WikiConference India 2011/Submissions/Easier Understanding Of Science Related Articles

Timestamp

15:35, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

Title of the submission

Problems Faced By Neophytes Looking Up Science Related Articles.

Type of submission (workshop, tutorial, or presentation)

Presentation

Author of the submission

Kartik Kaul

E-mail address or username (if username, please confirm email address in Special:Preferences)

kartikkaul1@gmail.com

State of your origin (Country, if you are not based in India)

Delhi

Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.)

None

Personal homepage or blog

None

Abstract (maximum 500 words)

I would like to bring to the attention of the many people who use Wikipedia for their each and every query, or for the provision of more comprehensive and free knowledge on a multiplicity of topics, to the inability of Wikipedia to providing novices with an introduction to any topic(mostly pertaining to science) that a he/she may take an interest to.

After surveying most of the students, I found out that the primary deficiency that most of my peers saw in Wikipedia was that if due to curiosity they wanted to glance over and engage themselves in an scientific article(whether it be physics,chemistry or mathematics) they encountered an adversity in the form of lack of preliminary know-how over that topic. As a result of this, in all the cases my peers had to abandon their thirst for knowledge as Wikipedia simply couldn't provide them with the prerequisites that they should have before they may access the vast storehouse of knowledge it has to offer.

Yes, I may concede that any person who has a background in Science shall not at all face any complication in understanding and absorbing the material provided by the site. Yet, we must take a holistic viewpoint over this topic and understand, that a large fraction of the population do not have a god background in Science(or the particular stream) and just after reading a few paragraphs they are unable to comprehend much of what is provided by the site and most of what is provided goes over their heads.

Now if I may deliberate over what the addition of a new portal for the introduction of notes for a great many topics( I have limited myself to the field of science but in actuality there multitudes of fields which also face the same perplexity) then I can say that scope of improvement it has on the present education system is almost limitless. For one it can help decrease the concept of 'rote-learning' which is ingrained in our country's education system. Students can access better sources of information to supplement their pre-existing concepts and this can help clear any doubts and complexities which originally confounded them.

I therefore appeal for a pathway to provide introductory notes to any neophyte who wishes to get a better grasp of subjects that he/she does otherwise does not know very well. This will be spreading Wikipedia's goal of providing quality education to everyone on the planet.

Track (Community/Knowledge/Outreach/Technology)

Knowledge

Will you attend Wikiconference if your submission is not accepted?

I have applied for scholarship,therefore if I am not granted the partial scholarship, I will be unable to attend the Conference.

Slides or further information (optional)

None