Some Professors Are Now Embracing Wikipedia
In sum, more than 14,000 students have created or edited 35,000 Wikipedia articles as part of a program run by the Wikipedia Education Foundation.
Los Angeles Times reports.
Why some college professors are telling students to use Wikipedia for class
Most college freshmen learn on Day 1 that they shouldn’t use Wikipedia. It’s framed as a crime on par with cheating: a mortal sin against the gods of academia.
In hundreds of classrooms across the country, though, some professors have begun taking a very different tack. Not only are their students encouraged to see Wikipedia as an important information source, but they’re required to edit it for class assignments.
Students at Emerson College, for instance, are responsible for Wikipedia’s “theatre and disability” page. The encyclopedia article on minor depressive disorder was revamped by a student at North Dakota State University. And if you ever look up the Wikipedia page on vaccination policy — a hot topic in our current political climate — most of what you’re reading sources from a sophomore-level chemistry class at the University of Michigan.
Why some college professors are telling students to use Wikipedia for class (Los Angeles Times)
Comments
I can never use Wiki for a real research paper and no intelligent person should use it. I guess searching for legitimate academic papers to cite is to difficult for these little snowflake.
Oh yes, a source that literally anyone can make changes to and which people perform mass editing drives to normalize the contents to their particular partisan ideology is great for quality data.
You’d better not be writing about a controvertial topic or *gasp* wrongthinkful ideas.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with using wikipedia….
…for its source list. Go read those sources and determine whether it is a legit source for your discipline.