WHAT LEADS UKRAINIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO USE WIKIPEDIA?

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20535/2410-8286.131582

Keywords:

survey, university, students, Internet, Wikipedia.

Abstract

The Internet provides students with information from a great number of online sources. Wikipedia is one of the most frequently suggested by search engines and popular students’ reference websites. The purpose of the research was to study students’ use and attitudes of Wikipedia and to find out the patterns of Wikipedia use as an information source for academic purposes amongst different student groups in a Ukrainian university considering the language used. The results revealed that the overwhelming majority of students used Wikipedia and most of the respondents used it for academic purposes. Students were likely to value Wikipedia’s being short and informative for writing assignments at the beginning of their work. However, the findings suggest that Wikipedia’s usage is restricted by the coverage and completeness of the Wikipedia content in students’ native language and the level of their knowledge of English. We found that students’ major, year and mode of study as well as teachers’ approval can also relate to their use of Wikipedia in relation to university studies.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Nataliia Mulina, Sumy State University

Foreign Languages Department

PhD.,  Associate Professor

References

  1. Aibar, E., Lladós-Masllorens, J., Meseguer-Artola, A., Minguillón, J., & Lerga, M. (2015). Wikipedia at university: what faculty think and do about it. The Electronic Library, 33(4), 668-683. https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-12-2013-0217
  2. Bould, M. D., Hladkowicz, E. S., Pigford, A. A. E., Ufholz, L. A., Postonogova, T., Shin, E., & Boet, S. (2014). References that anyone can edit: Review of Wikipedia citations in peer reviewed health science literature. BMJ (Online), 348. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g1585
    |
  3. Brailas, A., Koskinas, K., Dafermos, M., & Alexias, G. (2015). Wikipedia in Education: Acculturation and learning in virtual communities. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 7, 59–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2015.07.002
  4. Coomer, A. (2013). Should University Students Use Wikipedia? The Guardian, May 13, 2013. Retrieved March, 15, 2018 from https://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/may/13/should-university-students-use-wikipedia
  5. Dawe,L., Robinson, A. (2017). Wikipedia editing and information literacy: a case study. Information and Learning Science, 118 (1/2), 5-16. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-09-2016-0067
  6. Denning, P., Horning, J., Parnas, D., & Weinstein, L. (2005). Wikipedia risks. Communications of the ACM, 48(12), 152. https://doi.org/10.1145/1101779.1101804
  7. Freire, T., & Li, J. (2016). Using Wikipedia to enhance student learning: A case study in economics. Education and Information Technologies, 21(5), 1169–1181. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-014-9374-0
    |
  8. Hafner, C. A., Chik, A., & Jones, R. H. (2015). Guest editor commentary. Language Learning & Technology, 19(3), 1-7. http://dx.doi.org/10125/44426
  9. Head, A. J., & Eisenberg, M. B. (2010). How today’s college students use Wikipedia for course-related research. First Monday, 15(3). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v15i3.2830
  10. Huang, J., Shi, S., Chen, Y., & Chow, W. S. (2016). How do students trust Wikipedia? An examination across genders. Information Technology & People, 29(4), 750–773. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-12-2014-0267
  11. Jaschik, S. (2007). A stand against Wikipedia. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved March, 15, 2018 from http://www.insidehighered.com/print/news/2007/01/26/wiki.
  12. Konieczny, P. (2014). Rethinking Wikipedia for the Classroom. American Sociological Association, 13, 80-84. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536504214522017
  13. Lerga, M., Aibar, E. (2015). Best Practice Guide to Use Wikipedia in University Education. Retrieved March, 15, 2018 from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277137842
  14. Lim, S. (2009). How and Why Do College Students Use Wikipedia? Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 60, 2189-2202. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21142
  15. Lladós, J., Aibar, E., Lerga, M., Meseguer, A., & Minguillon, J. (2013). An empirical study on faculty perceptions and teaching practices of wikipedia. Proceedings of the European Conference on E-Learning, ECEL, 258-265. Retrieved March, 15, 2018 http://hdl.handle.net/10609/24761
  16. Pew Internet & American Life Project (2007). How students use Wikipedia. Retrieved March, 15, 2018 from http://www.pewinternet.org/2007/04/24/wikipedia-users/
  17. Selwyn, N., & Gorard, S. (2016). Students’ use of Wikipedia as an academic resource - Patterns of use and perceptions of usefulness. Internet and Higher Education, 28, 28–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2015.08.004
  18. Shen, X. L., Cheung, C. M. K., & Lee, M. K. O. (2013). What leads students to adopt information from Wikipedia? An empirical investigation into the role of trust and information usefulness. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(3), 502-517. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2012.01335.x
    |
  19. Soler-Adillon, J., Pavlovic, D., Freixa, P. (2018). Wikipedia in higher education: Changes in perceived value through content contribution. Comunicar, 54, 39-48. https://doi.org/10.3916/C54-2018-04
  20. Soules, A. (2015). Faculty perception of Wikipedia in the California State University System. New Library World, 116(3/4), 213-226. https://doi.org/10.1108/NLW-08-2014-0096
  21. Walker, M. A., & Li, Y. (2016). Improving Information Literacy Skills through Learning to Use and Edit Wikipedia: A Chemistry Perspective. Journal of Chemical Education, 93(3), 509–515. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00525
    |
  22. Young, J. (June 12, 2006). Wikipedia Founder Discourages Academic Use of His Creation. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/wikipedia-founder-discourages-academic-use-of-his-creation/2305

Downloads

Published

2018-07-04

How to Cite

Mulina, N. (2018). WHAT LEADS UKRAINIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO USE WIKIPEDIA?. Advanced Education, 5, 26–32. https://doi.org/10.20535/2410-8286.131582

Issue

2018: Issue 9

Section

Education

License

Copyright (c) 2018 Natalie Mulina

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

    1. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

  1. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).