Trading the Bachelor’s thesis for … Wikipedia
Typically, university students are warned to avoid citing Wikipedia in essays.
However, a few particularly forward-looking universities in Poland and Ukraine are urging their students to write articles for Wikipedia, rather than employing Wikipedia quotes for essays that would probably just ‘gather dust’ once they’ve been graded, according to the Global Post.
Poznan University of Medical Sciences in western Poland is hoping to do away with the Bachelor’s thesis, preferring to encourage students to instead post Wikipedia articles. Poznan joins four other universities already working in co-operation with the Wikipedia Education Program.
An advanced editing workshop at Wikipedia, via Sage Ross, Wikimedia Commons
The Wikipedia Education Program began in 2010 as a grant-funded project in association with the Wikimedia Foundation. So far four universities are involved, in the United States, Brazil, Canada and Egypt and have produced almost 6,000 articles. Through cooperation with Wikimedia, university academics who wish to use Wikipedia as part of their courses are supported and are provided with ‘campus ambassadors’ who are trained in editing Wikipedia articles.
English Wikipedia currently has 748 million pages, but the Polish Wikipedia only has a fraction at 18 million at present, coming in eight largest in the world.
About the Author
-
More from Transitions Online- New York in the DonbasAs Ukraine and Russia once again come to the negotiating table, a frontline town is trying to put itself back on the map. From openDemocracy. […]
- 30 Years After: How a State DiesBrain drain and population loss are crippling the EU’s eastern countries, and the epidemic could spread westward. From Hospodarske noviny. […]
- Experts Sound Alarms over Istanbul Earthquake PreparednessWarnings persist that little has been done to combat overcrowding, strengthen buildings, and develop contingency plans – in fact, the government has done the opposite, they say. […]
- Splitting Personality?With Russia targeting NATO’s cohesiveness, the alliance needs some serious care and communication therapy to avoid falling apart. […]
- ‘Ideological Competition Is Actually Good for Us’The German Marshall Fund of the United States presents an interview with historian Timothy Garton Ash. […]
- Doctors, Death, and DebatesWhile a tragic case reveals doctors’ errors in communication with patients and with society, they are not the only ones to blame. While a tragic case reveals doctors’ errors in communication with patients and with society, they are not the only ones to blame. By Boyko Vassilev In the beginning, the sad details were unclear. A three-year-old boy died af […]
- Forgotten FighterThe first female Nobel Peace Prize winner, an early activist for peace and women’s rights, remains largely unknown in her birthplace of Prague. […]
- When Desir Falls Short of AchievementWhat did the OSCE's Freedom of the Media and Safety of Journalists conference in Moscow really achieve? […]
- New York in the Donbas
- Twitter feed loading...
About Us
Net Prophet is a blog supported by Transitions Online tracking new media and tech developments across Central Europe and Eurasia.
Transitions Online is an online magazine that covers political, social, cultural, and economic issues in the former communist countries of Europe and Central Asia. The magazine has a strong network of local contributors, who provide valuable insight into events in the region’s 29 countries.
