How and why do college students use Wikipedia?

Sook Lim

180 citations0/0 files storedJournal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology

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Wikis in Education and Collaboration Library Science and Information Literacy Information Retrieval and Search Behavior

Abstract

Abstract The purposes of this study were to explore college students' perceptions, uses of, and motivations for using Wikipedia, and to understand their information behavior concerning Wikipedia based on social cognitive theory (SCT). A Web survey was used to collect data in the spring of 2008. The study sample consisted of students from an introductory undergraduate course at a large public university in the midwestern United States. A total of 134 students participated in the study, resulting in a 32.8% response rate. The major findings of the study include the following: Approximately one‐third of the students reported using Wikipedia for academic purposes. The students tended to use Wikipedia for quickly checking facts and finding background information. They had positive past experiences with Wikipedia; however, interestingly, their perceptions of its information quality were not correspondingly high. The level of their confidence in evaluating Wikipedia's information quality was, at most, moderate. Respondents' past experience with Wikipedia, their positive emotional state, their disposition to believe information in Wikipedia, and information utility were positively related to their outcome expectations of Wikipedia. However, among the factors affecting outcome expectations, only information utility and respondents' positive emotions toward Wikipedia were related to their use of it. Further, when all of the independent variables, including the mediator, outcome expectations, were considered, only the variable information utility was related to Wikipedia use, which may imply a limited applicability of SCT to understanding Wikipedia use. However, more empirical evidence is needed to determine the applicability of this theory to Wikipedia use. Finally, this study supports the knowledge value of Wikipedia (Fallis, 2008 ), despite students' cautious attitudes toward Wikipedia. The study suggests that educators and librarians need to provide better guidelines for using Wikipedia, rather than prohibiting Wikipedia use altogether.

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References

2001Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective 1995Computer Self-Efficacy: Development of a Measure and Initial Test 1973Uses and Gratifications Research 2000Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21st Century 1999Social Cognitive Theory and Individual Reactions to Computing Technology: A Longitudinal Study1 1995Application of Social Cognitive Theory to Training for Computer Skills 2006Internet Self-Efficacy and the Psychology of the Digital Divide 2007Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility

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2015Why Students Share Misinformation on Social Media: Motivation, Gender, and Study-level Differences 2017University students’ self-regulated learning using digital technologies 2014An empirical study of the motivations for content contribution and community participation in Wikipedia 2010On the measurability of information quality 2011Factual accuracy and trust in information: The role of expertise 2015

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