CEE/Newsletter/Newsroom/Wikipedia Educational Program at the Lviv Polytechnic National University in Lviv, Ukraine

Mariana Senkiv (nickname MarianaSenkiv), Ph.D. in Geography, Associate Professor in Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv, Ukraine

Participants of wikitraining at the Lviv Polytechnic (April 26, 2023, Lviv). Trainer Pavlo Sokhan

Participants of the first day of summer wikischool for high-school students at the Lviv Polytechnic (August 28, 2023, Lviv). Trainers: Mariana Senkiv and Natalia Dnistrianska

Participants of the second day of summer wikischool for high-school students at the Lviv Polytechnic (August 29, 2023, Lviv). Wikipedia. Trainers: Pavlo Sokhan and Vira Motorko

Participants of the third day of summer wikischool for high-school students at the Lviv Polytechnic (August 30, 2023, Lviv). Wikivoyage. Trainers: Mariana Senkiv and Myroslava Gaba

Participants of the fourth day of summer wikischool for high-school students at the Lviv Polytechnic (August 31, 2023, Lviv). Wikiquotes. Trainer Sergii Lypko

Participants of the fifth day of summer wikischool for high-school students at the Lviv Polytechnic (September 1, 2023, Lviv). Wikimedia Commons. Trainer Galyna Ilnytska-Gykavchuk. Completion of the wikischool and obtaining certificates

Author

Title

Wikipedia Educational Program at the Lviv Polytechnic National University in Lviv, Ukraine

Content

For two years now, students of the Department of Tourism of the Lviv Polytechnic National University in Lviv, Ukraine have been using Wikipedia and wikiprojects for studying.

Teacher of the Department Mariana Senkiv, together with the Wikimedia Ukraine every semester organizes wikitraining for students with the involvement of one of the experienced Wikipedians as a trainer (Andrii Grytsenko, Viktor Semeniuk, Sergii Lypko, Pavlo Sokhan). A Wikipedian not only conducts training, but also checks and evaluates students’ contributions to Wikipedia.

During and after wikitraining students create new or edit existing articles mostly in Wikivoyage and Wikipedia. Wikivoyage fits perfectly with the specialty of Tourism, and travel is a real lifestyle for many students of the Department.

Although the coronavirus pandemic, and now the war, has significantly complicated travel, students write with ease and pleasure about their hometowns and villages, which most of them know very well, in particular, in terms of organizing travel. The geography of the settlements is very diverse because students are from all over Ukraine. The desire of students to write about their native land is also facilitated by the local history training program of the Department, which they love so much because of the opportunity to travel and because it reveals to them the richness of the cultural heritage of Ukraine.

The contribution of students to Wikipedia and wikiprojects is important: among them are those who have received special awards and souvenirs from Wikimedia Ukraine for the most active participation, for example, condensed milk.

After the last wikitraining in the spring semester with Wikipedian Pavlo Sokhan (April 26, 2023), students improved 10 articles in Wikivoyage as part of the CEE Spring 2023 international competition and were awarded souvenirs.

Recently, Mariana Senkiv conducted a survey "My Wikipedia Editing Experience" among students of different years of study who participated in the Wikipedia Education Program. Most of the students highly appreciate the level of the wikitrainings and are grateful for the new experience they got. However, most of them do not edit Wikipedia after completing the Program, citing lack of time and motivation among the main reasons.

Taking into account the results of the survey, as well as understanding of the need to inculcate interest of students in Wikipedia in the long term, it's worth to organize wikischools for high-school students, promising future students of the University. Obviously, this interest must be developed from school years.

The first such school “Introduction to Wikipedia: how to start writing about your native land” was held at the end of August 2023 at the Lviv Polytechnic National University. The purpose of this school is to develop an interest in traveling around their native land among high-school students, as well as advance basic skills in working with Wikipedia and other wikiprojects, including Wikivoyage. Wikischool provides a range of interactive learning methods: discussions, quizzes, co-creation of word clouds etc. This encourages children to be active.

Together with Wikimedia Ukraine, a 5-day program of Wikischool was developed, which included lectures and trainings by experienced Wikipedians (Pavlo Sokhan, Vira Motorko, Sergii Lypko) and teachers of the Department of Tourism (Mariana Senkiv, Natalia Dnistrianska, Myroslava Gaba, Galyna Ilnytska-Gykavchuk). This cooperation proved to be quite successful. Pupils of different Lviv schools found out about the opportunity of editing Wikipedia, participating in wikicontests and receiving souvenirs. They created 15 articles and improved more than 100 articles in Wikipedia, Wikivoyage and Wikiquotes, as well as received certificates and valuable souvenirs from Wikimedia Ukraine. Most of the participants of this year wikischool are 15-year old high-school students. According to received feedback, they highly appreciated the wikischool and most of them will continue to edit Wikipedia and wikiprojects in the future.

Further information

1. Page of Summer Wikischool for High-School Students
2. Summer Wikischool for High-School Students on Wikimedia Commons