Wikipedia:WikiProject United States Public Policy/Update/15 February 2011

Fall term results presented at APSA conference

Research Analyst Amy Roth talks to interested professors at the Wikipedia booth at the American Political Science Association conference.

Public Policy Initiative Communications Associate LiAnna Davis and Research Analyst Amy Roth presented the initial findings from the fall term of the pilot project at the American Political Science Association's Teaching and Learning Conference last week in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Amy and LiAnna's workshop covered the student learning objectives, student motivations, and challenges we found after our first semester of work. A Wikipedia table was also present in the exhibit hall, where around 75 attendees learned more about using Wikipedia as a teaching tool in higher education. Learn more about the conference.

WCU Reporter publishes article on Initiative

The Reporter, the faculty and staff newsletter at Western Carolina University, ran an extensive article last week covering the work Professor Chris Cooper is doing to incorporate Wikipedia into his graduate public policy analysis course. Featuring interviews with students, the professor, and Campus Ambassador Laura Cruz, the article does a nice job of highlighting what's happening on WCU's campus. Read the article.

Students develop illustrations for articles

One student's diagram of coastal change.

Students in Louisiana State University's course on Regional Planning and Design, which is being supported through the Wikipedia Ambassador Program, are hard at work on developing illustrations for Wikipedia articles. The students are illustrating articles that relate to landscape systems, including the Mississippi River Delta, ecological succession, atmosphere circulation, and more. See the first drafts of the illustrations on the course's talk page.

Help recruit more professors to participate

Know a professor who would be interested in incorporating Wikipedia into his or her public policy curriculum for the spring term? It's not too late to join the Wikipedia Public Policy Initiative, especially if the professor teaches in a region where we already have trained Campus Ambassadors. If you're interested in hearing more about how to use Wikipedia as a teaching tool, contact Campus Team Coordinator Annie Lin.