Wikipedia:University of Edinburgh/Wikipedia in Education

External videos
External videos
	"What does the Open Web mean to me? – a few quick thoughts at the Coventry Gathering at the University of Coventry's Disruptive Media Learning Lab"

External videos
External videos
	"Stories of Student Empowerment - a compilation of student feedback on the Wikimedia residency – showcased at OER18 on 18 April 2018"

External videos
External videos
	"Wikipedia in Teaching and Learning – a webinar for Queen's University Belfast"

"What do we want the modern graduate to be?" - Dr. Jenni Garden (Christina Miller Research Fellow) and Dr. Michael Seery (Reader in Education) at the University of Edinburgh's School of Chemistry discuss Wikipedia in the Classroom.

Data Science for Design MSc students discussing the project to import the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft database 1563-1736 into Wikipedia's sister project, Wikidata.

Tomas Sanders, 4th year History undergraduate student on the need for students and staff to engage with improving the diversity of representations of history online.

Translation Studies MSc student, Mark Bradshaw, discusses the Wikipedia translation assignment.

4th year Psychology student, Karoline Nanfeldt, discussed Wikipedia and disappearing down the rabbit hole of Open Knowledge.

Wikimedia UK and Universities[edit]

Wikimedia UK have set up a new website as a central reference point for university educators to find out about Wikipedia in Higher Education including details of past assignments, current assignments and courses planned for the future at universities the length and breadth of the United Kingdom. The page has been populated with a number of examples already; including many from the University of Edinburgh. The intention is that educators can better communicate & co-ordinate their efforts both with Wikimedia UK and with other educators if information is available from a central point of reference.

Contact Ewan McAndrew, the Wikimedian in Residence for Edinburgh University at ewan.mcandrew@ed.ac.uk if you would like to find out more.

Teaching with Wikipedia - Dr. Chris Harlow (Reproductive Biology research session at Edinburgh University)

How easy is Wikipedia's new Visual Editor interface?

Some recent case studies from UK Higher Education[edit]

University of Edinburgh
- Research session for Reproductive Biology Honours students.
  - In September 2015, Reproductive Biology Honours students researched, synthesised and developed a first-rate Wikipedia entry of a previously unpublished medical term: Neuroangiogenesis. The case study is detailed here. The session proved a success so is to be repeated & expanded in September 2016 and September 2017. Details can be found here: Reproductive Biomedicine 2016. The course will run again in September 2018 for its 4th iteration.
- World Christianity MSc course
  - In September 2016, Dr Alex Chow, Lecturer in Theology and World Christianity, ran an 11 week Wikipedia assignment as part of the World Christianity MSc. The class is known Selected Themes in the Study of World Christianity (WRCH11018). This core course offers candidates the opportunity to study in depth Christian history, thought and practice in and from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Primary attention is given to methods for the study of indigenous forms and expressions of Christianity, to issues of culture and gender, and the changing patterns of relationship between Christianity in the West and other parts of the world. Issues of religious pluralism feature significantly in terms of the interaction between Christianity and other religious traditions. The assignment counts towards 10% of the final assessment. The case study has been written up here.
- Undergraduate English Literature Course: Global Modernisms: Inter/National Responses to Modernity (ENLI10369)
  - In November 2015, Anouk Lang, lecturer in English and Digital Humanities, tasked her 4th year undergraduate students on the Global Modernisms module to research and write a Wikipedia article on a novel completely unrepresented on Wikipedia with the outcome being a previously unpublished article: Conversations in Bloomsbury, a 1981 memoir that depicts writer Mulk Raj Anand’s life in London during the heyday of the Bloomsbury Group, and his relationships with the group’s members. Anouk reported that the collaborative process engaged her students, and some students in particular who had perhaps been more reticent (or less confident) in participating in more traditional assignments, in researching the topic & in applying the digital literacy skills required to achieve the page’s creation. The net result is not an essay or report that could potentially be filed away & forgotten but instead something that adds to the sum of human knowledge & is discoverable by other readers & editors all over the world so that they, in turn, can add more to it.
- Translation Studies MSc course
  - In September 2016, Dr. Charlotte Bosseaux, Senior Lecturer on the Translation Studies MSc course tasked her students to translate a 4000 word Wikipedia article into another language as part of their independent study component. This will make use of Wikipedia's new Content Translation tool. The Wikipedia translation project has now been repeated for four semesters in a row. The case study has been written up here.
- Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP)
  - In May 2016, Dr. Hamish Mcleod, Senior Lecturer in Education, Community and Society (ECS), invited Ewan McAndrew, Wikimedian in Residence at Edinburgh University to host a week of Wikimedia related reading & activities as part of the Online Learning Environments module on the Postgraduate Certificate of Academic Practice.
- Online History MSc course
  - In Summer 2016, Kacper Lyskiewicz, eLearning and Web Development Officer, invited Ewan McAndrew, Wikimedian in Residence at Edinburgh University, to run a 4 week taster course in editing Wikipedia via the Learn VLE for Online History MSc students.
University of Portsmouth - Applied Human Geography.
- First-year undergraduate core module for BA Human Geography students.
- Wikipedia related work involves students working as individuals to write an article about a village in England.
- Telling the stories of rural England with Wikipedia
- Dr Humphrey Southall, Reader in Geography, University of Portsmouth, written with Dr Martin Poulter, describe a Wikipedia-based assignment given to first-year students in Applied Human Geography and also looking at how academics can inform the widest public about their subject, and raise awareness of the reliable sources used in research.
University College London
- Teaching translation through editing Wikipedia
- UCL Centre for Translation Studies (CenTraS) ran an event for 36 postgraduate translation studies students, all new to editing Wikipedia, to learn how to contribute to the online encyclopedia anyone can edit. Co-organiser Dr Mira Vogel discusses its success.
- When UCL students write Wikipedia - Prezi presentation.
Queen Mary University London
- FLM509 Research Methods (Film). Level 5 module.
  - Second-year undergraduate module for BA Film Studies students.
  - Wikipedia related work includes groups of students reviewing, evaluating, and editing a Wikipedia page. Course handbook (PDF)
Middlesex University
- MED3040 Publishing Cultures. Level 6 module.
  - Third year module for BA Publishing and Media students.
  - Students are encouraged to participate in the editing process of Wikipedia articles in order to ensure credibility across the website.
  - Case study
University of Stirling - Greg Singh taught students to research & write chapters of a new textbook entitled 'The Digital Media and Culture Yearbook' on Wikibooks.
University of Warwick
- PS364 Human Sexuality.
  - Third year module for BSc Psychology undergraduate students.
  - Wikipedia related work involves students working in groups to edit Wikipedia articles.

A little light reading about Wikipedia in Education[edit]

Resources for educators[edit]

Instructor Basics, How to use Wikipedia as a teaching tool (Wiki Education Foundation)
Case Studies, How instructors are teaching with Wikipedia (Wiki Education Foundation)
Theories: Wikipedia and the production of knowledge
Illustrating Wikipedia brochure (Wiki Education Foundation)
Editing Wikipedia brochure (Wiki Education Foundation)
Evaluating Wikipedia brochure (Wiki Education Foundation)

Further resources can be found in the Resources page.

"I use Wikipedia a lot, so it was good to be able to understand exactly what goes into editing it. The assignment also helped me understand where to find valuable references in places I would not have known to look.

Reproductive Biology Hons. student

"I had the opportunity to translate a small part of Milton's poems, and it was a great translation practice. I became more informed about how Wikipedia works and how to create and edit an entry."

Translation Studies MSc student

"It is nice to see my work published and online, and the content translation tool meant that I didn't have to spend much time worrying about formatting"

Translation Studies MSc student

"It demystified creation of online resources especially in this context, Wikipedia. I believe we had all the help and resources necessary for a successful article. Thank you for this wonderful exposure, enabling in us the "I can" spirit."

World Christianity MSc student

"It surprised me that editing a Wiki article would be such fun."

World Christianity MSc student

Interviews with University of Edinburgh staff and students from March 2018[edit]

Videos[edit]

Global Education Citizens - Dr. Simon Riley and Dr. Richard Smith on the Reproductive Biology Wikipedia assignment
Motivation for a Wikipedia assignment in Reproductive Biology - excerpt from interview with Dr. Simon Riley and Dr. Richard Smith
Isabella Skea clip
Psychology student Karoline Nanfeldt on disappearing down the Wikipedia rabbit hole
Wikipedia in the Classroom - Excerpt from interview with Aine Kavanagh
Wikipedia in the Classroom - Eve Sealy, Senior Honours student on the Reproductive Biology programme
Writing for a lay audience - Dr. Simon Riley and Dr. Richard Smith on the Reproductive Biology Wikipedia assignment
Wikipedia and Women in Chemistry - excerpt from interview with Dr. Jenni Garden and Dr. Michael Seery
What do we want the modern graduate to be - interview with Dr. Jenni Garden and Dr. Michael Seery on Wikipedia in education
Wikipedia in the Classrom - excerpt from interview with Translation Studies MSc student Mark Bradshaw
Practical considerations when running a Wikipedia assignment - Dr. Simon Riley and Dr. Richard Smith
Wikipedia and Law - Interview with 4th year Law undergraduate student, Jemima John
Wikipedia and History - excerpt from interview with Tomas Sanders, History undergraduate student
Wikidata in the Classroom - interview with Data Science for Design MSc students
Wikipedia and Women in STEM - Athina Frantzana, PhD student at the School of Physics and Astronomy

Wikipedia in Education (12 part video series)[edit]

Meet Educators and Wikipedia education leaders from around the world who share why they use Wikipedia in classrooms not just as a way to access knowledge, but also as a way to develop their students’ capacities, digital know-how and to share knowledge with the world. Learn how the process turns their students from consumers into knowledge producers, leaving behind papers that only the teacher reads for articles that the whole world can access.

Wikipedia in Education (1 of 12) Why do you teach Wikipedia?
Wikipedia in Education (2 of 12) What was your first Wikipedia article?
Wikipedia in Education (3 of 12) The five pillars of Wikipedia
Wikipedia in Education (4 of 12) Assignments
Wikipedia in Education (5 of 12) Brochures and tutorials
Wikipedia in Education (6 of 12) The key to a successful education program
Wikipedia in Education (7 of 12) Social media & connectivity
Wikipedia in Education (8 of 12) Work with the Wikipedia community
Wikipedia in Education (9 of 12) Motivating students
Wikipedia in Education (10 of 12) Language and translation
Wikipedia in Education (11 of 12) Scaling and when to hire an employee
Wikipedia in Education (12 of 12) Success and learning from failure