Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Michigan State University/IAH 209 Autopsy (Spring 2016)
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- Course name
- IAH 209 Autopsy
- Institution
- Michigan State University
- Instructor
- Katie
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Course dates
- 2016-01-11 – 2016-05-15
- Approximate number of student editors
- 50
Autopsy is about seeing. More than just a post-mortem, autopsy is first defined as the action or process of seeing with one’s own eyes. In this course we will concentrate on seeing with our own eyes to investigate questions like what does it mean to have a body? and what does it mean to be a body? We’ll look at the body and the various ways in which it has been examined, dissected, and displayed throughout history and across media. Through a variety of media (texts, images, films) and genres (scientific, historical, literary, artistic), we’ll explore the body itself as a complex cultural object, continually subject to modification by what we see and how we see it.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 11 January 2016 | Tuesday, 12 January 2016 | Wednesday, 13 January 2016 | Thursday, 14 January 2016 | Friday, 15 January 2016
- 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
- Assignment - Journal #1
- Introduce yourself!
Introduce yourself in our course D2L discussion forum.
First, tell us a little bit about who you are. You might talk about ...
- your family and where you're from,
- your favorite ...,
- what you study, what you're interested in,
- why you're in this class (besides, of course, that IAH is required),
- what will make this course successful for you.
- Or whatever else you'd like to share!
Then, to get our discussion of visual culture started, think about the following questions:
- How do you define visual culture? What about autopsy?
- What does visual culture have to do with autopsy? How might you connect the two terms?
Finally, choose an example of visual culture from your everyday life and take (or find) a photo. Post the photo (and tell us where you found it, if it's not your own work!) as a part of your journal entry (find out how here). Why do you consider this object/image/etc. to be an example of visual culture?
Make sure to check D2L for any changes to the assignment!
Week 2
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 19 January 2016 | Wednesday, 20 January 2016 | Thursday, 21 January 2016 | Friday, 22 January 2016
- 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 join this course page.
- Complete the introductory training modules. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
- Create a Wikipedia user page: Say something about yourself! You can find out more here: Wikipedia:User page design center.
- To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to another student on their user talk page.
- Assignment - Journal #2
- Reflect on training
This week, we got started working with Wikipedia. Before we dive into the project, think about what you already know and what you've learned about Wikipedia so far ...
First, complete the Wikipedia training modules ("Practicing the basics"), posted under Week 2 on our WikiEdu course page.
Then, think about the following questions:
- What experiences do you have with Wikipedia? You might discuss when you use (or don't use) Wikipedia, what you think of Wikipedia as a resource (reliable? not reliable? why?), or why you use Wikipedia (instead of other resources).
- Do you think Wikipedia is an appropriate source for academic writing (like the kind of writing you do at MSU)? Why or why not?
- Have you ever edited Wikipedia?
- If yes, why? What kinds of articles do you usually edit?
- If no, why not? What kinds of articles would you consider editing?
Now, discuss one idea that stuck with you from the Wikipedia training. Maybe this is something new you learned about Wikipedia, its purpose or community, the editing process, or something else that surprised or interested you about working with Wikipedia.
Finally, after completing the training and learning more Wikipedia, what aspect of our Wikipedia project concerns you most? Why? How could you address your concerns?
Make sure to check D2L for any changes to the assignment!
Week 3
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 25 January 2016 | Tuesday, 26 January 2016 | Wednesday, 27 January 2016 | Thursday, 28 January 2016 | Friday, 29 January 2016
- Milestones
All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.
- In class - Media literacy discussion
- Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.
- Assignment - Evaluate an article
- 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.
- Critically evaluate an existing Wikipedia article related to the class (in no fewer than 300 words), using Wikipedia's "Five Pillars" and core content policies. Leave suggestions for improvement on the article’s talk page.
- Assignment - Journal #3
- Evaluate an article
Step 1. Post your article evaluation and suggestions for improvement you published on the article's talk page here. This step allows you to more efficiently communicate with your peers, since your work will be collected in one forum and not scattered over 50 Wikipedia articles.
Then in no fewer than 300 words respond to the next two steps:
Step 2. Then reflect on the following questions:
- What were some of the challenges of this assignment?
- What did you learn through the process of completing this assignment? Thin about the process of identifying an article, evaluating an article, and posting suggestions to an article talk page.
Step 3. Finally, consider how your feedback has been received by the Wikipedia community.
- How has your feedback been received by the Wikipedia community?
- If your feedback has not (yet) elicited a response, what kind of response could you imagine receiving, based on what's already been posted on the article's talk page?
- What changes, if any, have been made to the article and/or the article's talk page since you posted your suggestions?
- Based on your evaluation of the article, do these subsequent changes help to improve the article? Explain.
Make sure to check D2L for any changes to the assignment!
Week 4
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 1 February 2016 | Tuesday, 2 February 2016 | Wednesday, 3 February 2016 | Thursday, 4 February 2016 | Friday, 5 February 2016
- 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
- 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 the topics and what they're doing. Describe your choices to your instructor for feedback.
- Assignment - Editing medical topics
Review Wikipedia's rules for topics related to medicine, human health, and psychology.
- Assignment - Journal #4
- Choosing your article
Step 1. List and link to the 3-5 articles on your Wikipedia user page that you will consider working on as your main project.
Step 2. Then consider the following questions in no fewer than 500 words:
- Discuss your choices. Why are you interested in these articles?
- How do the articles relate to our course? Use specific evidence from the readings and/or lectures to demonstrate the connection(s).
- Discuss the improvements you would propose. How would you change/expand/edit each article? Where is the gap in information your contributions could fill?
- Discuss what work is already being done on these articles. Who else is working on each topic? Are the articles part of an on-going WikiProject? What kind of work is being done? What are the main considerations? Do you agree with the approach(es)?
Make sure to check D2L for any changes to the assignment!
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 8 February 2016 | Tuesday, 9 February 2016 | Wednesday, 10 February 2016 | Thursday, 11 February 2016 | Friday, 12 February 2016
- In class - Using sources
- Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.
Handouts: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
- Assignment - Add to an article
- Choose one of 3-5 articles you identified last week.
- Add 1-2 sentences of new information to this article, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source.
Handouts: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
- Assignment - Journal #5
- Add to an article
STEP 1. Provide the title and link to the article you worked on for this assignment.
STEP 2. Copy and paste your addition and your citation here. This step allows you to more efficiently communicate with your peers, since your work will be collected in one forum and not scattered over 50 Wikipedia articles.
STEP 3. Reflect on the following questions in no fewer than 300 words:
- What were some of the challenges of this assignment?
- What did you learn through the process of completing this assignment? Think about the process of identifying a gap in coverage, researching and identifying a relevant source, and then editing an existing article.
- Finally, how has working through the project so far changed your thinking about Wikipedia?
Make sure to check D2L for any changes to the assignment!
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 15 February 2016 | Tuesday, 16 February 2016 | Wednesday, 17 February 2016 | Thursday, 18 February 2016 | Friday, 19 February 2016
- In class - Discuss the article topics
- Discuss the topics students will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them.
Supplementary training: [[../../../training/students/sandboxes|Sandboxes and Mainspace]]
- 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 at least five 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.
- Assignment - Journal #6
- Topic and research
This week, you selected your article for the project and began some preliminary research.
STEP 1. Provide the title and link to the article you've chosen for the project.
Then reflect on the following in no fewer than 300 words:
STEP 2. Briefly explain why you chose this article. Where do you see room for improvement in the article?Discuss what edits you're planning on making. (This might change: that's okay! For right now, think about where you'll start.)
- Remember! A maximum of two people can work on the same Wikipedia article for the project.
- If two people choose to work on the same article, it is their responsibility to work together to coordinate their contributions! That means, two people may work on the same article, but each must contribute at least 1000 words of original material.
STEP 3. Post your preliminary bibliography of at least five potential sources. Also include a list of any relevant links you might add to the article. Briefly explain how each source meets the criteria for acceptable sources for Wikipedia articles.
Make sure to check D2L for any changes to the assignment!
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 22 February 2016 | Tuesday, 23 February 2016 | Wednesday, 24 February 2016 | Thursday, 25 February 2016 | Friday, 26 February 2016
- 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.
- Assignment - Drafting starter articles
- If you are starting a new article, write an outline of the topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia lead section of 3–4 paragraphs in your sandbox. Wikipedia articles use "summary style", in which the lead section provides a balanced summary of the entire body of the article, with the first sentence serving to define the topic and place it in context. The lead section should summarize, very briefly, each of the main aspects of the topic that will be covered in detail in the rest of the article. If you are improving an existing article, draft a new lead section reflecting your proposed changes, and post this along with a brief description of your plans on the article’s talk page. Make sure to check that page often to gather any feedback the community might provide.
- Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your lead section and fix any major issues.
- Continue research in preparation for writing the body of the article.
- Assignment - Journal #7
- Lead section
This week, you drafted a lead section for your article.
STEP 1. Post your lead section to our course D2L discussion forum. Include the title and a link to the Wikipedia article you're working on.
STEP 2. Then reflect on the following questions in no fewer than 300 words:
- What did you learn from writing your lead section?
- What was the most challenging aspect of creating your lead section?
- Has writing the lead section changed your perspective on your topic? If so, how? If not, why not?
- What kind of feedback have you received, if any, from the Wikipedia community?
Make sure to check D2L for any changes to the assignment!
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 29 February 2016 | Tuesday, 1 March 2016 | Wednesday, 2 March 2016 | Thursday, 3 March 2016 | Friday, 4 March 2016
- Milestones
All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.
- Assignment - Reading journal
This week, you'll reflect on the reading.
Make sure to check D2L for any changes to the assignment!
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 14 March 2016 | Tuesday, 15 March 2016 | Wednesday, 16 March 2016 | Thursday, 17 March 2016 | Friday, 18 March 2016
- 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
- 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.
- Assignment - Reading journal
This week, you'll reflect on the reading.
Make sure to check D2L for any changes to the assignment!
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 21 March 2016 | Tuesday, 22 March 2016 | Wednesday, 23 March 2016 | Thursday, 24 March 2016 | Friday, 25 March 2016
- In class - Media literacy discussion
- Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.
- Assignment - Complete first draft
- Expand your article into a complete first draft.
- 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.
- Assignment - Articles to peer review
- You will be assigned two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. Your username will be added next to the articles you will peer review. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet.)
- No article may have more than two peer reviewers; all articles must have at least two peer reviewers.
- Assignment - Journal #8
- Article first draft
This week, you completed your first draft edits and moved your edits to the article's mainspace. You also submitted your first draft to the Dropbox Article first draft.
STEP 1. Post your first draft edits to our course D2L discussion forum. Include the title and a link to the Wikipedia article you're working on.
STEP 2. Then reflect on the following questions in no fewer than 300 words:
- What did you learn from writing the first draft?
- What was the most challenging aspect of creating your first draft?
- Now, think more about what we've been reading in Stiff. Imagine that Roach decided to include a chapter in Stiff about your Wikipedia article topic. How do you think she'd approach the topic? What would be some of the differences between the Wikipedia article and Roach's version? What does that show us about the importance of perspective?
Make sure to check D2L for any changes to the assignment!
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 28 March 2016 | Tuesday, 29 March 2016 | Wednesday, 30 March 2016 | Thursday, 31 March 2016 | Friday, 1 April 2016
- In class - Group suggestions
- As a group, offer suggestions for improving one or two other students' articles, based on your ideas of what makes a solid encyclopedia article.
Supplementary training: [[../../../training/students/peer-review|Peer Review]]
- Assignment - Peer review and copyedit
- Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
- Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.
- Assignment - Reading journal
This week, you'll reflect on the reading.
Make sure to check D2L for any changes to the assignment!
Week 12
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 4 April 2016 | Tuesday, 5 April 2016 | Wednesday, 6 April 2016 | Thursday, 7 April 2016 | Friday, 8 April 2016
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
- In class - Building articles
- Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
- Share experiences and discuss problems.
Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia
- Assignment - Address peer review suggestions
- Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.
- Assignment - Continue improving articles
- Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on community response or any additional areas for improvement you can identify.
- Assignment - Reading journal
This week, you'll reflect on the reading.
Make sure to check D2L for any changes to the assignment!
Week 13
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 11 April 2016 | Tuesday, 12 April 2016 | Wednesday, 13 April 2016 | Thursday, 14 April 2016 | Friday, 15 April 2016
- In class - Discuss further article improvements
- Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for each article for next week.
- Assignment - Continue improving articles
- Return to your classmates' articles you previously reviewed, and provide more suggestions for further improvement. If there is a disagreement, suggest a compromise.
- Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on your classmates' suggestions, community response, and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.
Week 14
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 18 April 2016 | Tuesday, 19 April 2016 | Wednesday, 20 April 2016 | Thursday, 21 April 2016 | Friday, 22 April 2016
- Assignment - Final article
- Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.
Handout: Polishing your article
Week 15
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 25 April 2016 | Tuesday, 26 April 2016 | Wednesday, 27 April 2016 | Thursday, 28 April 2016 | Friday, 29 April 2016
- Milestones
Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.
- Assignment - Reflective essay
- Write a reflective essay (no fewer than 500 words) on your Wikipedia contributions.