Writing for Wikipedia

Martha Groom, an associate professor of Interdisciplinary Arts at UW Bothell, had her students write and publish their term papers as encycopedia-style entries in Wikipedia. Andreas Brockhaus worked with Martha to develop and carry out this project, which has received national attention.

Tools: Wikis.

Project Description:

  • BIS 303 Environmental History and Globalization, Autumn 06 - a minimum of 1500 words new Wikipedia article or edit relating to the course topic. This assignment was individual and counted as 60% of the course grade.
  • BIS 459 Conservation and Sustainable Development, Spring 07 - a Wikipedia article or sub-article relating to the course topic. This assignment was completed in groups, so the minimum length was variable. It accounted for 40% of the course grade.

Project Showcase:

Student Feedback:

  • "This assignment felt so Real! I had not thought that anything I wrote was worth others reading before, but now I think what I contributed was useful, and I'm glad other people can gain from my research."
  • "Although I was really scared by this assignment, I really appreciate a chance to write something that might help someone else beyond myself."

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