Improving U.S. public policy articles
Access to neutral, fact-based information about the laws and policies that affect people’s lives is important for a functioning society. Wikipedia — a neutral source of information without a paywall — is a natural place for Americans to turn to to learn about U.S. public policy that affects their lives. In the spring 2021 term, … Continued
Improving Wikipedia’s Islamic art and architecture coverage
The Book of Curiosities is an 11th century book of maps, star charts, and historical information believed to have been created in Egypt during the Fatimid Caliphate. It includes a rectangular map of the world that represents the oldest surviving map to use a graphic scale. Scans from the copy of the book in the possession … Continued
Expanding coverage of African archaeology on Wikipedia
Tassili n’Ajjer is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Sahara Desert in southeastern Algeria known for its Neolithic rock art from a period when the site was still savanna. With over 15,000 documented pieces of art, the site is exceptional. Before students in Mary Pendergast’s The Archaeology of Africa class started working on it, Wikipedia’s article on … Continued
Sea slugs, jellyfish, and crabs
We rarely associate the process of photosynthesis with animals, but life regularly outpaces our ability to imagine it. For Costasiella ocellifera, a species of sea slug, photosynthesis is part of the way it makes a living. When these sea slugs eat algae, they absorb the undigested chloroplasts and incorporate them in their skin. This practice, called … Continued
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
Student editors contribute COVID-related content
Last week, we published an evaluation report about the project Wiki Education undertook over the last year to improve Wikipedia’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic through our Scholars & Scientists Program. But that wasn’t the only Wiki Education program improving content related to COVID-19 on Wikipedia: At least 40 student editors across 21 courses in our Wikipedia … Continued
The sex lives of plants
The biology of sex determination has come to the forefront of the culture wars, but if you’re a plant biologist, the idea that sex determination is complex is old news. Jennifer Blake-Mahmud’s The Secret Sex Lives of Plants spent time last Fall improving Wikipedia articles on these topics. A student in the class made major improvements … Continued
Improving politics and public policy articles
The fall 2020 academic calendar in the United States overlapped with one one of the most talked-about elections in history, the November 2020 election in the United States. English Wikipedia’s community of active editors followed well-established procedures to tackle misinformation, a huge topic of debate. But college students editing Wikipedia as a class assignment through … Continued
Improving Wikipedia’s coverage of Indigenous Canadians
Improving Wikipedia’s coverage of historically marginalized populations has long been a driving force behind our work, so we’re proud to highlight the incredible work of two classes from Fall 2020 that sought to advance Wikipedia’s content around Indigenous populations of Canada. Both courses tackled the systemic biases that continue to pervade Canadian institutions as they relate to Indigenous peoples … Continued
Expanding Wikipedia’s coverage of African topics
Despite being the largest project of its kind in human history with a reach that’s global, Wikipedia’s coverage skews heavily toward articles about the Global North. In much of the rest of the world, coverage can be spotty, and that’s especially true for a topic like politics. This is why a class like Martha Wilfahrt’s African … Continued