-editing elective course for fourth year medical students at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of … Continued