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Photos

Jirí Reif

Assistant Professor

Charles University in Prague
Czech Republic

Course name
Nature Conservation

Course level (undergraduate/graduate)
Advanced undergraduates

Learning objectives
Writing Skills Development   
Media and Information Literacy    
Critical Thinking and Research Skills    
Collaboration
Wiki Technical and Communication Skills    

Discipline of course
Environmental Studies

Class size
30

Individual or group assignment
Individual

Duration of assignment
8 weeks

Assignment

Students chose a protected area in the Czech Republic and improved the Wikipedia article on that area, including taking photographs of the area.

A personal visit to the area, its photographic documentation, citing from existing literature, and a talk in front of the class were all required to successfully complete the assignment.

Generally, I have a very positive feeling about the assignment. Students were really pushed into the game in most cases and worked more enthusiastically than during other kinds of courses. I am very glad that they realize the value of publishing their written work on Wikipedia — their schoolwork did not end up in the teacher’s drawer. Last but not least, the complete availability of the article on the Internet and its critical assessment by independent Wikipedians made the students learn to work with sources — a skill that will be useful for them during further studies.

(CC-BY-SA 3.0) by Adam von Weisberg

(CC-BY-SA 3.0) by CalaLoh