Wikipedagogy: Enhancing student motivation and collaboration in an economics class with Wikipedia

Abstract

Wikipedia is not only a source of knowledge and a medium for communicating research but also opens new avenues for teaching in academia. In this article, the authors provide theoretical considerations and practical guidance for setting up a postgraduate economics course where students disseminate research on income inequality in Europe to a greater audience on Wikipedia. Publishing in the well-known and widely-used online encyclopedia has been shown to have a lasting impact on student motivation. Moreover, the authors assess the benefits of reciprocal feedback options and collaborative editing, and also the costs that accompany Wikipedia.