Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Fordham University/Fordham Summer Project (Summer 2017)

Welcome to your Wikipedia project's timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for the rest of the summer. Please feel free to progress through these steps as slowly or as swiftly as you like. Our goal, however, is to have the pages updated by the end of July. If you progress through these steps quickly, you will have the opportunity to update more than once page on Wikipedia this summer.

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.

Assignment - Step 1: Get started on Wikipedia

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! These trainings are required for your course.
Please review the following handouts:
- Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- Editing Wikipedia articles on Medicine and any other subject specific handout that will be helpful for your work.
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, 19 June 2017

Assignment - Step 2: Evaluate Wikipedia

It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article related to the course 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 leave notes about your observations and learnings.
Based on what you plan to cover this summer, please review the articles most relevant to your work on Wikipedia:
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
- If you want to consider creating pages that are missing altogether and need to write from scratch (like Burkard Spore Trap & Tauber Trap) find related articles on Wikipedia to evaluate first.
- Some ideas: Pollen count, Rotorod sampler, Spegazzinia and so on.
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?
Optional: Choose at least 1 question relevant to one of the articles you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Samantha (Wiki Ed) (talk) 22:06, 21 September 2018 (UTC). [reply]

Week 3

Course meetings

Monday, 26 June 2017

Assignment - Step 3: Copyedit your article & find sources

Assign yourself one of the articles from the list above to make significant improvements to. You should do this by listing the article next to your username on the Students tab above.

Then, read through it again, thinking about ways to improve the language, such as fixing grammatical mistakes. In order to start small with your editing practice, start by making the appropriate changes. You don’t need to contribute new information to the article yet.

Once you're done copyediting, in your sandbox, write a few sentences about what you plan to contribute to the 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.

Also this week, review Wikipedia's rules for topics related to medicine, human health, and psychology using the training below.

Week 4

Course meetings

Monday, 3 July 2017

Assignment - Step 4: Draft article improvements

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 write the body of the article.

Once you have a complete first draft remember: 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.

Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 5

Course meetings

Monday, 10 July 2017

Assignment - Step 5: Peer review

Once you have a complete first draft you should request a peer review. If you get a peer review request please follow "Part 1" to complete it.

Part 1

First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
Peer review your peers draft. Leave suggestions on on the Talk page of the article, or sandbox, that your fellow student is working on. Other editors may be reviewing your work, so look for their comments! Be sure to acknowledge feedback from other Wikipedians.
As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic?
Send an email out once you are done peer reviewing a draft so that the other individual knows they can start implementing changes.

Part 2

Once you have your peer review notes:
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 Content Expert if you have any questions.

Week 6

Course meetings

Monday, 17 July 2017

Assignment - Step 6: Begin moving your work to Wikipedia

If you're 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!
Be sure to copy text from your sandbox while the sandbox page is in 'Edit' or 'Edit source' mode. This ensures that the formatting is transferred correctly.

If you're 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 Sandboxes and Mainspace online training.

Once it's live
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.
Remember to contact your Content Expert at any time if you need further help!

Week 7

Course meetings

Monday, 24 July 2017

Assignment - Step 7: Final article

It's the final week to develop your article.

If you'd like to add an image, now is the time! Before you start, review the Illustrating Wikipedia handbook, or see Editing Wikipedia pages 10–11. Then, take the "Contributing Images and Media Files" training for more information.
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!

Milestones

Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.

Assignment - Repeat!

Repeat steps 3-7 to update and improve additional articles.

Consider some pages that are missing altogether and need to write from scratch:

[http://pollen.utulsa.edu/levetinhallrogers.pdf Burkard Spore
TrapTauber Trap]