Can “behavior” exist absent a brain or nervous system?
Spring in the northern Temperate zone brings an effusive burst of life. Flowers and leaves appear on trees and shrubs from seemingly dead branches, while non-woody perennials emerge from the ground as if from hiding. The burst of flowers and the flush of leaves seems almost miraculous — one day it’s all brown, the next … Continued
Sharing ecological expertise through Wikipedia
Kaitlin Farrell, Ph.D. teaches and coordinates undergraduate labs in the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia. She is also a member of the team that started WikiProject Limnology & Oceanography. Ecological research, like many other fields, is often shared through peer-reviewed journals, whose articles can be locked behind paywalls. In addition, such … Continued
Real-world learning of biological systematics
Kris White an Assistant Professor in the Biological and Environmental Sciences Department at Georgia College & State University. In all of the Biology courses that I teach, I strive to show students how the material is relevant to their every day lives. Most recently I taught a Biological Systematics course to upper level Biology majors, … Continued
Teaching with Wikipedia during a pandemic
Malavika Shetty teaches writing to multilingual students in Boston University’s Writing Program. Since Spring 2019, she has been using Wikipedia in the classroom to teach information literacy, build writing and research skills, and help students put their work on a public forum. I teach writing to multilingual students at Boston University and have, so far, … Continued
5 themes that emerge from a Wikipedia assignment
Victoria Austen, PhD, is a lecturer in the Classics department at the University of Winnipeg. She is also the communications officer for the Women’s Network of the Classical Association of Canada and has been a Wikipedia editor since 2019. You can find her on Twitter at @Vicky_Austen. I first became involved in editing Wikipedia through … Continued
Student wins U-Mich writing award for Wikipedia article
The University of Michigan’s William P. Malm Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Student Writing in Japanese Studies is awarded each year for an outstanding undergraduate paper. Past honorees were usually honored for writing traditional academic papers. But this year’s award went to Aja Brandmeier for improving the Wikipedia article on Birth control in Japan. “I have … Continued
Good Wikipedians and honest engineers
Helen Choi is a Senior Lecturer in the Engineering Writing Program at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering, and she is interested in exploring issues at the intersection of technology and society. As part of my upper-division composition course for engineering students, I have included the Wikipedia writing assignment as part of … Continued
Teaching with Wikipedia leads to BU award
The Boston University School of Public Health gives out a series of awards at the end of each academic year; this year’s McCahan Day Educational Innovation Award went to Diana Ceballos for her work in teaching with Wikipedia through Wiki Education’s Wikipedia Student Program. “Students were very engaged, excited, and committed to this new way … Continued
On the fence about assigning a Wikipedia project? Reasons to make it a class project
Dr. Sarah Lirley is Assistant Professor of History at Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri. Maybe you are like I was in the Spring of 2019—you have not heard of Wikipedia projects or have heard of them, but are unsure of what they are or how you could incorporate them into your class. I am happy … Continued
Overcoming imposter syndrome by editing Wikipedia
Trudi Jacobson, MLS, MA, holds the rank of Distinguished Librarian and is the Head of the Information Literacy Department at the University at Albany. She has taught using the WikiEdu program since the spring of 2019. She has twice served as a mentor to those newly teaching with it, and is happy to talk with … Continued