Dear Instructor,

We are Piotr Konieczny, a sociologist of new media at Hanyang University (and User:Piotrus in Wikipedia), and Shani Evenstein Sigalov, an educator, lecturer, researcher and Free Knowledge advocate from Tel-Aviv University (and User:Esh77 in Wikipedia). We are deeply interested in implementing Wikipedia and its sister projects into the academic curriculum, roughly defined as having students contribute something to Wikipedia or its sister projects and in return be graded for their contributions. Both of us have experience implementing Wikipedia into the academic curriculum for almost a decade now, and have published peer-reviewed papers on the topic, so we are especially excited to learn from your experience.  

In our current research, we are interested in views of instructors who have tried some form of the Wikipedia assignment in their classes (note that whenever we write "Wikipedia", we mean Wikipedia and its sister projects, like Commons, Wiktionary, Wikisource, Wikibooks and Wikidata). While this type of course assignment has been used for many years, we know very little about what instructors who actually used it, think about it. While there have been efforts from the Wikimedia community to introduce the idea to new instructors, less has been done to follow up on it with instructors who have tried it. To date, no academic research has been conducted to explore the efficacy, challenges and impact of these efforts.

Answering the following questions will help us better understand whether this teaching approach is effective or not, what are some of the challenges that instructors experience, as well as shed light on how the process could be improved. We are hoping the results will allow us to globally share experiences and learn from one another so we can make it smoother, easier and more effective for educators joining these efforts.  

The survey is divided into 4 parts: 1 - General Info; 2 - Info about your course; 3 - Info about your assignment; 4 - Info about your teaching experience. We estimate that it will take you between 10 - 15 minutes to fill out the survey. Note that we have linked a number of online tools that you might have not heard about, so hopefully by participating in this survey you will not only help this research, but also be exposed to resources that may assist you with your future endeavors.

If you have used the Wikipedia Assignment in different courses, please choose one representative course and apply your answers only to it. You are more than welcome to fill out the form again if you have multiple efforts you'd like to be included in this research.

Finally,  please note that by filling out this questionnaire, you consent to participating in this research. The survey is anonymous and all personal details relevant to your experience will be kept private by the main researchers and will not be transferred to any third party. More details on "Data Handling and Information Privacy" are available below.

We appreciate your support of this research and thank you in advance for taking the time to participate and share your experience engaging with Wikipedia in the classroom! If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact us at: Piotr Konieczny, piotr.konieczny@gmail.com; Shani Evenstein Sigalov, shanieev@mail.tau.ac.il.

Piotr and Shani.

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Data Handling and Information Privacy:

Below is information regarding the data handling and information privacy during this research in a Q & A format.
Should you have any queries in this regard, please contact the research team via the emails mentioned above.

Q: Which measures will be taken to ensure the privacy of participants in the research and to protect the data collected?
A: The researchers will take extra measures to ensure that the privacy of participants is kept intact. Names and identity of participants will not be revealed at any stage, not in future derivative publications, nor in any other way. Each participant will be assigned a serial number, which will replace the participant’s identity, in case it was shared.

Q: How will the data be accessed and how will it remain protected?
A: The answer sheet to the questionnaire (master file) is available only to researcher team. With the completion of the data collection phase, the questionnaire will be deleted, and the master file will be saved separately on a locked laptop, which only the main researchers have access to. A backup of the master file will be saved on a disk-on-key, which will be saved in a physical safe, to avoid cases of data loss in case of a technical malfunction or theft. A copy of the master file, which includes serial numbers instead of names, will be created and will be used for the data analysis phase, as well as the article writing phase. The copy will be saved on a computer as well as in a cloud, to ensure easy access to the data, anywhere and anytime. 5 years after completing the research, the data will be purged.

Q: How will you ensure that participants’ identity remains private?
A: The master file will include a serial number for each participant, along with the other participant’s details. A copy of the master file, without names and other personal details, will be used throughout the research, including in describing participants in derivative publications. As the data collection phase finishes, the master file will no longer be available online, but only on a physical laptop, with a copy of it in a safe. A copy of the master with no personal details, only serial numbers, will be used throughout the research, will be saved online and will be available only to the main researchers during the data analysis and writing phases.