Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/American University/Understanding Media (Spring 2018)
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- Course name
- Understanding Media
- Institution
- American University
- Instructor
- Ericka Menchen-Trevino
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Media and Communication
- Course dates
- 2018-01-16 00:00:00 UTC – 2018-06-02 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 40
This is an introductory course in media and communication. Students will be contributing to Wikipedia pages about media to learn about the Wikipedia contribution process and community, improve their writing, and to improve Wikipedia's coverage of their topic of choice.
Timeline
Week 2
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 23 January 2018 | Friday, 26 January 2018
- 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.
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 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 - Get started on Wikipedia
- Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. Remember that your Wikipedia username is completely public. If you use your name or anything obviously identifying (e.g. your AU student id), every edit to Wikipedia you make will be associated with your identity forever.
- 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!
- When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page. Find your classmates on the "Students" tab. If you need directions on how to do this, they are available here.
You will not receive credit for any further work on this project until you have fully completed this step. The same goes for each subsequent step.
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 30 January 2018 | Friday, 2 February 2018
- Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article related to the course (anything about any form of media is fine) and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page.
- Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
- Create a section in your sandbox titled "Article evaluation" where you'll write your evaluation. See example on Ericka's sandbox and on Blackboard under Information > Example Assignments > Wiki Evaluation.pdf.
- Choose an article on Wikipedia related to your course to read and evaluate. As you read, consider the following questions (but don't feel limited to these):
- 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?
- Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
- Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
- Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
- Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
- Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
- How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
- How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
- Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Shalor (Wiki Ed) (talk) 01:30, 29 May 2018 (UTC).
Week 4
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 6 February 2018 | Friday, 9 February 2018
- 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 - Add to an article
Familiarize yourself with editing Wikipedia by adding a citation to an article. First, complete the training module below.
There are two ways you can do this:
- Add 1-2 sentences to a course-related article, and cite that statement to a reliable source, as you learned in the online training.
- The Citation Hunt tool shows unreferenced statements from articles. First, evaluate whether the statement in question is true! An uncited statement could just be lacking a reference or it could be inaccurate or misleading. Reliable sources on the subject will help you choose whether to add it or correct the statement.
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 13 February 2018 | Friday, 16 February 2018
- 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?
- Assignment - Choose possible topics
- Complete the training module below.
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
- Look up 3-5 potential topics related to the course that you might want to update on Wikipedia. Review the content of the article and check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians are already contributing. Identify one or two areas from each that you could improve.
- Choose 2-3 potential articles from that list that you can tackle, and post links to the articles and your notes about what you might improve in your sandbox. Remember, you will need to find quality sources to draft your article.
- Finally, submit a link to your sandbox on Blackboard for the Wikipedia Topics assignment when you have completed the steps above
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 20 February 2018 | Friday, 23 February 2018
- Assignment - Finalize your topic / Find your sources
- Once you receive feedback from the professor, on the Students tab, assign your chosen article 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.
- Review other students choices to see if you are contributing to the same article as someone else - if so write on their page and/or email them about it.
- Assignment - Begin drafting your article
You've picked a topic and found your sources. Now it's time to start writing. First, complete the training below.
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
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- Tuesday, 27 February 2018 | Friday, 2 March 2018
- 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?
- Assignment - Expand and complete your first draft
- Keep working on transforming your article into a complete first draft. Get draft ready for peer-review.
- If you'd like a Wikipedia Expert to review your draft, now is the time! Click the "Get Help" button in your sandbox to request notes.
- When you complete this assignment, submit a link to your sandbox on Blackboard for the assignment Wikipedia First Draft.
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 6 March 2018 | Friday, 9 March 2018
- Assignment - Peer review and copy edit
- First, take the "Peer Review" online training below.
- Select a classmate’s article that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the article that you want to review. Then in the "My Articles" section of the Home tab, assign it to yourself to review.
- Peer review your classmate's draft in their sandbox. To find their sandbox go to the Students tab and click Sandboxes under the student’s name. Leave suggestions in the sandbox where your fellow student is working.
- As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic?
- Are the sources high quality? Do they need more sources to support their claims?
- Assignment - Respond to Feedback
You probably have some feedback from other students, your professor, and possibly other Wikipedians. It's time to work with that feedback to improve your article!
- Read Editing Wikipedia pages 12 and 14.
- Return to your draft or article and think about the suggestions. Decide which ones to start implementing. Reach out to your instructor or your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.
- Write a summary of all feedback you have received, as well as what you have decided to improve, including things you have already changed and what you plan to improve before the final draft is due. If you received feedback that you do not believe will improve your contribution, state that. Submit this on Blackboard for the "Wikipedia Response to Feedback" assignment. There are no length requirements for this assignment, but you must address all feedback suggestions you received.
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 20 March 2018 | Friday, 23 March 2018
- 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.
- Consider adding an image to your article. Wikipedia has strict rules about what media can be added, so make sure to take Contributing Images and Media Files training before you upload an image. This training is required for everyone.
- 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! Your grade will suffer if you do this.
- Be sure to copy text from your sandbox while the sandbox page is in 'Edit' mode. This ensures that the formatting is transferred correctly.
Creating a new article?
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 13, and follow these steps to move your article from your Sandbox to Mainspace.
- You can also review the Sandboxes and Mainspace online training.
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 27 March 2018 | Friday, 30 March 2018
- 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!
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 3 April 2018 | Friday, 6 April 2018
- Assignment - Reflective essay
First, go to the article(s) you edited this semester and “View history” to see what, if anything, has been changed since you contributed to this article and who changed it. Write a reflective essay (2–5 pages) on your Wikipedia contributions. Submit on Blackboard.
Consider the following questions as you reflect on your Wikipedia assignment:
- What did you know about Wikipedia before taking this course?
- What did you learn about the process of writing for Wikipedia?
- Has this experience changed how you read Wikipedia articles?
- 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: What did you contribute to your review of your peer's article? What did your peers recommend you change in 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?