User:Mavcallens/English 325: Writing in the Health Professions

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Course name: English 325: Writing in the Health Professions

Institution: North Dakota State University

Instructor: Melissa Vosen Callens

Subject: Composition / Healthcare

Course dates: 2015-07-14 – 2015-08-07

Approximate number of student editors: 22

Timeline

Week 6 of ENGL 325 (2015-07-23): Wikipedia essentials, Editing basics, Exploring the topic area

Assignment (due July 23, EOD)

Watch Module Introduction on Blackboard
Read Handouts: Editing Wikipedia, Using Talk Pages, and Evaluating Wikipedia brochures
Create an account and then complete the online training for students. This training is required.
Create a User page, and then click the "enroll" button on the top left of this course page. ALL students must have Wikipedia user accounts that are listed on the course page.
Complete discussion board 13 on Blackboard. What are the genre conventions of an encyclopedia entry? What should an entry look like? What are some of your observations about Wikipedia articles in your field of study? Is there anything missing or that could use improvement? Share one article in your field that you think is a good Wikipedia article. Share one article you think could be improved. Explain why.
Read Handout: Choosing an article
- Tips on finding the best articles to work on for class assignments

Week 7 of ENGL 325 (2015-07-27): Evaluating Wikipedia, using sources, and choosing articles

Assignment (due July 27, EOD)

Watch Module Introduction on Blackboard
To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself on the user talk page of one of your classmates, who should also be enrolled in the table at the bottom of the page.
Continue to explore articles related in your field to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a mental note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement. For your major assignment, you will be asked to evaluate and improve a Wikipedia article of your choosing.

Review pages 4-7 of the Evaluating Wikipedia brochure. This will give you a good, brief overview of what to look for in other articles, and what other people will look for in your own.

Complete discussion board 14 on Blackboard. Practice evaluating one existing Wikipedia article related to your field. This can be short--one paragraph.
- A few questions to consider (don't feel limited to these):
  - Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? For medical articles, check whether each reference meets the requirements for reliable medical sources.
  - 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? For medical sources, is a PMID included?
  - Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
  - For medical topics, does the structure follow the recommendations of the manual of style for medicine-related articles?

Assignment (due July 30, EOD)

Watch Module Introduction on Blackboard
Read Handouts: Citing sources on Wikipedia and Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia.
- Complete Blackboard discussion board 15. Please explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia. How can you avoid copyright violations ?

Week 8 of ENGL 325 (2015-08-03): Adding Content to Wikipedia

Assignment (due August 3, EOD)

Watch Module Introduction on Blackboard
In the article you evaluated last week on Blackboard, go to the article's talk page and leave suggestions for improving it.

Assignment (due August 6, EOD)

Watch Module Introduction on Blackboard
Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to the Wikipedia article you have been looking at the past week.