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Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/College of DuPage/English 1102-109 (Spring)

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Course name
English 1102-109
Institution
College of DuPage
Instructor
Nadene Eisner
Wikipedia Expert
Adam (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Composition
Course dates
2017-02-14 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-05-12 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
7


Second couse of the first-year writing sequence

Student Assigned Reviewing
Damsith n Race in the United States criminal justice system
Kahrun472 Combat Stress Reaction
Cassataa44 Salvidor Dali
Lilymarilyn Animal welfare in the United States
Fariasv Twelve Olympians
Aweeder13 Crystal healing
Sebastianx12 Subaru Tecnica International
Wayhartj Chicago Outfit
Omaralam8
Crispyn1234

Timeline

Week 1

Course meetings
Tuesday, 14 February 2017   |   Thursday, 16 February 2017

Week 2

Course meetings
Tuesday, 21 February 2017   |   Thursday, 23 February 2017
In class - Tuesday-Friday, February 14-16
Introduction to the Wikipedia project

 Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for your course. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if there are other pages you should be following as well. 

 This page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps, or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started on Wikipedia. 

 Your course has also been assigned a Wikipedia Content Expert. Check your Talk page for notes from them. You can also reach them through the "Get Help" button on this page. 

 To get started, please review the following handouts: 


Assignment - Practicing the basics
  • Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you.
  •  It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade. 
  •  When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page. 
Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Assignment - Critique your article

It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page. 

  • Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
  • Choose an article, and consider some questions (but don't feel limited to these): 
    • Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
    • Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
    • Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
    • Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
    • Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
    • Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
    • Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
  •  Choose at least 2 questions relevant to the article you're evaluating. Leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Crispyn1234 (talk) 17:25, 9 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Week 3

Course meetings
Tuesday, 28 February 2017   |   Thursday, 2 March 2017
Assignment - Choose your topic / Find your sources

It's time to choose an article and assign it to yourself.

  • Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
  •  Find an article from the list of "Available Articles" on the Articles tab on this course page. When you find the one you want to work on, click Select to assign it to yourself. 
  •  In your sandbox, write a few sentences about what you plan to contribute to the selected article. 
    •  Think back to when you did an article critique. What can you add? Post some of your ideas to the article's talk page. 
    •  Compile a list of relevant, reliable books, journal articles, or other sources. Post that bibliography to the talk page of the article you'll be working on, and in your sandbox. Make sure to check in on the Talk page to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography. 


In class - Discussion
Thinking about Wikipedia
  • What do you think of Wikipedia's definition of "neutrality"?
  • What are the impacts and limits of Wikipedia as a source of information?
  • On Wikipedia, all material must be attributable to reliable, published sources. What kinds of sources does this exclude? Can you think of any problems that might create?
  • If Wikipedia was written 100 years ago, how might its content (and contributors) be different? What about 100 years from now?


In class - Discussion
Thinking about sources and plagiarism
  • Blog posts and press releases are considered poor sources of reliable information. Why?
  • What are some reasons you might not want to use a company's website as the main source of information about that company?
  • What is the difference between a copyright violation and plagiarism?
  • What are some good techniques to avoid close paraphrasing and plagiarism?

Week 4

Course meetings
Tuesday, 7 March 2017   |   Thursday, 9 March 2017
In class - Thursday, February 16th in-class discussion
What's a content gap?

 Now that you're thinking about what makes a "good" Wikipedia article, consider some additional questions. 

  • Wikipedians often talk about "content gaps." What do you think a content gap is, and what are some possible ways to identify them?
  • What are some reasons a content gap might arise? What are some ways to remedy them?
  • Does it matter who writes Wikipedia?
  • What does it mean to be "unbiased" on Wikipedia? How is that different, or similar, to your own definition of "bias"?


Assignment - Make a small change to jump start your editing!

Familiarize yourself with editing Wikipedia by adding a citation or making a small change to your article. There are a few ways you can do this:

  • Copyedit the article;
  • Re-write a couple sentences or paragraphs that are confusing or poorly written;
  • Review the citations and references and delete any dead links and find new sources;
  • Add 1-2 sentences to a section needing improvement, and cite that statement to a reliable source, as you learned in the online training.

Week 5

Course meetings
Tuesday, 14 March 2017   |   Thursday, 16 March 2017
Assignment - Annotated bibliography DUE

As you've all chosen your topic and found your sources, this week's main assignment is to turn in your annotated bibliography. 

Week 6

Course meetings
Tuesday, 21 March 2017   |   Thursday, 23 March 2017
Assignment - Draft your article

You've picked a topic, found your sources and compiled your annotated bibliography. Now it's time to start writing the content you'll use to improve your article on Wikipedia.

Creating a new article?

  •  Write an outline of that topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia article's "lead section." Write it in your sandbox
    •  A "lead" section is not a traditional introduction. It should summarize, very briefly, what the rest of the article will say in detail. The first paragraph should include important, broad facts about the subject. A good example is Ada Lovelace. See Editing Wikipedia page 9 for more ideas. 

Improving an existing article?

  •  Identify what's missing from the current form of the article. Think back to the skills you learned while critiquing an article. Make notes for improvement in your sandbox.



Keep reading your sources, too, as you prepare to write the body of the article.

Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 7

Course meetings
Tuesday, 4 April 2017   |   Thursday, 6 April 2017
Assignment - Expand your draft
  • Keep working on transforming your article into a complete first draft. Get draft ready for peer-review. 
  • If you'd like a Content Expert to review your draft, now is the time! Click the "Get Help" button in your sandbox to request notes.

Week 8

Course meetings
Tuesday, 11 April 2017   |   Thursday, 13 April 2017
Assignment - Peer review and copy edit
  • First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
  •  Select three classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the articles that you want to review, and then assign them to yourself in the Review column. 
  •  Peer review your classmates' drafts. Leave suggestions on on the Talk page of the article, or sandbox, that your fellow student is working on. Other editors may be reviewing your work, so look for their comments! Be sure to acknowledge feedback from other Wikipedians. 
  •  As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic? 


Assignment - Continue improving your article

Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on suggestions and your own critique.

  • Take a look at the comments left by your peers during the review process. Which do you think you should implement? Make any changes necessary. 
  • Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Content Expert at any time if you need further help!  
  • Read Editing Wikipedia page 12 to see how to create links from your article to others, and from other articles to your own. Try to link to 3–5 articles, and link to your article from 2–3 other articles. 

Week 9

Course meetings
Tuesday, 18 April 2017   |   Thursday, 20 April 2017
Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia

Once you've made improvements to your article based on peer review feedback, it's time to move your work to Wikipedia proper - the "mainspace."

Editing an existing article?

  • NEVER copy and paste your draft of an article over the entire article. Instead, edit small sections at a time.
  • Copy your edits into the article. Make many small edits, saving each time, and leaving an edit summary. Never replace more than one to two sentences without saving!

Creating a new article?

  • Read Editing Wikipedia page 13, and follow those steps to move your article from your Sandbox to Mainspace.
  • You can also review the [[../../../training/students/sandboxes|Sandboxes and Mainspace]] online training.

Week 10

Course meetings
Tuesday, 25 April 2017   |   Thursday, 27 April 2017
Assignment - Final article

It's the final week to develop your article.

  • Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
  • Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Content Expert at any time!
Milestones

Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.

Week 11

Course meetings
Tuesday, 2 May 2017   |   Thursday, 4 May 2017
In class - Work on final research paper about your topic.

Week 12

Course meetings
Tuesday, 9 May 2017   |   Thursday, 11 May 2017