Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Rutgers University/Languages in Peril (Spring 2017)

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Course name: Languages in Peril

Institution: Rutgers University

Instructor: Charles G. Haberl

Subject: Languages

Course dates: 2017-01-17 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-05-01 23:59:59 UTC

Approximate number of student editors: 40

The vast majority of human knowledge is stored not in books, or computers, or even Wikipedia, but rather in the minds of ordinary people the world around. In many cases, the languages in which this knowledge is encoded are spoken by as few as a dozen people, and will almost certainly be lost with the passing of these languages and their speakers. By some estimates, fully 90% or more of the world’s languages will have disappeared by the end of the century.

This course will employ a multidisciplinary approach to address the impending disappearance of the world’s linguistic and cultural patrimony, which is one of the greatest challenges facing mankind in the 21st century. The discussion of these general issues will be illustrated with case studies of endangered languages and the traditions that they represent: three from the Middle East, three from South Asia, and three from Africa.

We will address:

the importance of linguistic diversity, and the ways in which the cultural knowledge encoded within language shape our experiences of and perspectives on the world; issues of language policy and linguistic rights across local and global contexts; and the methodology and technology of documentary linguistics, and how it can be employed to document our disappearing linguistic and cultural patrimony. By the end of the semester, students will be familiar with value of “local” non-standard forms of language, and the critical threat to intellectual diversity posed by their disappearance, as well as the philosophical and other theoretical issues surrounding the topic of language endangerment. They will learn about the importance of traditionally orally-transmitted knowledge, both as witnesses to a specific tradition and more broadly within the context of human knowledge, and the importance of documenting these before the languages in which they are transmitted vanish.

Timeline

Week 1

Course meetings

Tuesday, 17 January 2017 | Thursday, 19 January 2017

In class - Wikipedia essentials

Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for your course. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if there are other pages you should be following as well.

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.

To get started, please review the following handouts:

Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
Evaluating Wikipedia

Week 2

Course meetings

Tuesday, 24 January 2017 | Thursday, 26 January 2017

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 User page.
To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to another student on their user talk 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.

Milestones

All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.

Week 3

Course meetings

Tuesday, 31 January 2017 | Thursday, 2 February 2017

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

Week 4

Course meetings

Tuesday, 7 February 2017 | Thursday, 9 February 2017

In class - Using sources

Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.

Handouts: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism

Supplementary training: [[../../../training/students/sources|Sources and Citations]]

Assignment - Add to an article

Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the class.
For some ideas of articles to work on, check out the Category:Endangered languages article list.

Assignment - Choosing your article

Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
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.

Week 5

Course meetings

Tuesday, 14 February 2017 | Thursday, 16 February 2017

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

On the Students tab, assign your chosen topic 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.

Assignment - Drafting starter articles

You've picked a topic and found your sources. Now it's time to start writing.

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.

Once you have your first draft:

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.
Keep reading your sources, too, as you prepare to write the body of the article.

Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9

Week 6

Course meetings

Tuesday, 21 February 2017 | Thursday, 23 February 2017

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 7

Course meetings

Tuesday, 28 February 2017 | Thursday, 2 March 2017

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

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!

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 [[../../../training/students/sandboxes|Sandboxes and Mainspace]] online training.

Continue expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 8

Course meetings

Tuesday, 7 March 2017 | Thursday, 9 March 2017

In class - Building articles

Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
Share experiences and discuss problems.

Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia

Assignment - Choose articles to peer review

Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the articles that you want to review, and then assign them to yourself in the Review column.

Week 9

Course meetings

Tuesday, 14 March 2017 | Thursday, 16 March 2017

Assignment - Complete first draft

Expand your article into a complete first draft.

Week 10

Course meetings

Tuesday, 21 March 2017 | Thursday, 23 March 2017

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

First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
Peer review your classmates' drafts. 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?

Week 11

Course meetings

Tuesday, 28 March 2017 | Thursday, 30 March 2017

In class - Media literacy discussion

Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.

Assignment - Address peer review suggestions

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.
If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.

Week 12

Course meetings

Tuesday, 4 April 2017 | Thursday, 6 April 2017

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 and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.

Milestones

Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

Week 13

Course meetings

Tuesday, 11 April 2017 | Thursday, 13 April 2017

Assignment - Final article

Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.
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.
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!

Handout: Polishing your article

Week 14

Course meetings

Tuesday, 18 April 2017 | Thursday, 20 April 2017

Milestones

Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.