NM_Dude

[Scholarpedia Great or Garbage]

In grading my undergrad's papers, I came across reference to scholarpedia (http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Main_Page).

This is the first time someone has cited it in their paper (it was used as support for learning theory stuff).

It 'looks' like it's slightly less questionable than Wikipedia, but I'm not convinced it meets the standards for a real 'peer-reviewed' reference.

Anyone have thoughts on this reference? Should I update my "Cite wikipedia and fail the assignment" policy to "Cite any Wiki source and fail the assignment"? Should I address it in class?

Any thoughts appreciated.

[NMDude]

Ugh. Totally mixed up the name and subject stuff. Apologies all around.

[me]

If online material was an option as a source, I don't think the student should be penalized. In the future, you need to be specific about what resources are acceptable. Specifically say use only scholarly journals or books.

[yeah]

You should probably update this for future courses you teach, but you can't retroactively say that the student couldn't have used this source- that wouldn't really be fair.

[NMDude]

Just to be clear, the student wouldn't have been subject to anything more than a note on their paper saying "Please don't use this reference on the next assignment".

I was inquiring more to figure out 1) if this source had any actual value as a reference, or was essentially wikipedia with a slightly higher admission policy, and 2) if it was worth having a general chat with the class about this website's scholarly value, or just throw it in the assignment policies for next time.

[NMDude]

...but thanks! (Somehow I submitted the post before I was finished typing... been one of those days)



P.S. Dear Chevy: I'm not buying your stupid Volt car, no matter how many times you make me type it to post on this board.

[unclekarl]

If you can show mistakes on a topic, that would get the point across about quality of information. I've assigned Wikipedia entries for classes that I've thought were better than some textbooks. I just hate to categorically refuse written material, until I have a chance to review it myself.