Wikipedia is the most widely-used source of information, not only for the public, but also for many decision-makers and academics; the way that subjects are covered in Wikipedia drives the way they are discussed in the scientific literature (Thompson & Hanley 2017). But the quality of content on Wikipedia depends on the skills, knowledge and interests of the volunteer editors who write Wikipedia articles.
Students in ecology classes have the skills and background to add high-quality content to Wikipedia while gaining depth of knowledge about the subject and taking ownership of their learning experience. Between 2014 and 2018 over 2000 university and college students in over 100 courses contributed to Wikipedia in the areas of ecology, conservation and biodiversity using tools and support provided by Wiki Education, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving Wikipedia’s quality, equity, and reach.
Results/Conclusions
Student editors were able to add over 3 million words to Wikipedia articles which received almost 100 million page views in the semesters in which they were edited. While there was a clear bias towards improving articles about taxa, student editors made substantial contributions to articles about ecosystem processes, behavioral and evolutionary ecology. They we also able to make substantial improvements to articles about women in ecology, a group whose work is underrepresented on Wikipedia. Throughout their assignments, students improved the quality and completeness of Wikipedia articles.
Student editors have made substantial improvements to Wikipedia’s coverage, but there’s still a long way to go, and there is still ample need for ecologists to help identify content gaps in Wikipedia’s coverage and to involve their students in the Wikipedia project. Attendees will gain insight into the benefits of trying this assignment in their courses, and will leave with information about getting started.