<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The academic world initially regarded Wikipedia with misgivings for a number of reasons, including the uncertainty concerning the reliability of its content, its anonymous authorship and the fact that students often use it as an easy way to cut and paste material for their coursework. In recent years, however, university instructors’ perception of Wikipedia has changed significantly: it is seen as a useful teaching resource, as well as a promising environment for learning and collaborative knowledge building. It can be used for teaching purposes by assigning students to create and edit encyclopaedia articles. Such assignments can have many benefits: in addition to improving students’ understanding of content, the assignments have been shown to increase their intrinsic motivation to learn, develop digital competences and build cross-cutting skills in online communication and interaction. Lastly, in connection with universities’ institutional role, editing Wikipedia can be an interesting channel for the public communication of science.</p></abstract>

The academic world initially regarded Wikipedia with misgivings for a number of reasons, including the uncertainty concerning the reliability of its content, its anonymous authorship and the fact that students often use it as an easy way to cut and paste material for their coursework. In recent years, however, university instructors’ perception of Wikipedia has changed significantly: it is seen as a useful teaching resource, as well as a promising environment for learning and collaborative knowledge building. It can be used for teaching purposes by assigning students to create and edit encyclopaedia articles. Such assignments can have many benefits: in addition to improving students’ understanding of content, the assignments have been shown to increase their intrinsic motivation to learn, develop digital competences and build cross-cutting skills in online communication and interaction. Lastly, in connection with universities’ institutional role, editing Wikipedia can be an interesting channel for the public communication of science.

Wikipedia in university courses: teaching practices and educational benefits

Research on Education and Media

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"Wikipedia in university courses: teaching practices and educational benefits"}

The academic world initially regarded Wikipedia with misgivings for a number of reasons, including the uncertainty concerning the reliability of its content,...

Wikipedia in university courses: teaching practices and educational benefits

Published Online: Dec 26, 2019

Page range: 10 - 16

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/rem-2018-0010

Keywords
Wikipedia, learning environment, teaching practices, teaching strategies

© 2018 Corrado Petrucco, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Wikipedia in university courses: teaching practices and educational benefits

Published Online: Dec 26, 2019

Page range: 10 - 16

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/rem-2018-0010

KeywordsWikipedia, learning environment, teaching practices, teaching strategies

© 2018 Corrado Petrucco, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Wikipedia, learning environment, teaching practices, teaching strategies