Motivating students to learn biology vocabulary with wikipedia.

Timely learning of specialized science vocabulary is critical for building a solid knowledge base in any scientific discipline. Lack of adequate terminology fluency is considered a major obstacle for reading comprehension of scientific texts and learning in the sciences (2). Without a doubt, students with good vocabulary knowledge master the material faster, communicate their knowledge better, and start critical analysis of the discussed material sooner. Students often find themselves frustrated with the volume of terminology associated with every new topic and challenged to appreciate the precise meaning of each term when studying in fast-forward mode. To motivate students to dedicate time and effort mastering biology vocabulary, I have designed a vocabulary exercise utilizing the popular web encyclopedia Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org). The exercise creates an opportunity for students to connect the challenge of vocabulary learning to a prior positive experience of self-guided learning using a content source they are familiar and comfortable with. The developed tool takes advantage of the interactive mode of content presentation in Wikipedia which allows the reader to choose how much information to review by opening (or not opening) weblinks embedded in the text. Students are prompted to model studying for exam with and without operational vocabulary knowledge, and thus are given the opportunity to realize that vocabulary fluency could significantly increase the efficiency of their learning. The exercise is appropriate for courses in any biological sub-discipline designed for majors or nonmajors. The tool could be easily incorporated as a part of discussion on class expectations or tips on how to succeed in the course. In addition, it can serve as a platform to introduce the focus of the discipline and discuss the reliability of various sources of scientific information. While the use of Wikipedia in undergraduate education is somewhat controversial, it is important to note that the course instructor chooses and proofreads the Wikipedia content to be included in the assignment, thus eliminating any concerns with respect to its validity.