Wikipedia as an academic service-learning tool in science and technology: higher education case from Siberia

Abstract

Wikipedia, the open crowdsourced encyclopedia that anyone can edit, ranks among the top ten most-visited websites globally. Its integration into university curriculum as an innovative educational tool is a slowly growing trend; however, many higher education institutions have yet to fully grasp its potential. In response, a specific optional module for Wikipedia editing, designed for the selected undergraduate science courses at the School of Advanced Studies, Russia, was implemented as an optional extra credit service-learning activity, a teaching methodology combining meaningful service to the community with curriculum-based learning. Students who chose to participate and those who preferred not to participate in the activity were invited to participate in a research project to explore their perspectives and experiences. In total, five sessions of focus group discussions were conducted with participants (12 females and 2 males) in one set and non-participants (5 females and 4 males) in another to identify students' perspectives on themes such as their interest in science, reasons for their choices, and their expectations before the activity while post-experience focus group discussions were used to identify the perspectives of participant students on themes, encompassing contribution of the service-learning activity, acquisition of new skills, and the development of prosocial behaviors. Students' opinions on integrating social responsibility topics into the curriculum were also explored. The results extracted from these focus group discussions, analyzed through consensual coding, revealed factors promoting student participation, like interest in the subject, novelty of the activity, and grade improvement opportunities, as well as factors deterring participation, such as concerns about academic benefits, workload, and time constraints. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that Wikipedia editing serves as a novel teaching methodology, promoting student learning and development in digital literacy and information literacy, which are among the twenty-first-century skills. Interestingly, at the same time, not all students could address the value of contributing to open, crowdsourced knowledge for public service or interpret this activity as an academic service-learning. These suggest that Wikipedia editing is an innovative teaching approach, fostering students' learning and development while also indicating its potential to enhance students' understanding of responsible citizenship and public service in the digital age.

Keywords: Academic service-learning; Biology education; Higher education; Public service; Science education; Siberia case; Twenty-first century skills; Wikipedia.

Fig. 1

Data tree obtained from focus group discussion sessions

Fig. 2

The study lasted for a period of 5 weeks with distinct stages and components. Pre-experience and post-experience stages represent the periods at which focus group analyses were conducted. In between, Wikipedia-based service-learning activity was instructed and implemented. The first focus group discussion was dedicated to the insights from the nonparticipant students (NP/FG1). This focus group had 5 females and 4 males, a total of 9 students. The second focus group discussion was dedicated to pre-experience perspectives of participant students (NP/FG2), while three additional focus group discussions were arranged for these students to identify their post-experience perspectives (NP/FG3, NP/FG4, NP/FG5). These four focus group discussions of participant students had 12 females and 2 males, a total of 14 students (human icons were obtained from Freepik, October 2023)