Wikipedia Education Program/Classroom (Educators)/35b

Week 12: A little more about grading considerations…

2.   Be specific about your expectations

Being specific about what you expect your students to do is crucial for grading. As an example: The assignment for the students could be to add a minimum of 3 new sections to an existing article. Students could also be asked to add a minimum of 8 references to an existing article that lacks the appropriate sourcing, etc.

Note: Grading students based on “what stays in Wikipedia” has NOT been a proven success measure. There are many factors that may contribute to a student’s content not remaining in Wikipedia. Remember Wikipedia editing is a collaborative writing environment that is driven by verifiability, noteworthiness and neutral point of view – all of which have created challenges for students. Additionally, writing for an encyclopedia is different than writing a typical student persuasive paper.