Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Delta College/Recent American History (Fall 2015)
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- Course name
- Recent American History
- Institution
- Delta College
- Instructor
- Amyfrench
- Subject
- History
- Course dates
- 2015-08-29 – 2015-12-20
- Approximate number of student editors
- 50
Objectives:
Analyze digital encyclopedia as a historical source (Wikipedia)
Access and analyze academic journal articles, monographs, biographies, or essay collections on a historical
topic
Create an academic bibliography for a historical research project
Synthesize relevant academic research and existing open access scholarship
Create or edit a Wikipedia article on a historical topic
Communicate your analysis and process through an oral presentation
Timeline
Week 1
- In class - Wikipedia essentials
- Overview of the course
- Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
- Understanding Wikipedia as a community, we'll discuss its expectations and etiquette.
Handout: Editing Wikipedia
- In class - Editing basics
- Basics of editing
- Anatomy of Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how to distinguish between good and bad articles
- Collaborating and engaging with the Wiki editing community
- Tips on finding the best articles to work on for class assignments
Handouts: Using Talk Pages, Evaluating Wikipedia
- Assignment - Practicing the basics
- Create an account and then complete the online training for students. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
- Create a User page.
- 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.
- Explore topics related to your topic area 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.
Resources: Online Training for Students
- Milestones
All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.
Week 2
- In class - Exploring the topic area
- Be prepared to discuss some of your observations about Wikipedia articles in your topic area that are missing or could use improvement.
Handouts: Choosing an article
- In class - Discuss the article topics
- Voluntary meeting with Professor French to review project--October 13 and 15
- Assignment - Choosing your article
- Research and list 3–5 articles on your Wikipedia user page that you will consider working on as your main project. Look at the talk page for existing topics for a sense of who else is working on it and what they're doing. Describe your choices to your instructor for feedback.
- Optional
- Meet with Professor French to review your project
Week 3
- In class - Using sources
- Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.
Handouts: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
- Assignment - Finalize your topic and start researching
- Select an article to work on, removing the rest from your user page. Add your topic on the course page.
- Compile a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on. Begin reading the sources. Make sure to check in on the talk page (or watchlist) to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.
Week 4
- Assignment - Bibliography
- If you are starting a new article, write a 3–4 paragraph summary version of your article—with citations—in your Wikipedia sandbox. If you are improving an existing article, create a detailed outline reflecting your proposed changes, and post this for community feedback, along with a brief description of your plans, on the article’s talk page. Make sure to check back on the talk page often and engage with any responses.
- Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your short starter article and fix any major issues.
- Continue research in preparation for expanding your article.
Bibliography and source summarization
- Identify relevant academic journal articles, monographs, biographies, or essay collections on chosen historical topic.
- Meet with professor to discuss research avenues.
- Must have at least three academic sources on bibliography. Academic sources are generally from academic journals (found on J-Stor or Project Muse) or from academic publishers. Delta provides access to J-Stor and Project Muse through the LLIC. For books, you will probably need to use interlibrary loan; this can take several weeks so leave yourself plenty of time. under assignments)
- Bibliographical citations must be in Chicago Manual of Style (see link and sample on eLearning under assignments)
- After each citation, summarize the material in a paragraph or so for each citation.
Week 5
- In class - Wikipedia culture and etiquette
- Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
- Q&A session with instructor about interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.
- Milestones
All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.
Week 6
- In class - Moving articles to mainspace
- We'll discuss moving your article out of your sandboxes and into Wikipedia's main space.
- A general reminder: Don't panic if your contribution disappears, and don't try to force it back in.
- Check to see if there is an explanation of the edit on the article's talk page. If not, (politely) ask why it was removed.
- Contact your instructor or Wikipedia Content Expert and let them know.
Handout: Moving out of your Sandbox
Week 7
- In class - Building articles
- Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
- Share experiences and discuss problems.
Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia
- Assignment - Complete first draft
- Expand your article into a complete first draft.
Week 8
- Assignment - Moving articles to mainspace
- Move your sandbox articles into main space.
- If you are expanding an existing article, copy your edit into the article. If you are making many small edits, save after each edit before you make the next one. Do NOT paste over the entire existing article, or large sections of the existing article.
- If you are creating a new article, do NOT copy and paste your text, or there will be no record of your work history. Follow the instructions in the "Moving out of your sandbox" handout.
- Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.
- In class - Media literacy discussion
- Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.
- Assignment - Final article
- Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on any suggestions and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.
- Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.
Handout: Polishing your article
Week 9
- DUE on 12/3
- Wikipedia edit
Week 10
- Assignment - In-class presentation
- Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.
Week 11
- In-class presentation
- Students give in-class presentations about their experiences editing Wikipedia.
- Milestones
Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.