INFO 266, Fall 2016
Polk, T., Johnston, M. & Evers, S.(2015). Wikipedia Use in Research: Perceptions in Secondary Schools.Tech Trends 59(3) pgs 92-102. DOI: 10.1007/s11528-015-0858-6
Summary:
The authors of this study wanted to determine if the use of Wikipedia by secondary students impacted the quality of research submitted by students, and thus led schools to developing policies to limit the use of Wikipedia. The findings revealed that very few schools had enacted any such policy, though teachers did often tell students Wikipedia was not an appropriate source for research. Though not the goal of the research, a definite take away from the article is that while Wikipedia will never be a 100% reliable resource it is still a valuable one that students should be taught how to evaluate and use.
My Comments:
While the specific study question for this article did not result in any great insights, the research and the investigations into the issues at hand definitely provide some practical food for thought.
A clear argument that arises out of this article is that librarians and teachers should stop promoting Wikipedia as an unreliable resource that should not be used for research. And though I was once one of those teachers who said this, this article convincingly shows the error in this way of thinking.
Librarians and teachers (who may need the help of librarians) need to start teaching students how to use Wikipedia. Students should learn how to use Wikipedia as a starting point and then follow the links. They should know about the “Page Assessment Guide” tool, that helps in the evaluation of a page’s trustworthiness. They should know Wikipedia can include library data linking citations of books directly to World Cat.
Anyone who has been teaching for awhile will know what this article says about students and research in the classroom rings true. Students are going to use Wikipedia, and it is our job, therefore, to teach them how to do so effectively.
And maybe someday, instead of warning students to avoid wikipedia, they will help them fix inaccuracies on a wikipedia page and to even add their own text to an entry- helping them understand that meaning and salience is socially constructed, and encouraging them to contribute to collective intelligence.
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