Wikipedia as complementary formative assessment method in University Courses

Academic perception of Wikipedia has changed significantly: it is now seen as useful teaching resource as well as collaborative knowledge building tool. It can be used for teaching purposes by assigning students to create and edit encyclopedia articles. This can have many benefits such as improving students’ understanding of content, the development of intrinsic motivation to learn and the digital competences. With Wikipedia we can also experiment interesting new forms of assessment that complement traditional approach: students can be assessed on the basis, for example, of their skills in Information Literacy and collaborative writing, but also of their skills in dialog and communication when responding to feedback from other Wikipedia editors. This process is very useful for the students, as they must reply to critical comments, learn to sustain their choices with sound arguments and reach a consensus on the content. Essentially, this can be seen as a co-participated formative assessment, no longer carried out only by the teacher but open to actors from outside the University.