I’m excited to share that Colleen McCoy has joined Wiki Education as our Communications and Outreach Coordinator. In her role, Colleen supports the development and implementation of communications across all departments, including outreach to new and ongoing partners. She also leads key projects for our Wikipedia Student Program’s Knowledge Equity initiative in partnership with the Mellon Foundation, manages our blog and social media channels, and will represent Wiki Education at conferences and webinars.

Colleen holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and International Studies, a bachelor’s degree in Integrated Strategic Communication, and a master’s degree in International Education Policy and Management with a graduate certificate in Latin American Studies. She brings nearly seven years of higher education experience at Vanderbilt University in both outreach and communications, first at Vanderbilt’s Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies, and most recently in the Office of Undergraduate Education. In her previous positions, Colleen led public programming, created curricular resources and professional development workshops for K-16 educators, coordinated a national book award to celebrate diverse children’s literature, and developed external, internal, and executive communications.

In her free time, you’ll find Colleen planning new travels, trying to keep her Spanish skills from getting rusty, kayaking and hiking with her husband, and jumping into a new book.

Welcome to the team, Colleen!

In Wiki Education’s Wikipedia Student Program, students are assigned to edit a Wikipedia article on a course-related topic by their higher education instructor. For some students, they pick something they’re already deeply familiar with; for others, it’s a personal interest. But for Zoe Muccatira, a junior at North Dakota State University, she picked her topic on the mineral ophirite – a mineral she knew nothing about prior. 

Zoe was taking a course taught by Dr. Bernhardt Saini-Eidukat on Mineralogy. Dr. Saini-Eidukat had students select a mineral without an existing Wikipedia page from a list of minerals recognized by the International Mineralogical Association, and asked Zoe and her classmates to create them.

“After doing research on the mineral I found out that it was really interesting: it is the first known mineral with a tri-lacunary Keggin polyanion – a structure known in synthetic compounds, but was unknown naturally,” Zoe explains. “I thought that the Wikipedia assignment was a nice addition to our regular coursework and gave us an opportunity to pick a mineral of our own interest to study more on and discover minerals we had not been introduced to in class. For most traditional assignments for Mineralogy, we spent time learning about more well known minerals of different groups classified by anion or anionic complex.”

Minerals are of particular interest to Zoe, who grew up in Hoople, North Dakota, a rural area with agricultural influence that had started Zoe on her path of loving nature. She’s studying geology and biology with an emphasis in ecology and conservation science.

“Growing up in the countryside on a farm surrounded in a sheath of nature was really the foundation of my appreciation for the Earth,” she says.

And Wikipedia was a natural extension of that. Writing for Wikipedia gave her key skills in science communication – and an opportunity to shape the public’s understanding of ophirite.

“I am mainly interested in environmental, evolutionary biology, and evolutionary ecology research. It is important that I communicate my research in a way that is effective and accessible to many – Wikipedia is a great platform for this reason,” Zoe says. “If someone wants to find out more about a specific topic, it is likely that one of the first search results will be a Wikipedia page on that topic.”

She admits she was initially intimidated. But with guidance from her professor and Wiki Education’s training modules on how to edit Wikipedia, Zoe found the experience not particularly difficult. She said it was more fun than writing a traditional term paper. Organizing, adding inboxes, and other aspects led to an exciting visual experience.

“I am glad that I had the opportunity to create a Wikipedia article in my mineralogy class because it is not something I would have initially done on my own. I wanted my Wikipedia page to look professional, and fit all the requirements of what makes a good, informative Wikipedia page not only for  my professor to grade, but for those on the internet who would find it soon after it had been published. I was proud of myself for creating the page, and it was amazing being the first person to add information about such a unique mineral on Wikipedia,” Zoe says. “In the future, I would like to edit Wikipedia again – whether it be creating a new page or helping edit someone else’s. It is an easy and fun way to add information in my field.” 

Wiki Education’s support for instructors who want to teach with Wikipedia are available at teach.wikiedu.org. Our support for STEM classes like Zoe’s is available thanks to the Guru Krupa Foundation.

When Georgia Institute of Technology student Annika Trout learned she’d be improving a Wikipedia article for her Introduction to Environmental Sciences class this fall, she felt like it would be an interesting change from her typical research essay or presentation.

“I also felt daunted by the challenge – it seemed like a huge responsibility to deliver accurate, reliable, and objective information to the general public,” she says. “I remember being impressed by the examples of articles provided by my professor that past students had written, and I knew that I wanted to try to produce the best article that I could.”

Annika succeeded, substantially improving the stub article on non-aqueous phase liquid. Annika’s professor, Jennifer Glass, had created a list of “stub” articles in environmental sciences — short articles needing improvement — and asked Annika and her classmates to rank their interest in the topics. Annika ranked non-aqueous phase liquid first due to her interest in hydrology and the subsurface environment, so she was assigned it.

Annika says she likes to divide projects into smaller tasks and work over long periods of time, which she did for this project. She started researching, collating notes and identifying topics she needed to seek more information on. She began drafting, then re-organized her notes for a more natural flow, and finally began revisions.

Throughout the way, she learned not just about her topic, but also about the process of research and writing.

“I learned a lot about my capabilities as a student/researcher/writer. I learned that with dedication and patience, it is possible to produce a body of work to be proud of. I also learned how important it is to be intentional with organization when writing a research article. It’s important to keep track of the information gathered and what source it came from,” Annika says. “It’s also important to evaluate sources and corroborate ideas between sources. The revision process is also very important, as is peer review. It was important that I had friends and colleagues read and comment on my work so that I could revise parts of the article that needed more clarity.”

Annika attempted to submit her revision for a feature on Wikipedia’s home page, in the “Did you know?” section, but unfortunately she missed the cutoff window for submission. Still, she got great feedback from other Wikipedia editors on her article by engaging in the process.

Having other Wikipedia editors and the general public being able to read her work really motivated Annika.

“Its reliability as a source depends on the fact that the community works together to publish accurate and reliable information. For me, this provided a special incentive to do a good job because good work would invite more eyes to vet my work and make it even more useful for the public,” she says. “It was meaningful to me to be able to take information that might be inaccessible to the public and faithfully translate it into something that people could interact with and understand. Wikipedia assignments are a brilliant way to engage students in experiential learning by plunging them into the research process while simultaneously using their unique talents to make knowledge more accessible. “

Annika did struggle to find images relevant to her article. Being able to create her own images would have been helpful, but she felt stymied by a lack of graphic design skills. Nevertheless, she found the skills she gained from writing for Wikipedia valuable to her future career path. She aspires to a career addressing the global challenges posed by climate change.

“I don’t yet know what my professional role will look like, but for now, I’m focused on expanding my knowledge of the sciences as well as my unique skill set so that I can be a useful resource, whether that be through policymaking, conservation efforts, or development projects,” Annika says. “I absolutely think that my experience writing for Wikipedia helped me move closer to that ideal. It’s vitally important with a problem like climate change to be able to communicate reliable information, especially within a digital space. I learned about how information can be presented in different ways to achieve different effects and the value of objectivity in scientific writing.”

Annika intends to continue editing Wikipedia now that she’s learned how. She says this assignment shifted her perspective on Wikipedia, and she encourages other students editing as a class assignment to approach the assignment with enthusiasm.

“This assignment was one of my favorites I ever completed for school. It not only helped me expand my specific academic interests, but also provided me with a challenge that I could face and grow from,” Annika says. “Wiki Education is such a fantastic opportunity for students to pour their energy into a project with tangible positive impacts. I feel lucky and grateful that I was given that opportunity, and I encourage other students within Wiki Education to take pride in their work and give it their all!”

Wiki Education’s support for instructors who want to with Wikipedia are available at teach.wikiedu.org. Our support for STEM classes like Annika’s is available thanks to the Guru Krupa Foundation.

Charles Darwin coined the term “warm little pond” to describe the potential origin of life. But the idea lacked a Wikipedia article until Ula Jones created it this fall as part of a class assignment to improve Wikipedia’s coverage of the origin of life.

Ula is a first-year graduate student in earth and space sciences and astrobiology at the University of Washington. Her astrobiology professor, David Catling, assigned Ula and her classmates to edit Wikipedia as part of the class through Wiki Education’s Wikipedia Student Program this fall.

“I wanted to write about the warm little pond (WLP) hypothesis for this project both because geologic settings for the origin of life are relevant to my scientific background and research, and I was interested in the opportunity to synthesize the interdisciplinary links between chemistry, geology, and biology that underlie the topic,” Ula says.

Ula admits she was intimidated by the idea of writing for Wikipedia at first. But once she dove into the project, she got more excited.

“I eventually came to particularly like the idea of making my own work publicly available, as well as being able to read other students’ work and learn about those subjects,” she says. “Scientific literacy and communication are important to me. Since most people get their information online today, I was happy to have an opportunity to help expand access to discussions of recent research in a place where a lot of people might come across it.”

Ula says in choosing her topic, she engaged with both modern research that was directly relevant to class readings and sources that revealed historical context. Her research led her to learn more about Charles Darwin, Alexander Oparin, and John Haldane’s works, lives, and beliefs.

“This was pretty neat, because historical background seems to often be brushed over when learning and communicating science. However, in this case it was necessary to present the whole context of the WLP hypothesis,” she explains.

While Ula has written many papers before, one thing she found particularly meaningful from learning to write for Wikipedia was the emphasis on citations.

“My favorite part about writing for Wikipedia was probably learning and applying good citation practices and reference management. While I had some knowledge about this already, the specific examples of best practices and ways to avoid unintentional plagiarism in the training were particularly useful,” she says of the online modules provided by Wiki Education. “It’s also pretty cool and unique to be able to share some of my classwork with friends and family just by sending them the link or telling them the phrase to look up.”

She found the experience valuable both for her current role as a student as well as her future career path. Science communication skills are core to any modern scientist, and this assignment helped her generate those.

“I would like to work as a professor someday, which involves educating students and typically public talks or outreach as well to some degree. In both cases it is important to be able to express and present scientific information in an accessible way. Because of this, the opportunity to practice scientific communication by writing for Wikipedia was valuable,” Ula says. “The assignment was both a great way of furthering my own understanding of what we covered in class, as well as expanding access to information about an important topic in origin of life research. I would be happy to contribute more to Wikipedia in future classes.”

Wiki Education’s support for instructors who want to with Wikipedia — including the trainings Ula highlights — are available at teach.wikiedu.org. Our support for STEM classes like Ula’s is available thanks to the Guru Krupa Foundation.

“People often acknowledge scientists such as J. Robert Oppenheimer, but other scientists who worked on the project are hardly ever acknowledged,” Connor says. “This is especially true for minority scientists, as people often underestimate them as a result of prejudice. I chose to write on Ralph Gardner-Chavis in order to ensure that his story is heard.”

A chemist, Gardner-Chavis was one of several African Americans whose research advanced the Manhattan Project’s goals. Gardner-Chavis was a chemist whose research on plutonium was critical to the development of the atomic bomb. But after his work on the Manhattan Project, Gardner-Chavis couldn’t find work as a chemist because of racism and ended up waiting tables.

“I detest the fact that many peoples’ contributions were (and still are) undermined because of aspects like race and gender,” Connor says. “Discrimination can cause important research to remain unnoticed, which is detestable. Regardless of who someone is, their works should be made known, and they should be acknowledged. I hope that my article will help Ralph Gardner-Chavis and his works become more prominent.”

Connor’s course at Lone Star was on environmental science, and his instructor, Dr. Brian Shmaefsky, was excited to offer the opportunity for his students to create biographies of diverse scientists like Gardner-Chavis through an initiative Wiki Education is running sponsored by the Broadcom Foundation.

“I was excited to use Wikipedia as a means of providing students with accessible real-world writing experiences,” Dr. Shmaefsky says. “The students were much more engaged in writing the Wikipedia entries than they were with other assignments. I fully believe that STEM fields advance more equitability with diverse representation. Writing biographies of individuals from diverse backgrounds better reflects the true diversity of the scientific community.”

Connor says the hardest part for him was finding sources that met Wikipedia’s Reliable sources policy. In his research, he tried to locate coverage in academic journals, but found that challenging due to the same historical marginalization of the work of scientists of color that led to Gardner-Chavis not being well known. Wikipedia, however, offered an opportunity to shed light on his work — once Connor dug up a few sources.

“My students gained insights into the varied challenges, contributions, and experiences of scientists who are underrepresented in textbooks, general reading books, and online resources,” Dr. Shmaefsky says. “Students began discussing how the unique cultural perspectives of underrepresented scientists influence the breadth, direction, and emphasis of research investigations.”

In the class, students discussed how having biographies of relevant scientists can influence students into pursuing a career in science, when they can have a role model to look up to from a similar background. That’s exactly why the Broadcom Foundation is funding this initiative, which encourages creation of new biographies of diverse people in STEM.

Professors, though, don’t just participate for this reason; they also want to make sure students are gaining core skills, and this project does that, according to Dr. Shmaefsky.

“Based on what I assessed from my students, the Wikipedia assignment encouraged students to learn effective research skills that included the ability to gather and evaluate accurate information from various sources,” he says “It also provided students with an understanding of the guidelines and ethical norms of online digital communication. The Wikipedia assignment was more effective than traditional teaching at instilling these skills.”

Connor found the whole experience rewarding, and he hopes to continue editing Wikipedia in the future. He’s grateful for the support of his partner, Christopher Voss, as well as for Dr. Shmaefsky for giving him the assignment in the first place.

“I definitely prefer writing for Wikipedia as opposed to a traditional assignment or term paper. This is because a Wikipedia article will continue to be edited and viewed. This is very different from academic papers, as those usually get filed away after you turn them in,” he says.

Mahmoud “Mody” Hassan is a freshman at Rutgers University Newark. It was his first term of college, and he had just started at Rutgers after being born and raised in Egypt. So there were a lot of changes in his life when he showed up to Dr. Laura Porterfield’s class on “Education and Social Change in the Black Diaspora” and learned he’d be writing a Wikipedia article as a class assignment. Dr. Porterfield was participating in a project run by Wiki Education and funded by the Broadcom Foundation to increase the number of biographies on Wikipedia of diverse people in STEM.

“The concept of making a page on Wikipedia sounded too crazy and made me consider dropping the class,” Mody admits. “But I never did.”

Despite that initial nervousness, Mody dug in on the assignment. He chose to write about Claibourne Smith, an African American chemist who helped advance Delaware State University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU).

“After reading about him and how much information about him was nowhere to be found, I decided that he should get a page on Wikipedia,” he says.

Mody tackled two different areas of learning: (1) learning about Claibourne Smith and his achievements, and (2) learning how to edit Wikipedia. While he didn’t enjoy the technical difficulties of creating the page, he loved publishing the final article.

“So this assignment took longer than the other assignments, but the most important and different thing is that this article was going to go online for people to read and consume knowledge from, and it was my responsibility that those people weren’t misled by what I wrote,” Mody says. “The feeling of having the assignment done and having it published online for everyone to see was such a flex, and I loved that part.”

He hopes more faculty participate; if they’re going to ask students to write the equivalent of an article anyway, why not publish it on Wikipedia so everyone can benefit? And the experience has taught him useful skills about editing Wikipedia. While he’s busy with schoolwork during the term, he’s already planning to create more articles on the Arabic Wikipedia this summer.

“Making a page about Smith meant a lot to me because I felt like it was a piece of art that I kept looking at,” Mody says.

For the Clovis students, it was an opportunity to see themselves in the people they were writing about. Designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, Clovis is located in Fresno, California.

“By adding a biography of a diverse person, I felt like I was bringing their story out in the world. Not many would know about this individual but because we started his article, it would allow others to learn about him,” says Kaitlyn Chhay, a first-year student at Clovis who is planning to major in biology. “My favorite part about writing for Wikipedia is knowing that in some way I am kind of leaving an impact on this website. Now forever on, I will know that I was one person of a group who started his article and brought his name out into the light.”

Benson Karki, a computer science major, echoed Kaitlyn’s sentiments.

“Adding a biography of diverse individuals in STEM to Wikipedia is significant to me because it serves as an inspiration for individuals from similar backgrounds,” he says. “Highlighting the accomplishments of someone like Juan G. Santiago, whose work was not widely showcased on the internet, is essential in demonstrating the possibilities within STEM fields to a broader audience.”

Bringing diverse people’s accomplishments to light is the goal of the project the students participated in, funded by the Broadcom Foundation. By adding diverse biographies to Wikipedia, the project seeks to help students see themselves in the heroes and heroines of science.

“As a person of color coming from Lebanese immigrant parents, adding a biography of a person also of color in STEM means for me that I can make it,” Danny Aoun says. “Having a role model who has pursued their dreams as a person of color and has a commonality with me in neuroscience motivates me to strive in whatever I am currently doing because my end goal will be to make as big of an impact on this world that Steve Ramirez has.”

Danny says he plans to transfer to a four-year college after finishing his first two years at Clovis. He hopes to major in psychology or psychological and brain sciences, and dreams of completing a doctoral degree. So creating the biography of a neuroscientist was particularly meaningful to him.

“My favorite part about writing for Wikipedia was learning what this underrepresented STEM researcher has done for modern neuroscience,” he says. “Neuroscience is such a fascinating field, so I enjoyed learning about the research he has done and what it means for the future.”

Juliet Herzog, another Clovis student, is also planning to transfer to a four-year school, and is majoring in biology.

“It was interesting to research and write about someone influential in STEM because of my interest in science,” she says. “Writing this article felt rewarding. As my group did research for the microbiologist we were creating an article for, James M. Jay, it seemed like he was influential in his field. From our research, he seemed dedicated to microbiology, and this was reflected in the awards honored to him. For this reason, I am glad he has a Wikipedia article that others can continue to make contributions to and others can read.”

Of course, not only did students learn about the people whose accomplishments they were featuring on Wikipedia — they also learned about Wikipedia itself.

“One crucial aspect I’d like to emphasize is how meticulously Wikipedia articles are crafted. They are credible, unbiased, and extensively backed by citations, challenging the misconception that they are not reliable sources; a significant lesson I learned through this assignment,” Benson says.

And it’s not just learning about Wikipedia; students gained core research and writing skills as well.

“One thing I really appreciate about this project was the skills developed from writing this type of article; for example, research and writing objectively,” Juliet says. “I thought it was an interesting project because of how different it was from past writing assignments. I am mostly familiar with writing argumentative essays or thematic essays, so this writing was very different for me. Furthermore, this project not only helps students, but also Wikipedia as this project raises awareness among students of writing for this website.”

Danny agrees. While he loved sharing Steve Ramirez’s contributions to neuroscience research, he also enjoyed gaining skills along the way.

“My second favorite part about writing about Wikipedia was learning information literacy. I did not only realize how to be literate at gathering information but how important it is in our day and age where seeking accurate information is a necessity,” he says. “I grew passionate for this project through the information I was learning, and this ties back to what Wikipedia is, a worldwide, free encyclopedia. Being able to provide more information to the public on what I may be researching in the future and supporting Wikipedia’s journey to make a more equitable encyclopedia has been a great honor.”

Visit teach.wikiedu.org to learn how to incorporate a Wikipedia assignment into your own course.

Header image of students in the class courtesy Melanie Sanwo, all rights reserved.

Chemist Harold B. Evans was one of a handful of African American scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project. A photo of him has been included in the Wikipedia article on African-American scientists and technicians on the Manhattan Project for several years — but Wikipedia lacked his biography until student De’Narie Breeland created it this year.

De’Narie wrote the article on Evans as a class assignment for Corry Stevenson’s Principles of Engineering class at Denmark Technical College. Denmark, a Historically Black College and University, is located in Allendale, South Carolina, where De’Narie is from. De’Narie and her classmates were assigned to create a biography of a diverse person in STEM with support from Wiki Education as part of an initiative sponsored by the Broadcom Foundation to support diversity in STEM on Wikipedia.

“At first, I was confused that I was going to be writing an article or biography. I have never written a biography or article for Wikipedia or for a college class,” De’Narie says.

But she didn’t let that stop her. She jumped right in and started researching Evans’s contributions.

“I chose Harold B. Evans because he was an African American male who had an opportunity that many African Americans could not have,” De’Narie says. “It was very meaningful because us African Americans have been overlooked in the past and I love to see African Americans achieve in something so big.”

She learned the ins and outs of Wikipedia editing through Wiki Education’s online trainings, with support from Wiki Education’s Wikipedia Expert Brianda Felix. And, in addition to learning more about Wikipedia, she also learned about the importance of African American scientists. De’Narie isn’t sure what she wants to pursue career-wise yet — cosmetology, midwifery, and real estate are all of interest — but she enjoyed researching Evans and adding citations about his life.

“I learned that there were a few, only a few, African Americans who were able to help on the Manhattan Project,” De’Narie says. “This experience was really great.”

Visit teach.wikiedu.org to learn how to incorporate a Wikipedia assignment into your own course

“Women of color are underrepresented throughout Wikipedia,” Dr. Clark explains. “I designed the course with a goal of our students helping to improve the representations of Black women on Wikipedia.”

Mission accomplished, according to Zainab Ahmed, one of the students in the course.

“Writing a biography of a Black woman in STEM was very meaningful to me because it was allowing Black women in a field that is mainly dominated by White men to be acknowledged,” she says. “It also provides more access to Black girls who are interested in STEM to be able to research other people like in that field. It also stops downplaying the role Black women have played in the STEM field.”

Zainab and her classmates worked on biographies as part of an initiative to increase the diversity of Wikipedia’s STEM biographies, funded by the Broadcom Foundation. Wiki Education’s staff provided support for students as they researched and wrote the biographies. Zainab says as she researched the contributions of the woman she chose, she was inspired and excited to learn more about her contributions.

And, of course, she learned about editing Wikipedia. While she’d made a few edits before, she hadn’t dived into writing a full article before. She enjoyed the formatting tasks, deciding what information went into subheadings like “Early life” or “Career”.

“In comparison to a traditional term paper I prefer this because it is more research yet less restrictive. I did not have a word limit to meet, I just had to make sure if it was objective and factual,” Zainab says. “I felt like a true editor and writer.”

These learnings are exactly what Dr. Clark wanted her students to get out of the class.

“They definitely learned about the individuals they wrote about. They also learned how underrepresented women of color are on Wikipedia and the implications of that underrepresentation. They saw their work as part of an effort to help improve that representation,” she says. “It allows students to understand how their work contributes to a database that is relied on to provide information to users around the world. It also holds them accountable for their work. It’s not just what your professor thinks, but if your work a valuable contribution to public knowledge.”

Zainab says she felt that accountability. While she was initially “intimidated,” she says, now that she’s learned more about Wikipedia, she wants to keep editing.

“I will definitely continue soon now that I have a more informed understanding of how to do a proper Wikipedia article,” she says.

Visit teach.wikiedu.org to learn how to incorporate a Wikipedia assignment into your own course.

Header image of students in the class courtesy Msia Clark, all rights reserved.