Data_Sheet_3_Using Wikipedia Assignments to Teach Critical Thinking and Scientific Writing in STEM Courses.PDF

While many instructors have reservations against Wikipedia use in academic settings, editing Wikipedia teaches students valuable writing, editing, and critical thinking skills. Wikipedia assignments align with the community of inquiry framework, which focuses on the elements needed for a successful online learning experience. We report on a faculty mentoring network, created by WikiProject Limnology and Oceanography, which helped 14 instructors with little to no prior experience implement a Wikipedia assignment in their classes. We found that Wikipedia assignments increase students’ motivation to produce high quality work and enhance their awareness of reliable scientific sources. Wikipedia assignments can be comparable to other writing assignments in length and complexity, but have a far wider audience than a traditional research paper. Participants in our mentoring network reported challenges with implementing this new type of assignment, and here, we share resources and solutions to those reported barriers.

尽管众多教师对于在学术环境中使用维基百科持有保留态度，但维基百科的编辑实践却能向学生传授宝贵的写作、编辑和批判性思维技能。维基百科作业与探究社群框架相契合，该框架着重于构建成功在线学习体验所需要素。我们报道了由维基项目湖泊学和水文学创建的师资辅导网络，该网络协助14位缺乏或几乎没有先前经验的教师在他们课堂上实施维基百科作业。我们发现，维基百科作业提升了学生产出高质量作品的动机，并增强了他们对可靠科学来源的认知。维基百科作业在篇幅和复杂性上可与其它写作作业相媲美，但其受众范围远超传统研究论文。我们辅导网络中的参与者报告了实施此类新型作业时遇到的挑战，在此，我们分享针对所报告障碍的资源与解决方案。