When the World Helps Teach Your Class: Using Wikipedia to Teach Controversial Issues

Cassell, Mark K.

doi:10.1017/s1049096517002293

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Of particular relevance for African politics (and political science more broadly), students learn to think critically about informational sources that emanate from state news broadcasters in nondemocratic regimes or from private partisan channels. They also must reckon with some topics as contested issues (Sengupta and Ackerly 2022;Cassell 2018).…”

Section: Potential Pedagogical Benefits (And Challenges) For Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Open-Source Information on African Politics, One Student at a Time

Wilfahrt

Michelitch

2022

APSC

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Section: Potential Pedagogical Benefits (And Challenges) For Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Open-Source Information on African Politics, One Student at a Time

Wilfahrt

Michelitch

2022

APSC

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“…Incorporating Wikipedia assignments in the classroom is made substantially easier when there are existing support structures for this work (Bridges & Dowell, 2020;Cassell, 2018;Davis, 2018). For instance, although we had previously worked together to incorporate scaffolded information literacy learning opportunities into courses, the Library's Art+Feminism edit-a-thon served as the jumping off point for our Wikipedia collaboration.…”

Section: Tapping Into Existing Infrastructuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Yeah, I wrote that!”: Incorporating critical information literacy to build community inside and outside of Wikipedia

DeVoe¹,

Shaw²

2021

Wikipedia and Academic Libraries

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In this chapter, we examine the relationship between open pedagogical practices and critical information literacy and how they intersect when Wikipedia is introduced in the classroom. Specifically, we discuss the collaboration between a librarian and a course instructor on iterations of Wikipedia assignments across three years and two classes. We unpack the importance of existing infrastructures, such as edit-a-thons and the WikiEdu dashboard, to support bringing Wikipedia assignments into the classroom. We also explore how we worked to connect course content to the renewable assignments and brought larger discussions of representation and community on Wikipedia into the classroom and assignments. Finally, we outline the lessons we learned through this collaboration. In sum, scaffolded projects allowed students to practice their contributions to Wikipedia in a supportive space and fostered critical engagement with course content. In their end-of-semester reflections, students stated that contributing to Wikipedia felt more meaningful and elicited feelings of pride that traditional, disposable assessments did not. They saw themselves as knowledge creators and scholarship creation as part of an ongoing conversation rather than an “end product.” By engaging in peer-review assignments, participating in edit-a-thons, and discussing the assignments with librarians who were not their professors, students also saw their work as part of a broader academic conversation. Through Wikipedia assignments, students can appreciate their own information privilege in terms of access to costly resources and become proactive in sharing that knowledge and their own growing expertise with a wider public.

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“…Some academics argue that rather than outright rejecting the use of Wikipedia or ignoring its existence-when studies show that most students and academics rely on it for at least basic information gathering (Knight and Pryke 2012)-more can be gained from scrutinizing and contributing to it (Bayliss 2013;Di Lauro and Johinke 2017;Jennings 2008). In political science, Cassell (2018) argued that Wikipedia is a good resource for teaching controversial issues. Kennedy and his co-authors (2015) advocated using Wikipedia in introductory comparative politics courses to develop essential skills, improve student learning and retention, and improve the quality of publicly accessible information.…”

Section: Theoretical Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Subversive Potential of Wikipedia: A Resource for Diversifying Political Science Content Online

Timperley

2020

APSC

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ABSTRACTWikipedia is a powerful tool that reinforces dominant knowledge paradigms, especially those emanating from the Global North. Simultaneously, it has subversive potential to challenge these paradigms, offering a far-reaching platform to voices that have been traditionally marginalized and underserved. Despite this potential, instructors often employ an “abstinence approach” to Wikipedia, telling students to avoid using it in their academic work. This article advocates for active engagement with Wikipedia with the aim of challenging bias resulting from omission or underrepresentation of particular material to develop more diverse, publicly accessible political science content. First, I explain the theoretical objectives of the assignment and describe its structure. Then I reflect on its successes, challenges, and possible modifications.

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When the World Helps Teach Your Class: Using Wikipedia to Teach Controversial Issues

Cited by 16 publications

References 16 publications

Improving Open-Source Information on African Politics, One Student at a Time

Improving Open-Source Information on African Politics, One Student at a Time

“Yeah, I wrote that!”: Incorporating critical information literacy to build community inside and outside of Wikipedia

The Subversive Potential of Wikipedia: A Resource for Diversifying Political Science Content Online

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