Using Wikipedia as a teaching tool in higher education (Bookshelf)/Before the assignment starts

Determine if Wikipedia is appropriate for your class assignment

Contributing to Wikipedia offers significant pedagogical opportunities, but Wikipedia's rules and culture make it incompatible with some kinds of assignments. In particular, Wikipedia has a policy of "no original research": Wikipedia is not a proper venue for students to advance original arguments or convey personal experiences, interpretations, or opinions. If original argument, novel analysis, or primary research are important elements of your planned assignment, this should be separate from any Wikipedia contributions you assign to students.

Review the pages "Five pillars" and "What Wikipedia is not"; watch the available Wikipedia instructional videos

As you begin to prepare for using Wikipedia as a teaching tool in your class, we suggest that you get some background on Wikipedia first. You may be surprised.

Let's start with a few key concepts that provide a foundation for everything on Wikipedia. These concepts are: The five pillars of Wikipedia, Verifiability and Neutral Point of View. These ideas will serve as a foundation for you and your students, just as they do for experienced Wikipedians.

Many people get confused as to what Wikipedia really is; Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. To help clarify the confusion and provide further understanding, please take a look at "What Wikipedia is not."

• Wikipedia:Five pillars and Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not
• Wikipedia: Verifiability and Neutral point of view, video on YouTube
• …

Contact Wikipedia Ambassadors to help plan your assignment

Wikipedia Ambassadors are volunteers who can offer feedback on your assignment plans, help match your course goals to Wikipedia's strengths and weaknesses, help coordinate the contribution timeline for your assignments, and provide online assistance to students. If you have questions or ideas about how you would like to use Wikipedia, Ambassadors can help you decide if Wikipedia is right for your course.

Create a Wikipedia user account and familiarize yourself with some of the key software features of Wikipedia

If you think you want to use a Wikipedia assignment in your course, it's time to get your feet wet with Wikipedia (if you haven't done so already) so you know what you and your students can expect.

Later in the course, your students will be asked to create their own user accounts. One of the main reasons for this is so you can review, on the article history page, the content edits made by your students based on their Wikipedia user name. With an account, every edit that your student makes will get assigned to their user name automatically. Additionally, a user account on Wikipedia is good way to start building a profile as a contributing Wikipedian, providing your students with a "Wikipedia identity" that helps them build contacts, become trusted members of the community, and negotiate roadblocks.

It would also be beneficial for you to have one too. As a registered user, you will have access to important features such as Watchlist, which allows you to follow your students articles as well as the articles that interest you. With an account, you and your students also get more options to edit - create new pages, upload images, and rename pages.

Note: You can edit Wikipedia without logging in or even having a user account. When you edit without a user account (anonymously), your edits get assigned to your computer IP address. The Wikipedia community tends to distrust edits from an IP address especially if the IP address is from a school or company network since it assumes conflict of interest. Such accounts are frequently blocked for vandalism which affects anonymous contributors on the network.

Check it out. See how it works. A Wikipedia account can be created in three easy steps: 1. Choose your user name 2. Select your password. 3. Click Create account

Defining your learning objectives

In speaking with many professors who are currently using Wikipedia in the classroom, their learning objectives typically fell into three categories: Writing Skills Development; Information Literacy; and Analyzing, evaluating and validating sources. Although your classroom learning objectives may differ slightly, the following provides additional information on how Wikipedia assignments may play a role in addressing the three learning objectives.

• Writing Skills Development
  • Learning how to write for a diverse and general population
  • Understanding the difference between fact-based (dictionary entry) and persuasive (essay) writing style
  • Gaining the ability to effectively outline a topic area
  • Immediate feedback
  • Improving Information Literacy
    • Gaining insights in the creation process of texts on Wikipedia
    • Analyzing, evaluating and validating sources
      • Improving research and fact-checking skills
      • Graduates and PhD students: improving review skills (in a safe environment)
      • Learning how to critically analyze existing content on Wikipedia

      Examples of how your students can contribute to Wikipedia

      How your students can contribute to Wikipedia

      • Adding new sections to existing articles
      • Adding references to existing articles
      • Creating new articles
      • Uploading charts, graphics and other pictures
      • Lateral editing: e.g., designing an infobox or a type of section that applies to a number of similar articles (e.g., an area of case law)
      • Participating in Wikipedia's internal peer-review process

      Examples of Wikipedia assignments:

      • Content: a minimum of 3 sections must be added
      • References: A minimum of 8 references must be added to Wikipedia articles

      Take a look at the sample Wikipedia Course Syllabus and adjust it to your needs

      Note: this is an example of a timeline and professors should be encouraged to find out what works best for them.

      Timing: ~180 minutes

      • Review the pages "Five pillars" and "What Wikipedia is not"; watch the available Wikipedia instructional videos
      • Create a Wikipedia user account and familiarize yourself with some of the key software features of Wikipedia
      • Define the learning objectives for students
      • Take a look at the sample Wikipedia Course Syllabus (this page) and adjust it to your needs
      • Set up a project page for your specific course on Wikipedia

      Timing: ~30 minutes

      • Give students an overview about the course and the role that Wikipedia plays in it
      • Provide students with some basic background information on what Wikipedia is / is not
      • Ask your students to choose articles for improvement and to create a written bulleted list of proposed changes/additions for each topic
      • Materials:
        • Wikipedia Course Syllabus (online/handout, created by you)
          • Gives an overview of the course and what is expected
          • Course Timeline
          • Wikipedia Course Syllabus (online/handout, provided by the instructor)
            • Gives an overview of the course and what is expected
            • Course Timeline
            • Choose three potential articles for improvement and create a written bulleted list of proposed changes/additions for each topic

            Timing: ~10 minutes per student

            • Select the final topics from the students lists (out of class)

            Timing: ~30 minutes

            • Hand out the Written Assignment 2 (details the different assignments and what is expected)
            • Materials:
              • Welcome to Wikipedia brochure
              • Written Assignment 2: (handout)
                • asking students to create user accounts on Wikipedia and familiarize themselves with some of Wikipedia's key features
                • asking the students to add their name and final topic to the course's project page on Wikipedia
                • asking your students to create their own sandbox and to use it for creating outlines for their articles
                • asking your students to write a bibliography for their topic on the selected article's talk page
                • Welcome to Wikipedia brochure (handout)
                • Written Assignment 2:
                  • Create user accounts on Wikipedia and familiarize yourself with some of Wikipedia's key features
                  • Add your name and final topic to the project page
                  • Create your own sandbox and create outlines for their articles in that sandbox
                  • Write a bibliography for your topic and put it on the selected article's talk page

                  Timing: ~10 minutes per student

                  • Evaluate the student outlines

                  Timing: entire class time

                  • In class: Teach your students some Wikipedia basics
                  • Students work on their articles

                  Timing: ~30 minutes

                  • Engage the community to give feedback on your students' changes and sandbox entries

                  Timing: ~15 minutes

                  • Ask your students to prepare an in-class presentation about their work
                  • Students prepare their presentations

                  Timing: ~20 minutes per student

                  • Evaluate the students' articles on Wikipedia (out of class)
                    • (Optional) Peer review of Wikipedia article work
                    • Students give in-class presentations

                    Timing: ~10 minutes per student

                    • Provide the students with feedback and grade on their "Wikipedia Article"

                    Set up a project page for your specific course on Wikipedia

                    • What we recommend to do:
                      • Identify the WikiProject that covers your course's topic
                      • Create a sub-page for your course
                      • Inform the members of the WikiProject about your plans
                      • Add your project page to the list of school and university projects on Wikipedia
                      • Benefits:
                        • The existing community of Wikipedia contributors will be much more likely to give your students feedback if you let them know what you are planning
                        • Announcing the project and making everybody on Wikipedia aware of what you are planning minimizes the risk of conflicts with long-term community members
                        • Project page template
                        • Hints:
                          • In order to to maximize the amount of collaboration and feedback, you should create the project page and announce your project as soon as possible