Most young Americans use Wikipedia. Among those in the age range of most MPA and MPP students (18–29 years old), 62% report turning to Wikipedia (Pew, 2012), although they probably know it is taboo to cite it as a source in an academic paper. Ironically, however, encouraging students to strengthen Wikipedia may be pedagogically valuable. During the 2010–2011 academic year, the Wikimedia Foundation launched WikiProject U. S. Public Policy, “aimed at finding better ways to recruit experts and students to help improve Wikipedia content” (//bit.ly/jpae-w). This case study of one Wikipedia project examines the pedagogical utility of using open-source, wiki-based assignments in policy analysis courses.
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