1. Overview
Summary
Reproductive Biology Honours students researched,
synthesised and developed a first-rate Wikipedia
entry of a previously unpublished medical term:
neuroangiogenesis. Integrating Wikipedia into
coursework allows students and staff to explore
the affordances of virtual (online) spaces for
public engagement whilst building upon digital
literacies training and application.
Simultaneously, students develop skills for
academic outcomes and life-long learning, whilst
demonstrating online, collaborative writing and
science communication.
Context
Level: Undergraduate
Discipline/Subjects: Learning, Teaching and
Web Services
Contact Details
Eugenia Twomey, Learning, Teaching and Web
Services
Ewan McAndrew, The University of Edinburgh’s
Wikimedian-in-Residence
Themes
Curriculum Development
Learning Communities
To download this case study, select "Export As"
from the Tools menu
Wikipedia in curriculum for public engagement, communication
and digital literacy
Wikipedia in curriculum for
public engagement, science
communication and digital
literacy
Date Added: March, 2016
What was done
Learning Teaching and Web Services Student Engagement
Officer, Eugenia Twomey supported Dr Chris Harlow
(Programme Organiser Reproductive Biology Honours) and
MRC Career Development Research Fellow Dr Erin Greaves
integrate Wikipedia publishing and editing into Reproductive
Biology Honours Semester One curriculum and the outcome
was a first-rate entry of a previously unpublished medical
term: neuroangiogenesis.
Museums Galleries Scotland Wikimedian in Residence Sara
Thomas, Ally Crockford (Wikimedia UK) and Sheila Fisken,
Medical Librarian, supported class delivery in Semester One,
Week One and optional Week Two Wednesday afternoon
class. Work was split over two 3 hour sessions, with students
working collaboratively during the first session, and then
publishing in the second. A teaching studio in King's
Buildings was used as the venue for session one followed by
a computer laboratory at Little France for session two.
Session 1
The first three hour session prepared students for publishing
the article by leading students through Library research
training. The Academic Support Librarian for Medicine, Sheila
Fisken, gave a brief summary and demonstration of several
search engines and databases: Scopus, Web of Science,
Google Scholar, Pubmed and the Library’s search tool,
DiscoverED.
Students were encouraged to try different search techniques
such as wildcards (?) and truncation symbols (*) to retrieve
more results. For example the term neuroangiogenesis is
sometimes expressed as neuro-angiogenesis and by using
neuro?angiogenesis both forms would be retrieved in a search.
The students were split into 5 groups and were assigned one of the search engines and were asked to do some research using the term
‘neuroangiogenesis’. The results from the databases were similar (c.15) except for Google Scholar which retrieved over 165, but many of these
were duplicates and irrelevant. Students found that the Library’s search tool DiscoverED, which searches across most of the Library’s
subscription resources, retrieved relevant results and was noted as being ‘good for refining searches’. Web of Science retrieved the highest hit
rate of 20 relevant results.
After searching for satisfactory definitions and peer-reviewed literature, students worked collaboratively to critically analyse and synthesise the
literature to create an article aligned with , specifically to ensure a structure that demonstrates completeness andWikipedia Manual of Style
readability.
Session 2
The second three hour session offered participants first-hand experience in navigating and editing Wiki software. Among the areas covered were
the basic mechanics of editing pages, and skills and techniques appropriate for science communication whilst building student digital literacy.
Particular attention was paid to ; these guiding principles ensure that contributions to the online repository maintain aWikipedia’s Five Pillars
neutral point of view and adhere to the principles of verifiability and notability.
Motivation and aims

2. There were several areas of interest: integrating digital literacies training and application into curriculum to support skills for academic outcomes
and life-long learning; and, developing students as online, collaborative writers, and building skills for science communication. The project allowed
students and staff to explore the affordances of virtual (online) spaces for public engagement. Through publishing collaboratively via Open
Education repositories like Wikipedia, students and staff alike can contribute to the University’s knowledge exchange and educational impact
agenda.
Additionally, students have access to many search engines, both openly available, and subscription-only and one of the aims of this session was
to remind the students of some of these science specific databases and to compare the results from 5 selected resources.
Successes and lessons learnt
In a 3-hour session a class of Honours students were able to collect enough material on a topic through diligent use of literature searching to
allow three of the class to then build a substantive, accurate and informative Wikipedia entry, generating a modest 5 hits per day since
publication.
A variety of topics to research would accommodate large groups of students with varied interests.
Scalability and transferability
The success of this project indicates how this type of interactive group work, with a public engagement message, lends itself to incorporation into
the curriculum across all disciplines.
Requirements for staffing include a Librarian to support research skills and a Wikimedian to provide Wikipedia publishing training.
Venues should be equipped with learning technology for training purposes and should support students with personal computers.
This type of coursework can be applied to all subjects interested in public engagement and knowledge transaction. Wikipedia has a particular
need for discipline specific communication (ie. science, medicine) to explore complex theory and concepts through accessible language.
Further information
Regarding literature searching, it can be difficult to make students aware of the depth and breadth of resources that are available, however this
session was particularly successful:
"I had never heard of some of the search engines and plan to use them in future, so learning about them was very useful! “
"I found the second speaker (librarian) very helpful, in which she described the different search engines and databases available, and the best
ways to exploit the functions of each”
Feedback at the conclusion of the project included:
Student Felicity Robinson said, “[I was] amazed to learn that there was a topic that existed that didn't already have a Wikipedia page!
Before this I didn't fully appreciate before how much work goes into producing and maintaining a Wikipedia article. I have always been slightly
wary of using Wikipedia but having seen how much effort goes into ensuring nearly all of the information on their is correct I will definitely use it as
a starting point for further research projects in the future. I now feel very comfortable putting together further Wikipedia pages in future should I
find a topic that does not already have a page”.
Siobhan Rice also enjoyed the session, “I gained new skills in creating and formatting a [Wikipedia] webpage which will be extremely useful going
forward. Our Wikimedian, Sara, was encouraging, enthusiastic and made the whole learning process very fun. I now have the confidence to edit
Wikipedia articles and do my part to improve this useful resource".
Dr Harlow felt the collaborative nature of engaging with Wikipedia to be a highly valuable experience, “Working with colleagues from different
disciplines, I found the process of introducing the whole Honours class to a range of literature searching tools, setting them specific tasks to
collect information for the Wikipedia page, and then engaging a small group of students to help build the Wikipedia page a truly inspiring activity.
To see the end product evolve on the screen in front of me was very exciting!”
Links:
Neuroangiogenesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroangiogenesis
Wikipedia’s Five Pillars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars
Wikipedia Manual of Style https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style