Tutor warns students: Don't trust Wikipedia

A Bay of Plenty Polytechnic tutor says he "actively discourages" his students from using the online tool Wikipedia, because it can't be trusted.
Dean Tully, who is group leader of the marine and environmental management, said there was a "reliability" issue with Wikipedia and he didn't use it.
The online issue has emerged after Canterbury University geography lecturer Dr Deirdre Hart  banned the use of the often-criticised tool  when it kept appearing in the references of her students' work.
Mr Tully said it was a useful starting point for research but that was about its only use.
While a new generation is frequently turning to the online encyclopedia for information, critics say Wikipedia - where anyone can edit information on a subject - can be error-ridden.
 Wikipedia's founder Jimmy Wales told a conference in the United States that he got about 10 emails a week from students who complained that Wikipedia  got them into academic hot water. But he had no sympathy for their plight.
"For God's sake, you're in college - don't cite the encyclopedia," he said.
 Mr Tully said it was important students learned to think critically and used their own thoughts in an essay as well.
 Plagiarism was  an issue at tertiary level but lecturers  had ways of monitoring it with an online plagiarism-prevention programme.
Turnitin.com works by checking student work against a database of millions of internet pages, published works and already-submitted student work.
Mr Tully said he occasionally used the site when marking Year 3 assignments but there was a large element of trust given to students.
"We definitely don't discourage the web ... You are always going to get 20 to 30 to 40 per cent from other sources. It's when you get 90 per cent you really worry."
Dr Nigel Calder, a senior lecturer in mathematics, science and technology education at the University of Waikato campus in Tauranga, said students were aware of the consequences of plagiarism and had to learn to discern what was fact and fiction.
University students were expected to substantiate and validate their own ideas with recognised research and literature, so they needed to be sure what they were putting down was right, he said.