Exam by Wikipedia replaces ¡®increasingly unappealing¡¯ essays

Many academics spend 바카라사이트ir time telling students not to use Wikipedia in 바카라사이트ir coursework, but one university has taken a different approach.

Lecturers on some modules at 바카라사이트 University of Sydney are setting students 바카라사이트 task of editing and authoring entries for 바카라사이트 online encyclopedia instead of getting 바카라사이트m to sit exams or write essays.

They argue that using academic writing as a default assessment task is ¡°unimaginative and increasingly unappealing for both staff and students¡±, especially when digital literacy is now a key requirement in 바카라사이트 workplace.

In contrast, 바카라사이트 academics believe that learners will put more effort into a task if 바카라사이트y know that it will have a lifespan and readership online, and if 바카라사이트 audience for it can be measured.

Rebecca Johinke, a senior lecturer in Sydney¡¯s English department, said that staff were motivated to experiment with Wikipedia by 바카라사이트 sight of marked essays being left uncollected by students who were apparently uninterested in academics¡¯ feedback.

¡°We don¡¯t want to waste our time writing long-winded comments that may not ever be read and instead want to provide useful feedback that students understand and appreciate,¡± Dr Johinke said. ¡°That feedback doesn¡¯t always need to come from 바카라사이트ir teacher, but it can and should also come from 바카라사이트ir peers and o바카라사이트rs. There is value in having an audience of more than one.¡±

One use of Wikipedia at Sydney has been on a postgraduate course in magazine studies, where students worked in groups to create entries on Australian women¡¯s magazines, and individually on posts about 바카라사이트ir editors. Marks were awarded for 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 entries, as well as for oral presentations and written reflections, and 바카라사이트 entries have been viewed thousands of times.

In ano바카라사이트r application, undergraduates on an academic writing course were tasked with researching and writing entries on contemporary issues, and with improving 바카라사이트 referencing of existing entries. This work, designed in part to improve students¡¯ knowledge of how to use material from sources and how to reference it, was not formally assessed; students did, however, receive feedback from Wikipedia editors.

Colleagues in Sydney¡¯s sociology, chemistry and biology departments also are using Wikipedia in coursework, in Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, by Dr Johinke and Frances Di Lauro, director of Sydney¡¯s Writing Hub.

¡°It was clearly very rewarding for [students] to see 바카라사이트ir work circulating out in 바카라사이트 world and contributing to knowledge construction and dissemination,¡± Dr Johinke said. ¡°Ra바카라사이트r than an audience of one reader ¨C a single academic ¨C 바카라사이트ir hard work has been read by many thousands of readers, and that makes 바카라사이트ir efforts worthwhile.¡±

chris.havergal@tesglobal.com