The 30 juniors and seniors enrolled in Dr. Justine Melo’s physiology course (Bio340) all became “published” authors this week – on Wikipedia, which is in fact a peer-reviewed resource!
Despite the teacher’s maxim that “Wikipedia is a great place to start and a terrible place to end up,” Wikipedia Science has become a valuable and reliable resource in recent years. The students of Bio340 undertook a semester-long project, working in groups of two and four in size. At the beginning of the term, each group selected a rare human physiological disorder for which no Wikipedia article (or only a very short article) previously existed. By spring break (from which we sadly did not return), students had submitted the first draft of their articles and since then it has been revision, revision, revision. As an instructor, one of the upsides of remote education has been having the opportunity to work closely with each student group on Zoom for about one hour each week, which would have been difficult to orchestrate otherwise.
The mission of the Wikipedia Foundation is to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally. Because the ethos of Wikipedia is centered on service to the community, individual authors are anonymous. This professor felt that our young authors deserved credit in The Dome, however! Please take a moment to view their articles!
DISORDER/DISEASE STUDENT AUTHORS
| Wrinkly Skin Syndrome | Lauryn Rudin, Max Chrzanoswski, Joshua Bobak & Ethan Wood |
| Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis | Tony Carrero, Connor Davies & Marcus Brown |
| Chylomicron Retention Disease | Caleb Graham, Eisa Hashmi, Patrick Eugeni |
| Tyrosinimia | Christian Rottner, Chris Fisher & Joel Fernando |
| Uncombable Hair Syndrome | Alex Brenan, Nico Hernandez, Ashley Chapman & Sean Gibson |
| Rubinstein-Taybe Syndrome | Katlynn Crossley, Kari Seep, Jaci Wallace & Kelsey Voelker |
| Darier Disease | Simon Pratt & Ashlyn Kornetz |
| Coffin-Lowry Syndrome | Giovanna Aquilina, Teresa Gerth & Natalie Lizarazo |
| Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Deficiency | Madison Chapin & Ashlynn Gilfillan |
| Neutral Lipid Storage Disease | Madeline Beaulieu & Cassidy Ceriani |
Submitted by: Justine Melo, PhD, assistant professor, Biology
