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Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Research Fund/Wikipedia in academic: Case of Burkina Faso, a francophone country in Africa.

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statusnot funded
Wikipedia in academic: Case of Burkina Faso, a francophone country in Africa.
start and end datesJuly 2023 - July 2024
budget (USD)40000-50000 USD
fiscal year2022-23
applicant(s)• Delwende Eliane Birba

Overview

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Applicant(s)

Delwende Eliane Birba

Affiliation or grant type

AI-KING GROUP and Virtual University of Burkina Faso

Author(s)

Delwende Eliane Birba

Wikimedia username(s)

Delwende Eliane Birba: User: Eliadel

Project title

Wikipedia in academic: Case of Burkina Faso, a francophone country in Africa.

Research proposal

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Description

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Description of the proposed project, including aims and approach. Be sure to clearly state the problem, why it is important, why previous approaches (if any) have been insufficient, and your methods to address it.

One of the impacts of the internet on education is the vast availability of open educational content on the network, accessible to everyone. Wikipedia is an example. Wikipedia is a powerful source of information because of its rich content, openness, and accessibility. Wikipedia could be a powerful educational tool, especially in countries with little access to educational materials. Previous research has studied the usage of Wikipedia for educational purposes in different countries. However, to our knowledge, no study has been done in the context of Burkina Faso, a francophone country in Africa. To fill this gap, this project aims to investigate the use of Wikipedia by academics and students for learning, teaching, and research activities in Burkina Faso. The proposed research will answer the following questions: Do students and professors in Burkina Faso use Wikipedia, and how? What are the perceived advantages and disadvantages? Do they reference Wikipedia in their research? What features or situations influence the integration of Wikipedia into teaching practices?

The research will be developed using quantitative and qualitative methods to understand the use of Wikipedia by academics in Burkina Faso. Questionnaires will be sent to different universities in Burkina Faso. The aim is to conduct a quantitative analysis of the usage of Wikipedia by students and professors. Furthermore, highlight more clearly the advantages and the difficulties involved in using Wikipedia.

Personnel

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  • Adivsors Dr. Rodrique Kafando, Virtual University of Burkina Faso,
  • Two Master's Students from the Virtual University of Burkina Faso

Budget

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Approximate amount requested in USD.

40000-50000 USD

Budget Description

Briefly describe what you expect to spend money on (specific budgets and details are not necessary at this time).

Salary or stipend 24,000

Benefits: 3,500

Equipment: 4,000

Open-access publishing costs: 3,000

Institutional overhead 2,500

Conference, travel expenses, and accommodation: 4,000

Other (as specified): transportation (for conducting the interviews): 2000

Total, $43,000

Impact

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Address the impact and relevance to the Wikimedia projects, including the degree to which the research will address the 2030 Wikimedia Strategic Direction and/or support the work of Wikimedia user groups, affiliates, and developer communities. If your work relates to knowledge gaps, please directly relate it to the knowledge gaps taxonomy.

Our research aligns with the Wikimedia 2030 strategy, which is about understanding the impact of Wikipedia content on education. French Wikipedia is the most viewed language version in Burkina Faso. It is fair to consider that our results will apply to many African countries. The research project could

Dissemination

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Plans for dissemination.

June-August 2023: preparations for the first and second part of the study + a pilot study/interview

September-October 2023:

November-December 2023: Data collection for both quantitative and qualitative analyses, sending the questionnaire to the universities, and conducting interviews.

January-February 2024: analyzing data

March-May 2024: writing and submitting articles for publishing in the open access journals

Past Contributions

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Prior contributions to related academic and/or research projects and/or the Wikimedia and free culture communities. If you do not have prior experience, please explain your planned contributions.

I am a Machine Learning lecturer for the Master's program in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at the Virtual University of Burkina Faso.

My works can be found here https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=89maeeAAAAAJ&hl=fr

Here too https://delwende.github.io


I agree to license the information I entered in this form excluding the pronouns, countries of residence, and email addresses under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. I understand that the decision to fund this Research Fund application, the application itself along with all the information entered by my in this form excluding the pronouns, country of residences, and email addresses of the personnel will be published on Wikimedia Foundation Funds pages on Meta-Wiki and will be made available to the public in perpetuity. To make the results of your research actionable and reusable by the Wikimedia volunteer communities, affiliates and Foundation, I agree that any output of my research will comply with the WMF Open Access Policy. I also confirm that I have read the privacy statement and agree to abide by the WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.

Yes