User:Ahaffa/BIO300 Essay3 Spring2012

Essay** 3: HeLa Cells and Biomedical Research 60 points

Due Thursday March 29, 2012, 11:59 pm. I can see when you have completed the assignment from the Page History. You do not need to turn anything in to me. I can grade your work online.

The goal of this assignment is to identify a paper that describes primary research (not a review article), and write an article describing it on Wikipedia. It is necessary to cite papers in this one related to the background or methods. Science is conducted by “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants”. **NOTE: While it is called an "Essay" for grading purposes, it is really a factual article and should not contain any of your own novel ideas.

1. Identify your Paper (5 points) Graded Task: On the course iLearn discussion forum post the citation for your paper and a link to it or the abstract. The paper you describe should be recent.

Use one of the search engines on our library course page or other scholarly search engine.

Be sure you find it somewhat interesting, since you are going to be spending a few hours with it. Try adding a word you are interested in and "HeLa", like "dentist" or "feline". Because you are required to use peer-reviewed secondary sources it is also appropriate to include the term "review" in your search. The content cited in a primary source is considered secondary, and thus appropriate (this would be the sort of literature review in the introduction or discussion sections of an article).

2. Create a Wikipedia Account if you do not already have one and share your user name in the iLearn forum (5 points)

You need to have an account and be logged in when you are working on this assignment, otherwise you will not get credit for your work. Furthermore, an account hides your IP address from the world.

3. Write your Encyclopedia Entry Based on past experience, it would make it easier for both you and other Wikipedia editors if you would first add their contributions to a sandbox area in their own user space. Once you have logged in you will see a link to your very own sandbox up in the upper right of the screen. You can add text and other content to the text editing box. Then write a short edit summary, and save the page. Once you have added in the blurred words, then you can show a preview.

You should use this sandbox to learn Wikipedia syntax and fine tune your contribution. In addition, using a sandbox insulates your edits from other Wikipedia editors.

Before transferring the contribution to the main article about HeLa and to the appropriate topic page if necessary, it would be helpful for me and/or other Wikipedia editors to review the proposed addition to make sure that they conform to generally accepted Wikipedia standards. Boghog said that would be happy to help in the review.

You should pay attention to syntax and format. One crucial criteria in the use of properly sourced materials. You can find help creating your citations here: Help:Citation tools

Another instructor has tasked his Neurobiology students with generating wiki content. It includes links to a number of tutorials that you will find useful (see the Table under Introduction for Students). His assignment may be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:NeuroJoe/BI481_Fall_2011

Play with all of these things in your sandbox.

4. Post your paragraph on the appropriate Wiki Page and post the link in iLearn (50 pts)

Grading rubric Wikipedia HeLa Research Writing Assignment (Written article = 50 of 60 points)

Format (10 points):

  Article is at least 600 words in length of actual writing
  Article follows the standard Wikipedia structure
  Mechanics are solid (grammar, spelling, paragraph structure)
  Article is not a Wikipedia:orphan, but is linked to at least 5 other pages (Note: It may be most appropriate 
        to have a short note on the page about HeLa, but provide the main content on the page with the topic 
        you are actually writing about.)

Content (40 pts):

   The overview or introductory section summarizes the subject according to Wikipedia standards
   In-paper citations are present and used correctly according to Wikipedia format see Wikipedia:Citing sources
   Bibliography includes at least 3 secondary resources, and is formatted correctly according to Wikipedia format
   Body of the article encompasses the most significant researched information on the subject. 
   Your article should conform to Wikipedia writing standards which include the need to be unbiased 
        (Wikipedia:Neutral point of view) and cover your subject in adequate detail. 
   Anything you state in your article must be verifiable Wikipedia:Verifiable.  This means that it cannot be original 
         research Wikipedia:Original Research.
   Your task is to read the literature and summarize all the information you find into an easy-to-read and 
         understandable article that synthesizes this information.  You should not write lists of complicated facts 
         in a "shopping list" format. If you are missing major bits of information, or have included incorrect 
         information without citations to back up your findings, you will lose points.
   You should pay attention to comments and suggestions given to you by your peers and the Wikipedia community 
         during Wikipedia:Peer Review.  If you decide that comments are not valid, then there should be substantial 
         reasoning as to why you hold this claim.

Point Deductions:

  Minus 5% per each two hour block it is late
  Not providing me with a link to the page so that I may find it
  Creating your topic page in the wrong space
  If there is plagiarism
  More than 1 direct quote in the article, minus 5 points per extra quote

Bonus Points

  If your article attains Wikipedia:Featured Article status before the end of the semester, then you automatically receive 
          all 60 points, plus 10 points of extra credit.  I am leaving this here since it is our agreement, but note 
          that according to a wikipedia editor, this is not a very realistic goal.  And, we must consult with him
           prior to submitting anything for nomination, because it is a lot of work for the peer-reviewers.

Optional: Images If you want to add a picture you will need to use the Wikimedia Commons and then link the file you place in the Commons to the page you are working on. (NOTE: you do NOT need to add a graphic, but this is what you will do if you decide you should to clarify your article). Your image must be made by you or in the public domain. Here is a tutorial: Wikipedia:Picture_tutorial