Submissions:2015/Teaching Research & Critical Thinking Skills Through Wikipedia
- Title
Teaching Research & Critical Thinking Skills Through Wikipedia
Education
Presentation
- Author
Chanitra Bishop
- E-mail address
chabis10@gmail.com
- Username
Etlib (talk) 17:55, 31 August 2015 (EDT)
- Affiliation
Hunter College, New York, NY 10065
- Abstract
Many instructors in academia approach using Wikipedia in the classroom with apprehension or completely ban its use due to the fact that "anyone can edit Wikipedia". However, students as well as faculty often find themselves using Wikipedia to do basic research and learn more about a given topic. Instead of discouraging students from using Wikipedia, it is important to teach students how to best incorporate Wikipedia into their research. Learning how Wikipedia works and how to effectively use Wikipedia is a skill that students will be able to use outside of the classroom and take into the workplace. This session will discuss how Wikipedia can be used to teach research and critical thinking skills by providing students will the tools necessary to evaluate Wikipedia articles. There are a variety of assignments, some of which only require part of a class session that can be used to teach students about Wikipedia. This includes designing assignments to assist students in understanding what makes a "good" Wikipedia article by having students review references listed and asking them to determine the creditability of sources used. It can also include asking students to review an article and discuss how well the topic is covered and if there are gaps, asking students to edit the article and thereby improve the quality of Wikipedia. Assignments can also take the form of looking at how information is presented in an online community driven website. Students can be tasked with reviewing the talk page and the history of the article to determine how the article was developed over time. By discussing what information was included in the first iteration of the article, students are able to see how an article can improve over time and see how edits from an active online community can result in a robust article on a given subject.
- Length of presentation
20-30 minute presentation
- Special schedule requests
- Will you attend WikiConference USA if your submission is not accepted?
Yes
Interested attendees
If you are interested in attending this session, please sign with your username below. This will help reviewers to decide which sessions are of high interest. Sign with four tildes. (~~~~).
- Gaurav (talk) 22:14, 31 August 2015 (EDT)
- --Frank Schulenburg (talk) 22:20, 31 August 2015 (EDT)
- Jami (Wiki Ed) (talk) 13:15, 1 September 2015 (EDT)
- Eryk (Wiki Ed) (talk) 13:24, 1 September 2015 (EDT)
- Megs (talk) 13:30, 1 September 2015 (EDT)
- Add your username here.