The demise of Soviet genetics in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s has stood for many as a prime example of the damage that social and political dogmatism can do when allowed to meddle in the workings of science. In particular, the story of Trofim Lysenko's rise to preeminence and the fall of Mendelian genetics in the Soviet Union has become a lasting…

Over the past two decades, the way we learn has changed dramatically. We have new sources of information and new ways to exchange and to interact with information. But our schools and the way we teach have remained largely the same for years, even centuries. What happens to traditional educational institutions when learning also takes place on a…

This study presents findings from one-on-one interviews with 21 undergraduate students at a large public research university in the southeastern United States. While the preliminary focus of the study was to be students' opinions about and use of Wikipedia as a resource for course-related research, many of the interviews evolved into discussion…

In light of systematic evidence that extroverts are disadvantaged in the classroom, we examined whether an online environment assignment that builds on extroverts' character strengths can increase their overall course satisfaction. Based on previous studies demonstrating that extroverts are energized by feedback from outsiders, we asked 180…

This qualitative content analysis presents subscription databases available to school libraries through statewide purchases. The results may help school librarians evaluate grade and subject-area coverage, make comparisons to recommended databases, and note potential suggestions for their states to include in future contracts or for local…

Wikipedia is a web-based, free-content encyclopedia that is openly editable and, thus, provides a unique platform for collaborations. Wikipedia projects are increasingly being integrated into upper-level courses across the country to explore advanced concepts, communicate science, and provide high-quality information to the public. Here we outline…

Wiki-based writing possesses a great deal of educational potential, yet students face difficulties while writing a shared document. Revising a shared document, in particular, seems to be a demanding activity for students. This study investigated whether collaboration scripts can help to improve students' revision activities and overall text…

The success of Wikipedia demonstrates that open collaboration can be an effective model for organizing geographically-distributed volunteers to perform complex, sustained work at a massive scale. However, Wikipedia's history also demonstrates some of the challenges that large, long-term open collaborations face: the core community of Wikipedia…

Motivated by the need to facilitate Net Generation students' information literacy (IL), or more specifically, to promote student understanding of legitimate, effective use of Web-based resources, this exploratory study investigated how analyzing, writing, posting, and monitoring Wikipedia entries might help students develop critical…

The purpose of this work is to examine Wikipedia's role as a tool for instruction in website evaluation. Wikipedia's purpose, structural elements and potential failings as an authoritative information source are examined. Also presented are rationales for using Wikipedia as an instructional tool, namely the overwhelming popularity of Wikipedia.…

Wikipedia represents a revolution in the way knowledge is communicated and a potential threat to traditional encyclopedias. Wikipedia is widely used as a reference in academic assignments. Unfortunately, for the neophyte, it may be hard to assess the completeness and the accuracy of a contribution to Wikipedia. In this article, we describe an…

The author examined Wikipedia's use as an instructional tool in two studies. The widespread use of Wikipedia indicates that students need to learn more about its workings and validity. Wikipedia articles relevant to psychology were edited by students in one class and critiqued in another class. Analysis of the subsequent editing of students'…

Corpus linguistics has transformed linguistic research but has a slightly moderate impact on the ESL teaching and learning. The Wikipedia Corpus, designed by Mark Davis is introduced in this essay. The corpus allows teachers to search Wikipedia in a powerful way: they can search by word, phrase, part of speech, and synonyms. Teachers can also find…

To test the feasibility of Wikipedia editing in large undergraduate psychology classrooms, we engaged groups of students in a large introductory-level Human Development course (N = 110) in editing Wikipedia articles to improve psychology-related content. Students attended in-class workshops and received online support to develop skills. They…

A hundred years after Marie Curie received her Nobel Prize in Chemistry, this arm of science is pointing the way to a more sustainable future. Growing movements like green chemistry, which strives to create alternative and new chemical reactions that produce no harmful waste products, and molecular engineering hold great potential for industry,…