Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/New York University/Food Systems (Spring 2017)
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- Course name
- Food Systems
- Institution
- New York University
- Instructor
- Stephanie Rogus
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Food and Agriculture in the 20th Century
- Course dates
- 2017-01-23 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-05-08 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 26
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 6 February 2017
- In class - 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:
- Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- 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.
Week 2
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 13 February 2017
- Assignment - Critique an 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.
To start, select an article on Wikipedia in one of the following article lists. Make a section in In your sandbox, space with the heading "Critique an article" and individually, use the prompts below to critique the piece.
Category:agriculture in the US
- 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 — Ian (Wiki Ed) (talk) 16:56, 8 May 2017 (UTC).
While you're working through this assignment, think about the following 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"?
Week 3
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 20 February 2017
- Assignment - Review the rules for medical topics
Review Wikipedia's rules for topics related to medicine, human health, and psychology.
- Assignment - Choose possible topics
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
- Choose 3–5 potential articles that you can tackle, and post links to them on your Wikipedia user page or in your sandbox. For articles that already exist, check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians might be doing. Finally, present your choices to your instructor for feedback.
- Assignment - Finalize your topic / Find your sources
- On the Students tab, assign your chosen topic 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, too.
- 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.
Think about the following as you work through this assignment:
- 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
-
- Monday, 27 February 2017
- Assignment - Draft your article
You've picked a topic and found your sources. Now it's time to start writing.
You will be drafting either a new section for your article's page (~2 paragraphs), adding 2 paragraphs to an existing section, or improving 2 sections of an existing article that needs work.
Write a few sentences on how you plan to improve/add to your article in your sandbox.
Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 6 March 2017
- Assignment - Expand your draft
- In your sandbox, keep working on transforming your article into a complete first draft. Get draft ready for peer-review.
- Update your article's "lead section" to reflect any changes you're making to the body of the article. The lead section 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 (see Ada Lovelace).
- 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.
As you work, think about the following:
- 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?
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 13 March 2017
- Assignment - Continue working on your article
- Continue working on your article draft.
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 20 March 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 8
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 27 March 2017
- Assignment - Continue improving your article
Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on suggestions and your own critique.
- 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.
- 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 Content Expert at any time if you need further help!
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 3 April 2017
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 10 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!
- Assignment - Prepare for in-class presentation
- Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 17 April 2017
- In class - In-class presentation
Present about your Wikipedia editing experience.
Consider the following questions as you reflect on your Wikipedia assignment:
- Critiquing articles: What did you learn about Wikipedia during the article evaluation? How did you approach critiquing the article you selected for this assignment? How did you decide what to add to your chosen article?
- Summarizing your contributions: include a summary of your edits and why you felt they were a valuable addition to the article. How does your article compare to earlier versions?
- Peer Review: If your class did peer review, include information about the peer review process. What did you contribute in your review of your peers article? What did your peers recommend you change on your article?
- Feedback: Did you receive feedback from other Wikipedia editors, and if so, how did you respond to and handle that feedback?
- Wikipedia generally: What did you learn from contributing to Wikipedia? How does a Wikipedia assignment compare to other assignments you've done in the past? How can Wikipedia be used to improve public understanding of our field/your topic? Why is this important?