Who Writes the Past? Student Perceptions of Wikipedia Knowledge and Credibility in a World History Classroom

The authors describe an inquiry-based learning project that required students in a first-year world history course to reflect on and analyze critically the nature of the knowledge found in Wikipedia--the free, open-content, rapidly evolving, internet encyclopedia. Using a rubric, the authors explored students' perceptions of the collaborative and community nature of Wikipedia as well as Wikipedia's accuracy, reputability, ease, and accessibility. Furthermore, they examined students' reflections on issues of plagiarism, responsibility, and whether Wikipedia qualifies as a scholarly source. Student perceptions were closely related to their level of intellectual and ethical development as defined by Perry (1970, 1998). (Contains 2 tables.)