Making healthcare more accessible through translation
Kitty Quintanilla is a second year medical student at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine. Here, she shares why she’s passionate about increasing access to free information. Have you ever had your parents ramble at you about the “when I was young, we didn’t have all these computers and the internet and … Continued
My experience editing Wikipedia’s “Vaccination” page during medical school
Since 2013, the UCSF School of Medicine has offered an elective course on editing health-related Wikipedia articles. The course is one month of full-time work, and is offered 2- 3 times each academic year. The following are reflections by Derek Smith, one student who enrolled in Dr. Amin Azzam’s March 2019 cycle of that course. I approached … Continued
Developing metaliterate and information literate Wikipedians in the classroom
Trudi Jacobson is Head of the Information Literacy Department at the University at Albany, SUNY. Here, she explains how she wove a Wikipedia writing assignment together with the six frameworks of information literacy. This course not only taught me how to write on Wikipedia, which by the way I always thought was the coolest concept, … Continued
5 reasons to do a Wikipedia writing assignment next term
1. Build your students’ intellectual confidence. When students can distill course topics into the essential information, translate that for a general audience, and then post that information in a public place – that feels good. Instructors who use our tools to assign students to create or expand Wikipedia articles often tell us about the confidence … 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
Teaching students how to communicate science
Thais Morata and Erin Haynes at the University of Cincinnati recognize the importance of students having robust science communication skills. So last Fall 2018, they incorporated a Wikipedia writing assignment into their course where students could expand Wikipedia pages about science topics that were interesting to them. The course, Communicating Your Science, “will enable students in … Continued
Student’s perspective “completely altered” after Wikipedia assignment
Emilee Helm is a student at the University of Washington. This term, she learned how to create and expand articles on Wikipedia as an assignment in Nathan TeBlunthuis’ Interpersonal Media – Online Communities course. Here, she reflects on what she got out of the experience. When I began working with Wikipedia, I could not have imagined I … Continued
The Wikipedia assignment: praxis as pedagogy
In their newly published research analysis of the Wikipedia assignment, Dr. Ariella Rotramel, Rebecca Parmer, and Rose Oliveira of Connecticut College define success based on diverse pedagogical goals. Is the assignment an effective way to increase student engagement with library resources and collections? Do students gain skills related to the course topic area (feminist theory), … Continued
Why this professor will “never go back to term papers”
It’s not every day that a student takes the time to officially thank their professor for a great project. But that’s what Madeleine Hardt, Dr. Jennifer Glass’ student at Georgia Institute of Technology, did after learning how to write Wikipedia articles as a class assignment. The thank you came in the form of a certificate of appreciation … Continued
Undocumented student informs other DREAMers of their rights through Wikipedia
Lalo Mendez is a student at the University of California, Santa Cruz who learned how to expand Wikipedia articles as a class assignment. When he first heard that he’d learn such a skill as part of Elizabeth Beaumont’s Constitutional Meanings and Movements course, he was excited. “I use Wikipedia extensively to learn about topics and issues … Continued