Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Wikimedia Thailand 2022
2. To promote age and gender diversity 3. To evaluate the quality of technical information in a specific field of study 4. To increase the amount of high quality and technical content
5. To become a legal entity by incorporating as a foundation and associationUsername: Athikhun.suw
Prangmilint Montriwat Username: 2ndoct
Taweethem Limpanuparb
Username: taweethamThis is an automatically generated Meta-Wiki page. The page was copied from Fluxx, the web service of Wikimedia Foundation Funds where the user has submitted their application. Please do not make any changes to this page because all changes will be removed after the next update. Use the discussion page for your feedback. The page was created by CR-FluxxBot.
Applicant details
editWikimedia username(s):
- Athikhun Suwannakha
Username: Athikhun.suw
Prangmilint Montriwat Username: 2ndoct
Taweethem Limpanuparb Username: taweetham
Organization:
- Wikimedia Thailand
Have you received grants from the Wikimedia Foundation before?
- Applied previously and did receive a grant
Have you received grants from any non-wiki organization before?
- Yes
Which organization(s) did you receive grants from?
- Thailand Research Funds
Organization details
editWhat is your organization or group's mission?
- Wimedia Thailand is a recognized Wikimedia chapter in Thailand. We have organized a number of outreach activities to promote the creation and access to free knowledge in collaboration with both local and international partners. It was founded in 2008 as a user group and approved as a Wikimedia chapter in 2019. Our aims are to support creation, development and maintenance of Thai Wikimedia projects, to conduct supportive roles in aforementioned activities, as well as to promote public knowledge.
If you would like, please share any websites or social media accounts that your group or organization has. (optional)
- N/A
Grant proposal
editPlease state the title of your proposal. This will also be a title for the Meta-Wiki page.
- Wikimedia Thailand 2022
Where will this proposal be implemented?
- Thailand
Indicate if it is a local, international, or regional proposal and if it involves several countries? (optional)
- Local
If you have answered regional or international, please write the country names and any other information that is useful for understanding your proposal.
What are the main challenges you are trying to solve and your proposed solution?
- There are three main challenges that the Wikimedia community in Thailand are facing including retention of new editors, diversity, content quality and recognition.
Editor retention is one of the challenges faced by the Thai community. It was found in 2010 that the proportion of surviving new editors was approximately 0.1, in other words, one out of ten new editors remained after the beginning of their journey. Coupled with a continual decline of editors over the years, it is highly probable that the number of retained newcomers would be increasing. On the Thai Wikipedia, there are only 1,059 ecditors out of 413,637 registered users (2.5%) that are still active. This is related to community health. New editors are constantly monitored by veteran editors, who can be very harsh. As a result, newcomers tend to lose their motivation which eventually leads to them leaving the community. Because of this, additional measures are needed to increase the number of new users and retain them in the long term.
The second issue experienced by the Thai community is diversity. Diversity in our case refers to both gender and age diversity. In a 2018 survey, it was reported that 90% of users reported their gender as male, 8.8% as female, and 1% as other. It is well known that most editors on the Thai Wikipedia are males and are mostly of high school age, causing a gender and age gap. As a trend, this may subsequently affect the topics edited and new articles created. Therefore, measures are necessary to increase the age and gender diversity to ensure unbiased information and diversity of the content.
The third problem we are facing is content quality. On the Thai Wikipedia, the most common topics are usually related to entertainment or history. More technical information such as on science or social science are limited. Although the quality of the content has been questioned, it was found that 87.5 of university students relied on Wikipedia anyway. Therefore, necessary actions must be in place to ensure that high quality content is added. Also, Wikipedia content must be evaluated to determine its appropriateness as a learning resource.
Finally, to receive recognition and comply with the Wikimedia Foundation’s requirements as a Wikimedia Chapter, we will incorporate as a foundation and subsequently as association. Having a legal status would allow us to establish formal partnerships and enhance visibility of our organization among the general public.
What is the main objective of your proposal?
- 1. To increase the number of new editors and the retention ratio
2. To promote age and gender diversity 3. To evaluate the quality of technical information in a specific field of study 4. To increase the amount of high quality and technical content 5. To become a legal entity by incorporating as a foundation and association
Describe your main strategies to achieve this objective and the main activities you will be developing as part of these strategies.
- The main strategies are listed below in line with each objective:
1. Following the success of photo competitions such as Wiki Loves Earth and Wiki Loves Monument in bringing new contributors, in 2021-2022 we will continue to organize these competitions. We are holding this competition in order to keep the existing participants engaged as well as getting new participations. In addition, this competition would be a good chance to establish collaborations with external organizations. To retain more new editors, we plan to host meetings consisting of representatives from the WMTH affiliate and the Wikipedia community to create a model of conduct to promote better community health.
2. Several initiatives will be launched to bridge the gender and age gap. An edit-a-thon and a seminar will be hosted as part of the international women’s day. The strategy is to increase awareness and participation of diverse participants.
3. Wikimedia Thailand will continue to evaluate the quality of scientific content on the English Wikipedia. Our protocol was previously used to evaluate anatomy articles on the English Wikipedia. The results of our work was published in one of the top academic journals in the field. In the upcoming grant period, we will continue to evaluate more content in wider fields of study.
4. We are launching an open-source initiative in collaboration with the Faculty of Science, Mahidol University in Bangkok. This project aims to increase the amount of high quality 3D medical models on Wikimedia Commons. Although 3D models could be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, we notice that the quality is fairly low and the amount of these models is still limited. Our project will create life-like electronic learning materials with a high degree of resemblance to the real specimens. Two methods will be used to create 3D models including 3D scanner and 3D reconstruction from CT scans. The resulting models could also be 3D-printed to create physical models for classroom use, particularly for the institutions that do not have access to real specimens.
5. We plan to incorporate as a foundation and association according to Thai law. Having a legal status allows us to be better recognized by the public, enhance our credibility and comply with Wikimedia Foundation’s requirements.
Please state if you will be carrying out any of these activities within your programs? Select all that apply.
- Organizing Meet-up offline, Workshops, Wiki Loves campaign
Are you running any in-person events or activities?
- Yes
- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eQkwBajiSQiStvwX6aUPyITFA1_jtIO9plRh9EdO7w4/edit?usp=sharing
Please state if your proposal aims to work on any of the identified content knowledge gaps?
- Content Gender gap, Important Topics (topics considered to be of impact or important in the specific context)
Please state if your proposal includes any of these areas or thematic focus.
- Education, Culture, heritage or GLAM , Open Technology, Diversity
Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select all categories that apply.
- Sexual Orientation, Geographic
Please tell us more about your target participants.
- There is no specific target participants for most of our activities as we plan to diversify our participants as much as possible. For content evaluation, however, we require three experts with relevant background on a specific field of study including a PhD, teaching and research experience on the subject. For creation and uploading of 3D models to Wikimedia Commons, participants must be technology oriented and have moderate to advance knowledge of human anatomy. Targeted participants of this project include, but not limited to, graduate and medical students.
Do you have plans to work with other Wikimedia communities, groups or affiliates in your country, or in other countries, to implement this proposal?
- No
Please tell us about these connections online and offline and how you have let Wikimedia communities know about this proposal.
- N/A
Will you be working with other external, non-Wikimedian partners to implement this proposal?
- Yes
Please describe these partnerships.
- We have established partnership with a number of local organizations including Mahidol University, The Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology, National Science and Technology Development Agency. These organizations provide us with expertise needed, help us advertise activities and expand our reach.
How do you hope to sustain or expand the work carried out in this proposal after the grant?
- In addition to implementation, we will ensure there is effective follow up for each activity. The results of our activities will be communicated to other affiliate through regional meetings. Impact of the activities will be promoted by having presentations at national or International conferences.
Do you have the team that is needed to implement this proposal?
- Dr. Taweethem Limpanuparb
Username: taweetham Role: Technical and legal advisor
Ms. Prangmilint Montriwat Username: 2ndoct Role: Administrative advisor
Ms. Piyathida Tawornparcha Role: Campaign coordinator
Mr. Ganchai Siriwatcharapaibool Role: Competition coordinator
Open position Role: Affiliate liaison
In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select a maximum of three options that most apply.
- Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement, Provide for Safety and Inclusion, Innovate in Free Knowledge
Please state if your organization or group has a Strategic Plan that can help us further understand your proposal. You can also upload it here. (optional)
- No
Learning, Sharing, and Evaluation
editWhat do you hope to learn from your work in this fund proposal?
- Is Wikipedia a reliable source of information for higher education students?
Even though Wikipedia has been criticized by numerous academics regarding the quality of its entries, its popularity among university level students remains inevitable. Therefore, this research is needed to evaluate the content of the English Wikipedia across various fields of study. Once the content is evaluated, we then determine its appropriateness as educational materials. We may also be looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the content. Weaknesses are not necessarily seen as a factor that refrains students from using Wikipedia as learning material, but rather as room for improvement to Wikipedia suitable for education in the long term. We hope that our study will be reproduced by researchers in the future and serve as a model for content evaluation in the future. We also hope that Wikipedia would one day be accepted by the academic community as suitable learning material and become a leading platform for knowledge sharing.
Would Wikimedia Commons become a platform for sharing open-license three-dimensional models?
Although the utility of 3D models in education is increasingly popular, the quantity of these models available on Wikimedia Commons are scarce. If our implementation were successful and set a new trends among 3D artists, Wikimedia Commons could one day become a platform for sharing free-license 3D models, particularly in education.
Core Metrics
editEnter a description of the metric and a number in the target field. If the metric does not apply to you, enter N/A for not applicable.
| Core metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | We expect five experts to participate in content evaluation and five participants to participate in 3D scanning. All of these participants are expected to be new to the Wikimedia movement. | 10 |
| Number of editors | Based on our previous experience, the ratio between the new editors and returning editors is around 7:3. With this assumption and given there are around 100 participants all year around, we estimate that there will be 70 new editors and 30 returning editors. That brings the tentative number of participants to around 100. | 100 |
| Number of organizers | There are five organizers. Their names are stated in the team members' list above. In addition, we plan to hire an affiliate liaison. The objective is to increase the efficiency of the current administrative work and also to response queries on social media channels in a timely manner. This person is also expected to serve as competition and campaign manager. Due to the growing of the community, these demanding tasks are difficult to manage in a volunteer capacity. | 5 |
| Wikimedia Project | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Wikimedia Commons | Based on the previous years' results, we expect there will be around 2000 uploads to the WLX campaign and other contests. Number of high-quality 3D models uploaded to Wikimedia Commons are expect to be 30. However, given the small number of 3D models relative to the expected overall value, the target number of contents remains to be 2000. | 2000 |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
If for some reason your proposal will not measure these core metrics please provide an explanation.
- N/A
Additional Metrics
editEnter a description of the metric and a number in the target field. If the metric does not apply to you, enter N/A for not applicable.
| Additional Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Number of editors that continue to participate/retained after activities | N/A | N/A |
| Number of organizers that continue to participate/retained after activities | N/A | N/A |
| Number of strategic partnerships that contribute to longer term growth, diversity and sustainability | N/A | N/A |
| Feedback from participants on effective strategies for attracting and retaining contributors | N/A | N/A |
| Diversity of participants brought in by grantees | N/A | N/A |
| Number of people reached through social media publications | N/A | N/A |
| Number of activities developed | N/A | N/A |
| Number of volunteer hours | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
What other information will you be collecting to learn about the impact of your work? (optional)
- - At least 1 academic publication(s) or presentation(s) on the result of education program and content evaluation
- Incorporation of Wikimedia Thailand
- Proposal of multi-year strategic direction of Wikimedia Thailand
What tools would you use to measure each metric selected?
- No tools are needed to measure these metrics because they are already qualitative or nominal values.
How do you hope to share these results so that others can learn from them?
- Share results on social media, Share results with our communities, Share it on Meta-Wiki, I would like to receive support from the Foundation to discover how I can share my learning
Financial Proposal
editWhat is the amount you are requesting from WMF? Please provide this amount in your local currency. If you are thinking about a multi-year fund, please provide the amount for the first year.
- 510400 THB
What is this amount in US Currency (to the best of your knowledge)?
- 15196 USD
Do you want to apply for multi-year funding?
- No
If you have calculated it, please provide an estimate of the year 2 or year 3 request.
- N/A
Please share your budget for this proposal.
- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SWeZn2CfOEt4XsBOV_VuLLoGIXxut3CMEwQAqaoWB7Q/edit?usp=sharing
What do you do to make sure there is a good management of funds?
- To comply with legal requirements, an accountant will be hired to ensure good management of funds.
How will you contribute towards creating a supportive environment for participants using the UCOC and Friendly Space Policy?
- We will strictly adhere to the Friendly Space Policy according to Wikimedia Foundation's policies.
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Friendly_space_policy
Please use this optional space to upload any documents that you feel are important for further understanding your proposal.
- Staffing plan or organogram:
- Other public document(s):
Final Message
editBy submitting your proposal/funding request you agree that you are in agreement with the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and the Universal Code of Conduct.
We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
- Yes
Feedback
edit- Please add any feedback to the grant discussion page only. Any feedback added here will be removed.