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Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Lewis-Clark State College/American National Government (Fall)

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Course name
American National Government
Institution
Lewis-Clark State College
Instructor
Kylee Britzman
Wikipedia Expert
LiAnna (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Political science
Course dates
2021-08-23 00:00:00 UTC – 2021-12-17 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
25


The American National Government (POLS 101) course is the introduction to U.S. politics from a political science perspective. In this class students will work in groups to update existing Wikipedia articles related to Idaho politics. Although all the articles are existing articles, most only provide limited information. Each group will research and provide relevant information for these articles.

Timeline

Week 3

Course meetings
Tuesday, 7 September 2021   |   Thursday, 9 September 2021
In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia assignment

Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline. This page guides you through the steps you'll need to complete for your Wikipedia assignment, with links to training modules and your classmates' work spaces.

Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Resources:

Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia

Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (Because of Wikipedia's technical restraints, you may receive a message that you cannot create an account. To resolve this, please try again off campus or the next day.)

Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 4

Course meetings
Tuesday, 14 September 2021   |   Thursday, 16 September 2021
Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia

Exercise

Evaluate an article

Week 5

Course meetings
Tuesday, 21 September 2021   |   Thursday, 23 September 2021
In class - Discussion

What's a content gap?

Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area

Political Science

Week 6

Course meetings
Tuesday, 28 September 2021   |   Thursday, 30 September 2021
Assignment - Add to an article

Exercise

Add a citation

Week 7

Course meetings
Tuesday, 5 October 2021   |   Thursday, 7 October 2021
Assignment - Start drafting your contributions

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Week 8

Course meetings
Tuesday, 12 October 2021   |   Thursday, 14 October 2021
In class - Strategies for writing articles

Week 9

Course meetings
Tuesday, 19 October 2021   |   Thursday, 21 October 2021
Assignment - Bibliography draft

As a group, discuss your plan for completing the bibliography (i.e. list of sources).Do you want to set up a research appointment with the library? Will you virtually collaborate on the bibliography, is so what is the communication plan? 

1. Let me know whose sandbox is the main sandbox for your article 

2. In the sandbox you will add a list of sources (with the full citation). You should have at least 4-5 sources. 

3. Under each source provide a brief description (2-3 sentences minimum) about the information contained in the source. 

The more research you do now the better equipped you will be to start editing, revising, and adding information to your article. 

 

 

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 10

Course meetings
Tuesday, 26 October 2021   |   Thursday, 28 October 2021
Assignment - Plans for revision and drafting your contributions

As a group, discuss the next steps for your project. What do you need to work on as a group to have a full first draft of your article? Are there additional sources you need? Do you need to start writing new content? 

Continue to work on the draft of your article edits in your sandbox.

The following elements must be included in the draft: 

1. Lead Section 

Introductory sentence: States article topic concisely and accurately in single sentence.

2. Article 

Content: At least 1-2 paragraph (minimum 4-5 sentences) of new content must be drafted. 

3. References

Citations: Using the sources from bibliography, each group should have at least 3-5 sources. Make sure to review that sources meet the Wikipedia standards. 

A reminder for your article draft: do not violate Wikipedia plagiarism and copyright standards in your sandbox. 

You can always reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have questions using the Get Help button at the top of this page.

The Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9 can also be helpful as you continue to develop your article draft

Assignment Grading (10 pts possible):

1 pts: The article draft has been added to the correct place (in your Sandbox).

1 pt: The article draft text includes a lead section with a concise and accurate single sentence.

2 pt: The article draft text includes at least one paragraph of new text. 

1 pt: The article draft text includes at least 3-5 sources/references. 

1 pt: The citations are relevant and appropriate to the statements where they are cited.

1 pt: The article draft text does not violate Wikipedia plagiarism policies.

1 pt: The writing is high quality (contains no spelling and few grammatical mistakes).

2 pts: Assignment is completed by the deadline 

 

Assignment language adopted from Dr. Jennifer Glass (Georgia Tech) 

Week 11

Course meetings
Tuesday, 2 November 2021   |   Thursday, 4 November 2021
Assignment - Continue improving your article

Exercise

Add links to your article

Now's the time to revisit your text and refine your work. You may do more research and find missing information; rewrite the lead section to represent all major points; reorganize the text to communicate the information better; or add images and other media.

Week 12

Course meetings
Tuesday, 9 November 2021   |   Thursday, 11 November 2021
Assignment - Polish your work

Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!

Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia

Now that you've improved your draft based on others' feedback, it's time to move your work live - to the "mainspace."

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13

Week 13

Course meetings
Tuesday, 16 November 2021   |   Thursday, 18 November 2021
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 Wikipedia Expert at any time!

Week 14

Course meetings
Tuesday, 23 November 2021   |   Thursday, 25 November 2021
Assignment - Reflective essay

Guiding questions

The final writing assignment for POLS 101 is reflecting on your experience with the class Wikipedia project.

In this informal essay you will assess and write about the following (guiding questions have been provided to help you reflect on each of these items):

 

Critiquing existing articles: What did you learn about Wikipedia when you evaluated the article at the start of the semester? How did you decide what to add to your chosen article?

Your contributions: Include a summary of working with your group, compiling the bibliography, and including your edits and additions to article.  

Content: What new content did you learn from this assignment? Here you can also discuss what it was like to start the assignment in class and then have to switch to remote work on the project. 

Wikipedia: What did you learn about contributing to Wikipedia? How can Wikipedia be used to improve public understanding of political science and why is this important?

Guidelines

Your essay should be at least 1-2 double-spaced pages (1-inch margin, 12-point font).

 Upload the essay on Canvas  (submission link is located in the Wikipedia project module).

Milestones

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