Wikipedia as a tool for introducing social implications into science education

Groves, Tamar and G. Figuerola, Carlos and Alonso-Berrocal, José-Luis and Quintanilla, Miguel-A Wikipedia as a tool for introducing social implications into science education., 2013 . In ESERA 2013 (European Science Education Research Association Conference 2013), Nicosia, Cyprus, 2-3 September 2013. [Conference paper]

Text 20137_groves2013wikipedia.pdf - Published version Download (1MB)

English abstract

Whether we like it or not there is mounting evidence that Wikipedia is becoming a main source for scientific information. In fact for students on all levels Wikipedia is the first stop for investigating any topic. Its accessibility, vast content and dynamic character make it an easy and updated source of information. Although there are few scholars that criticize its reliability, most research validates its epistemic qualities. More important it is regularly included in the 10 most visited cites demonstrating its importance as a source of knowledge. However, we know very little of the nature of science transmitted by Wikipedia. As a result we believe that there is an urgent need to understand better the character of Wikipedia´s scientific contents. In this paper we present the preliminary results of our attempt to characterize scientific knowledge on the Spanish Wikipedia. Our analysis consists of two stages designed to carry out the above mentioned tasks: Identifying scientific and technological content and highlighting the relationships among its components. Comparing our results with similar procedures carried out on school textbooks, suggests that there is a significant difference between scientific culture in traditional educational aids and on the Web. Scientific content in textbooks is characterized by a traditional disciplinary division, in spite of efforts to integrate interdisciplinary approaches and significant social contexts. On Wikipedia on the other hand it seems that the distribution of scientific contents does not depend solely on traditional academic disciplines but also on current social concerns. We believe thus that the popularity of Wikipedia is can contribute to changing the nature of scientific content available to students.

Item type:	Conference paper
Keywords:	Computer Supported Learning Environments. ICT Enhanced Teaching and Learning. Informal Learning
Subjects:	G. Industry, profession and education. > GH. Education. H. Information sources, supports, channels. > HP. e-resources.
Depositing user:	Carlos G. Figuerola
Date deposited:	12 May 2016 06:58
Last modified:	12 May 2016 06:58
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/10760/29309

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item