Universities on Wikipedia: Georgetown
Professor: Dr. Rochelle Davis
Ambassadors:
Rob Pongsajapan
Yonatan Moskowitz
Classes:
Theorizing Culture and Politics (Undergrad)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_United_States_Public_Policy/Courses/Theorizing_Culture_and_Politics_fall_2010
Introduction to the Study of the Arab World (Graduate)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_United_States_Public_Policy/Courses/Introduction_to_Study_of_Arab_World_fall_2010
Feel free to click around on the website as I discuss the project if you want to get a
better feel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_United_States_Public_Policy
1
Professor Constructs Assignment
Example
Selects learning objectives: Prof. Davis wanted students to learn what it
took to construct an unbiased, communally acceptable summary of
facts in order to teach them how to conduct a literature review
Solicits input from experienced Wikipedians: Prof. Davis met with her
Campus Ambassadors before she wrote the assignment, we discussed
making new articles vs. expanding existing ones, expectations of how
much time the community needs to respond to changes, and the best
approach to grading the assignments
Distribution of Assignment: Prof. Davis gave her assignment to her
students and invited us Campus Ambassadors in to give a short 15
minute introduction to Wikipedia and the Public Policy Initiative. During
that introduction we gave them the tools necessary to start an account,
select an article, and begin interacting with the community by editing
their “course page”
2
Course Page
1. Campus Ambassadors set up the page given the information from
our meeting with Prof. Davis
2. Students create accounts, select articles, and add their information
to the relevant areas on the page in order to get familiar with the wikiediting process
1
2
3
In-Class Lab
Topics Discussed
•
•
•
•
•
Etiquette, Wikiprojects, IRC channels, other resources
Bullets, numbers, and links
Headers, info boxes, and pictures
Creating a page, turning on gadgets, saving a page
Commenting, responding to comments, signing comments
4
Address
Sandboxes
After the in-class lab, the students’ had enough tools to complete
their first real assignment: creating a sandbox on their topic off
of their user page.
5
Article Writing
The majority of the actual article crafting was homework. Students
had multiple resources if they chose to take advantage of them.
Resources
• Wikipedia Online Ambassadors (IRC Channel, e-mail, “talk pages”,
etc.)
• Wikipedia Campus Ambassadors (office hours, e-mail, “talk
pages”, etc.)
• Prof. Davis
• Various Wikiprojects they joined
• Various online materials either put together by the Wikimedia
foundation for this project, or just general wiki-editing information
6
Final Lab
The purpose of the final lab was to help students put the
finishing touches on their articles. This lab was much
more more hands on than previous labs.
Topics Discussed
•
•
•
•
Wikiprojects
Pictures, copyright
How to apply for DYK
How to apply for a GA review
7
Challenges
How We Plan to Improve
1.
Some online ambassadors
gave advice that conflicted
with the assignment of the
professor
1.
2.
Students procrastinate, not
enough time to get
meaningful community
feedback after their
sandbox/before going live
and after going live/before
end of assignment
2.
3.
Students doing it just for
grade, some Wikipedians
weren’t prepared for that
3.
Professors are now requested
to make students request
input from online
ambassadors early in the
semester while they are
choosing articles
Students are being given
more guidance on what they
can reasonably expect from
the community before they
begin, and professors have
been asked to construct
classes with more time in
between deadlines,
Online ambassadors are
being given more training on
how to deal with students, and
what kind of effort they can
8
expect
End Result
Georgetown’s two classes:
• 42 articles either created or substantially improved
• 10 articles featured on the front page of Wikipedia’s
website in the “Did You Know?” Section
• Almost 1,000,000 bytes added to the article
namespace
9
Questions?
10
Universities on Wikipedia: Yours?
Primary Steps/Considerations
• Fit with the current mandate, and expansion of
mandate in the near future
• Campus/Online Ambassadors
• Contact the Wikimedia Foundation and/or
ambassadors in order to construct reasonable
assignment
11
Beyond Public Policy
Other potential assignments that could build off of the backbone we are creating:
Topic Oriented Projects (1)
Similar to Public Policy assignments, students more or less learn how to
conduct a literature review under the watchful eye of a critical audience
Ex: Economics, History, Popular Culture/Media, etc.
Topic Oriented Projects (2)
Not so much a literature review as an exercise in how to translate a complex
topic into layman’s terms.
Ex: Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Astronomy, Engineering, etc.
Grammar/Article Design Oriented Projects
For ESL learners, or even for introductory university English classes, can
teach students how to summarize, keep a neutral point of view, and force
them to defend their choices in public.
Computer/Network Studies Oriented Projects
Students would document how the community interacts, and or enter into
examinations of the technology behind Wikipedia and how Wikipedians
interact with this technology
12
General Lessons and Implications
Lessons and Implications
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Article selection is very important
Some Students need different kinds of feedback than others
Students will be students (procrastination), so benchmarks are
imperative in any assignment
Grades need to be transparent, and flexible
Communication is key
And finally…
13
Conclusion
It is worth it. As long as educators understand what to
watch out for (see above), they will put together an
assignment that students will get excited about.
For once students feel that the fruits of their labor affect
more than just a grade; their research is used to
improve an information resource that they and their
peers use daily.
14
Questions?
15