Submissions/Teaching with Wikipedia: Perspectives on Utilizing Wikimedia Projects in College Classrooms from Wikipedia Teaching Fellows

From Wikimania 2012 • Washington, D.C., USA

This is a rejected submission for Wikimania 2012.

Submission no.

121

Title of the submission
Teaching with Wikipedia: Perspectives on Utilizing Wikimedia Projects in College Classrooms from Wikipedia Teaching Fellows
Type of submission (workshop, tutorial, panel, presentation)
Panel
Author of the submission
E-mail address

Zachary McDowell - zmcdowel at umass dot edu Michael Mandiberg - firstname at lastname dot com Chad Tew - Crtew at USI dot edu

Username
Debaser42, Theredproject, Crtew
Country of origin
United States
Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.)
Zachary McDowell - University of Massachusetts Amherst, Michael Mandiberg - City University of New York, Chad Tew - University of Southern Indiana
Personal homepage or blog
zachmcdowell.com, mandiberg.com
Abstract (please use no less than 300 words to describe your proposal)

Zachary McDowell: Last semester was the first time I had ever utilized Wikipedia to teach. When I shared my intent with my colleagues, they often were shocked that I would dare encourage such incredibly poor behavior. They were referring to the common understanding that Wikipedia is the place where bad students go to cheat. However, by the middle of the semester I shared the encouraging news that indeed my students were doing quite well, and by the end of the semester the news had broken that the students did incredibly well, with the second highest contribution rate in the USEP. Additionally, Regional Ambassador Max Klein profiled a few of my students about their accomplishments. Although most of my students were successful in their endeavors to author Wikipedia articles, their feedback helped me understand how to better introduce Wikipedia to students. This semester I am teaching a similar class of Juniors at the University of Massachusetts and I want to share the experiences of the former students as well as those of my current course to help foster a conversation about encouraging participation in Wikipedia.

Michael Mandiberg: As a Wikipedia Teaching Fellow I observed that using writing assignments as articles on Wikipedia in the classroom 1. changes power relationships for students in a productive way 2. is a more effective way to prompt deep engagement with research and citation 3. introduces students to the idea of doing work for the greater good and 4. is an effective tool for curbing and adjudicating plagiarism. In the Fall of 2011 I was a Wikipedia Teaching Fellow for a History of Design and Digital Media course fully dedicated to Wikipedia as a site for all the work. The course was written up on the Wikimedia Blog here which will give you a sense of the tone I will take. This semester I am teaching a PhD level course with one writing assignment on Wikipedia as a way for them to engage with the process and community. In addition, I have written previously about my work teaching with Wikimedia Commons, which may be relevant to the conversation.

Chad Tew: Teaching Across Sister Wikis: Wikipedia and Wikinews Comparison of the teaching experience of a lower-level college journalism course with Wikipedia and an upper-level advanced online journalism course with Wikinews, which is a sister project. The design of the learning experience is altered by a number of factors. The sisters have produced two different cultures, expectations, work processes, etc. The size and interaction of the two communities also plays a role in teaching and learning. The outcome of the encyclopedic and news articles also conditions the learning objectives. Wikinews also doesn't have an Ambassador program and so there is no formal way in which the experience is tracked.

Track (Wikis and the Public Sector/GLAM - Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums/WikiCulture and Community/Research, Analysis, and Education/Technology and Infrastructure)
Research, Analysis and Education
Length of presentation/talk (if other then 25 minutes, specify how long)
70 Minutes total. Each presenter has about 15 minutes, with 45 minutes for discussion.
Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?
Probably.
Slides or further information (optional)
Slides
Special request as to time of presentations (for example - can not present on Saturday)
None


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  1. Annie Lin (talk) 21:48, 5 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  2. HstryQT (talk) 19:18, 8 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Pharos (talk) 12:41, 12 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  4. CutOffTies (talk) 16:03, 12 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Maximilianklein (talk) 23:06, 12 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  6. --Lpagola (talk) 17:06, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  7. GastelEtzwane (talk) 23:15, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  8. Zellfaze (talk) 19:50, 19 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  9. Catecalhoun (talk) 13:48, 21 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  10. SarahStierch (talk) 21:35, 21 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  11. Ldavis (WMF) (talk) 23:13, 21 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  12. --Brest (talk) 00:21, 22 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  13. IbrahimPsy111 (talk) 18:07, 23 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  14. Pfancher (talk) 14:37, 24 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  15. Graham87 (talk) 10:09, 31 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  16. ToniSant (talk) 10:55, 31 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  17. Your name here!