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Profs divided over academic Wikipedia use

Wallowing in Wikipedia articles the night before your paper’s due? You’re not alone.
According to a study released by First Monday, an online peer-reviewed journal, over 50 per cent of students frequently, if not always, consult Wikipedia when conducting research.
The report found those most likely to use the website were majoring in science, engineering or architecture, while arts and humanities students were more reluctant. Additionally, Wikipedia was overwhelmingly used as “presearch” — a way for students to get background information on their topic before pursuing other academic sources.
“I sometimes use it just to start, if I don’t know much about the topic that I’m researching,” Jesse Graham, a second-year media, information and technoculture student, said.
Fran Gray, head of Western’s research and instructional services, agreed with the presearch aproach in some respects.
“It can be a good starting place — as long as students are aware that it may not be authoritative and you don’t really know the qualifications of the people that are writing.”
However, she noted while many students choose to use this technique, Western subscribes to numerous other academic encyclopedias which could be used in Wikipedia’s place.
First Monday’s study indicated students also found the online encyclopedia helpful in defining difficult terms and concepts, as well as providing a user-friendly interface. Despite the study’s findings that 22 per cent of students rarely used Wikipedia, Gray remained confident students know the difference between what is an appropriate source and what isn’t.
“I think most students are aware that it’s not a credible source to cite in their essay. They recognize that it can be a starting place, but scholarly resources are what they need to be consulting.”
However, Cameron Tsujita, a Western professor in earth sciences, acknowledged he has had students use citations explicitly from Wikipedia in their papers.
“I clearly state in assignment outlines that they’re not to use encyclopedia sources like Wikipedia or Encarta. If they do choose to use Wikipedia, they lose marks.”
Tsujita noted information from online encyclopedias isn’t necessarily incorrect, but raises questions of academic integrity.
“It’s a user-edited resource; a lot of pages don’t dutifully reference all the sources they use, so you’re not giving credit where credit is due.”
An alternative for students who do rely on Wikipedia for all their information needs would be to simply follow the citations accompanying each entry back to their original source, Tsujita noted.
But some professors are more embracing of the online encyclopedia. Alex Wisotzki, a second-year kinesiology student, said in her course Introduction to Psychomotor Behaviour, the professor encouraged students to use the Wikipedia article on Scientific Notation, as he was the main contributor on the page.
“I think it’s unfair that most professors don’t allow students to use it, because it’s actually good information,” Wisotzki said.
Wisotzki also indicated Wikipedia’s interface was much more convenient to use.
“I tried using [Western’s library database] once, and I gave up.”

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