Wikipedia Writing Assignments: A One-year Pilot Program in Chemistry Classes at Mahidol University
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Published:
Apr 5, 2019
Keywords:
Wikipedia, Alternative assessment, Undergraduate chemistry course, Writing assignment, Scientific writing, Web 2.0 movement, Student volunteerism
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Abstract
We discuss a pilot implementation of Wikipedia writing assignments in three chemistry courses at the Mahidol University International College. Thirty eight out of 70 undergraduate students opted to write articles relating to their classes on the English Wikipedia as an alternative to a paper-based exam. As part of the assignments, 64 articles were created or improved by the students, but other voluntary contributions, during and after the courses, were also significant. Preliminary results collected over one academic year (September 2014 – December 2015) confirm that our current practice not only benefits student learning but also promotes 21st century learning (i.e. student-centered learning) and contributes to the free knowledge movement. Students’ motivation to participate in a Wikipedia assignment and the difference in course outcomes from those who took a paper-based exam are also discussed in the paper. Our practice may be transferable to chemistry or science courses in other settings.
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Research Articles
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References
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Wolf, D., Bixby, J., Glenn, J., & Gardner, H. (1991). To use their minds well: Investigating new forms of student assessment. Review of Research in Education, 17, 31–74.
Yun, J., Lee, S. H. & Jeong, H. (2016). Intellectual interchanges in the history of the massive online openediting encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Physical Review E, 93(1), 012307.
American Chemical Society (2015). Wikipedia and chemistry: collaborations in science and education symposium to be held, Boston 2015 ACS national meeting. Retrieved from http://www.divched.org/content/wikipedia-and-chemistry-collaborations-science-and-educationsymposium-be-held-boston-2015.
Association of College and Research Libraries (2015). Framework for information literacy for higher education. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework.
Barbera, J., Adams, W. K., Wieman, C. E., & Perkins, K. K. (2008). Modifying and validating the Colorado learning attitudes about science survey for use in chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education, 85(10), 1435–1439.
Blonder, R., Jonatan, M., Bar-Dov, Z., Benny, N., Rap, S., & Sakhnini, S. (2013). Can you tube it? Providing chemistry teachers with technological tools and enhancing their self-efficacy beliefs. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 14(3), 269–285.
Blonder, R. & Sakhnini, S. (2012). Teaching two basic nanotechnology concepts in secondary school by using a variety of teaching methods. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 13(4), 500–516.
Bodner, G. M. (2007). Strengthening conceptual connections in introductory chemistry courses. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 8(1), 93–100.
Brailas, A., Koskinas, K., Dafermos, M., & Alexias, G. (2015). Wikipedia in education: acculturation and learning in virtual communities. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 7, 59–70.
Casebourne, I., Davies, C., Fernandes, M., & Norman, N. (2012). Assessing the accuracy and quality of Wikipedia entries compared to popular online encyclopedias: a comparative preliminary study across disciplines in English, Spanish and Arabic. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EPIC_Oxford_report.pdf
Cho, H., Chen, M., & Chung, S. (2010). Testing an integrative theoretical model of knowledge-sharing behavior in the context of Wikipedia. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 61(6), 1198–1212.
Cunningham, W. (2014). Wiki history. Retrieved from http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiHistory.
Davenport, M. (2015). Working with Wikipedia. Chemical & Engineering News, 93(36), 36–37.
Delgado, C. (2015). Navigating tensions between conceptual and meta-conceptual goals in the use of models. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 24(2-3), 132–147.
Giles, J. (2005). Internet encyclopedias go head to head. Nature, 438(7070), 900–901.
Halverson, K. L., Siegel, M. A., & Freyermuth, S. K. (2010). Non-science majors’ critical evaluation of websites in a biotechnology course. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 19(6), 612–620.
Johnston, R. (1994). Resources, student: staff ratios and teaching quality in British higher education: some speculations aroused by Jenkins and Smith. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 19(3), 359–365.
Judd, T. & Kennedy, G. (2010). A five-year study of on-campus internet use by undergraduate biomedical students. Computer & Education, 55(4), 1564–1571.
Knight, C. & Pryke, S. (2012). Wikipedia and the university, a case study. Teaching Higher Education, 17(6), 649–659
van der Kolk, K., Hartog, R., Beldman, G., & Gruppen, H. (2013). Exploring the potential of smartphones and tablets for performance support in food chemistry laboratory classes. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 22(6), 984–992.
Konieczny, P. (2007). Wikis and Wikipedia as a teaching tool. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 4(1), 15–34.
Konieczny, P. (2012). Wikis and Wikipedia as a teaching tool: five years later. First Monday, 17(9) doi:10.5210/fm.v0i0.3583.
Konieczny, P. (2014). Rethinking Wikipedia for the classroom. Contexts, 13(1), 80–83.
Lim, S. (2009). How and why do college students use Wikipedia? Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 60(11), 2189–2202.
Lim, S. (2013). Does formal authority still matter in the age of wisdom of crowds? Perceived credibility, peer and professor endorsement in relation to college students’ Wikipedia use for academic purposes. Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 50(1), 1-4.
Markwell, J. & Brooks, D. W. (2008). Evaluating web-based information: access and accuracy. Journal of Chemical Education, 85(3), 458–459.
Martineau, E. & Boisvert, L. (2011). Using Wikipedia to develop students’ critical analysis skills in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. Journal of Chemical Education, 88(6), 769–771.
Matta, C. F., Massa, L., Gubskaya, A. V., & Knoll, E. (2011). Can one take the logarithm or the sine of a dimensioned quantity or a unit? Dimensional analysis involving transcendental functions. Journal of Chemical Education, 88(1), 67–70.
Moy, C. L., Locke, J. R., Coppola, B. P., & McNeil, A. J. (2010). Improving science education and understanding through editing Wikipedia. Journal of Chemical Education, 87(11), 1159– 1162.
Obar, J. A. & Roth, A. (2011). The Wikipedia public policy initiative: exploring the potential benefits of using Wikipedia in the university classroom as a tool for innovative e-pedagogy.
Patten, K. & Keane, L. (2012). Integrating Wikipedia projects into IT courses: does Wikipedia improve learning outcomes? In Americas Conference on Information Systems 2012 Proceedings, page 28, Seattle, Washington.
Pence, L. E. & Pence, H. E. (2015). Using wikis to develop collaborative communities in an environmental chemistry course. Journal of Chemistry Education, 92(1), 86–89.
Richardson, J. T. (2015). Coursework versus examinations in end-of-module assessment: a literature review. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 40(3), 439–455.
Selwyn, N. & Gorard, S. (2016). Students’ use of Wikipedia as an academic resource? Patterns of use and perceptions of usefulness. The Internet Higher Education, 28, 28–34.
Smokefoot (2016). Wikipedia talk: Wiki Ed/Caltech/Social Media for Scientists (FA 2016). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wiki_Ed/Caltech/Social_Media_for_Scientists (FA_2016).
Thomlinson, M., Challis, N., and Robinson, M. (2010). Coursework, what should be its nature and assessment weight? MSOR Connections, 10:31–34.
Vilensky, J. A. & Steenberg, J. (2015). Anatomy and Wikipedia. Clinical Anatomy, 28(5), 565– 567.
Wagner, C. & Prasarnphanich, P. (2007). Innovating collaborative content creation: the role of altruism and wiki technology. In proceedings of the 40th annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS ’07, pages 18–27, Washington, DC, USA. IEEE Computer Society.
Walker, M. A. & Li, Y. (2016). Improving information literacy skills through learning to use and edit Wikipedia: a chemistry perspective. Journal of Chemical Education, 93(3), 509–515.
Weinhold, F. & Klein, R. A. (2014). What is a hydrogen bond? Resonance covalency in the supramolecular domain. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 15(3), 276–285. Wikipedia: Meetup/Boston/American Chemical Society
Wikipedia Edit-a-thon: Notable Chemists and Chemistry. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Boston/American_Chemical_Society_Wikipedia _ Edit-a-thon: Notable_Chemists_and_Chemistry.
Wolf, D., Bixby, J., Glenn, J., & Gardner, H. (1991). To use their minds well: Investigating new forms of student assessment. Review of Research in Education, 17, 31–74.
Yun, J., Lee, S. H. & Jeong, H. (2016). Intellectual interchanges in the history of the massive online openediting encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Physical Review E, 93(1), 012307.