Open Pedagogy as Open Student Projects
Teaching Wikipedia: A Model for Critical Engagement with Open Information
Amanda Koziura; Jennifer M. Starkey; and Einav Rabinovitch-Fox
Authors
- Amanda Koziura, Case Western Reserve University
- Jennifer M. Starkey, Case Western Reserve University
- Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, Case Western Reserve University
Project Overview
Institution: Case Western Reserve University
Institution Type: private, research, undergraduate, postgraduate
Project Discipline: STEM
Project Outcome: Wikipedia content creation
Tools Used: Wikipedia, LibGuides
Resources Included in Chapter:
- Lesson Plans
- Grading Rubric
Introduction
In this chapter, the authors describe the learning experience and goals of a class assignment to write content for Wikipedia about women in science and technology fields. The authors, a university professor and two librarians, collaboratively developed this assignment to allow students to engage in rigorous research and contribute to the visibility of women scientists by writing content for the web. The authors chose the Wikipedia platform as the means to make the students’ work openly available because of its ubiquity and the potential for student work to make an important impact. The assignment, used in two iterations of the course, was designed to provide students not only with a hands-on experience on working on the open web, but also with tools to assess critically the uses and abuses of open access platforms.
Over multiple class sessions with librarians spread throughout the semester, students engaged with questions such as the power and bias of authorship, the meaning of authority, the role of critical consumers/producers of information, how to evaluate and use archival documents on open platforms, as well as ethical questions deriving from producing content for the open web. The chapter examines both the challenges and successes in designing and engaging students with the assignment, offering a model of collaboration between faculty, librarians, and archivists in the promotion of open pedagogy that can be replicated at other institutions and disciplines.
Why Wikipedia?
The Wikipedia assignment was developed as a final assignment in a course on Gender and Technology that was offered as part of the Seminar Approach to General Education and Scholarship (SAGES) Program at Case Western Reserve University. SAGES seminars are usually capped at 17 students, and are comprised of a mixture of first-year and sophomore students. In these seminars, students engage with critical thinking, learning analytical and research skills, as well as gaining experience with multiple forms of academic writing. As the university is a STEM focused institution, where the majority of undergraduate students major in engineering and the hard sciences, the class topic of Gender and Technology was selected by the professor to appeal to students’ interests. The course especially targeted students who seek to engage with questions on h