Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Southern Illinois University Edwardsville/ENG 102 (Spring 2022)
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- Course name
- ENG 102
- Institution
- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
- Instructor
- Kristine Hildebrandt
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Research-based writing
- Course dates
- 2022-01-10 00:00:00 UTC – 2022-05-06 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 24
English 102 is a continuation of English 101. Assignments in this course will be designed to help you focus upon a theme, develop a thesis, organize ideas, control tone, and express ideas in clearly communicated language. Students will learn formal argumentation techniques and terminology. In addition, you will learn how to conduct research on selected topics, incorporate researched material into your papers, and properly cite and document your ideas. In this class, we will take a special focus on "identifying, evaluating, and integrating secondary source reference materials into your academic writing." We will focus on a critical examination of the Internet (and specifically: Wikipedia) in academic research and writing. You will have several smaller writing assignments throughout the semester, and your final essay will be a substantive discussion and argument, including citation of external sources, about whether or not online sources like Wikipedia are in fact appropriate for research in higher education.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 10 January 2022 | Wednesday, 12 January 2022
- In class - Regular Class Calendar
Week 2
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 17 January 2022 | Wednesday, 19 January 2022
- In class - Regular Class Calendar
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 24 January 2022 | Wednesday, 26 January 2022
- In class - Regular Class Calendar
Week 4
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 31 January 2022 | Wednesday, 2 February 2022
- In class - Regular Class Calendar
Week 5
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 7 February 2022 | Wednesday, 9 February 2022
- In class - Regular Class Calendar
Week 6
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 14 February 2022 | Wednesday, 16 February 2022
- In class - Regular Class Calendar
But we are preparing to begin the Wikipedia Unit in Week 7!
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 21 February 2022 | Wednesday, 23 February 2022
- In class - Monday
- Introduction to Wikipedia
Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline!
1. This is SA #13 and is due before the start of class on Wednesday 2/23: Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you.
2. This course page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps ("milestones"). These steps include in-class discussion and activities, and also several assigned online trainings to help you get started on Wikipedia, and other small assignments, all categorized under the "SA" category for ENG 102. In addition, you will also complete two SE's related to this training (SE #5 and SE #6)
Our 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.
This project is designed to jumpstart your thinking and discussion for the final graded essay of the summer term, which asks the question:
Are online websites like Wikipedia credible as sources of information?
3. All of the thinking, reading and response/writing work that you do in these next few weeks will provide the foundation for your stance on that essential question.
- In class - Monday
- A Quick Tour of Wikipedia
I will spend some time on Monday 2/21 showing you some interesting aspects of Wikipedia that you may not already know about, including:
A. An Overview of the Main Page
B. Editorial Tools and Tabs
C. Languages
D. Other Wiki Projects
- Assignment - SA #13 & 14
- Wikipedia Account & Policies
By Wednesday of this week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account. This counts as SA #13.
And, you must complete the Wikipedia training (see the link above) "Wikipedia Policies", which includes some reading and then a short quiz at the end, which you must pass. This counts as SA #4.
- In class - Wednesday
- Issues Related to Wikipedia
We will use class time today for some group discussion:
· Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5, which we will discuss together
· Evaluating Wikipedia, which we will discuss together
- Assignment - SA #15 & #16
- Read & Respond
I'm asking you to read and respond to two pieces, and both of these SA's are due before the start of class on Monday, Feb. 28.
SA #15. Christensen, Tyler Booth. (2015) "Wikipedia as a Tool for 21st Century Teaching and Learning." International Journal for Digital Society, 6 (2), pp. 1055–1060.
Your response will take about 1/2 to 1 page in length.
A. Summarize two "common criticisms" of Wikipedia that Tyler Christensen covers in his article. How does he respond to these criticisms?
B. In what ways, according to Christensen (p. 1045-1046), can students and teachers contribute to the betterment of Wikipedia?
SA #16. Read One of these Wikipedia articles:
Respond in writing (about 1/2 to 1 page total in length) and upload your completed response to Blackboard before the start of class on Monday 2/28.
A. Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
B. Where does the information come from?
C. Are these neutral sources?
D. If biased, is that bias noted?
E. Also, 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?
F. How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
Week 8
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 28 February 2022 | Wednesday, 2 March 2022
- In class - Monday
- Who Uses Wikipedia? How? Why? And SA #17
We will spend some time in class discussing this reading:
Head, A. J., & Eisenberg, M. B. (2010). How today's college students use Wikipedia for course-related research. First Monday, 15(3), 1-1. doi: 10.5210/fm.v15i3.2830
https://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2830/2476
You will also complete SA #17 (the Plagiarism tutorial) in class.
- Assignment - SA #18 & #19
- Wikipedia Training
You must complete these two Wikipedia trainings by the start of class on Wednesday, March 2.
- Assignment - Wednesday
- Sourcing in Wikipedia & SA #20
We are going to spend some time in class today discussing this very specific Wikipedia policy:
And SA #20 will be done in class (complete the "Sandbox, Talk Pages, and Watch Lists" training)
- Assignment - SE #5
This is your fifth of seven Small Essays for ENG 102. You will submit this to Blackboard >> Small Essays (SE). It is due by the start of class on Monday, March 14 (I'm giving you extra time, due to Spring Break).
Choose One of these (other website) article about Wikipedia
Why Wikipedia matters for women in science
The Earth is flat? Check Wikipedia
How Wikipedia is hostile to women
For Wikipedia, the doctor is in... class
Black history matters, so why is Wikipedia missing so much of it?
You will construct your own brief essay response to the article. Your response should be between 1-2 typed pages (double-spaced, 1" margins, 12-pt. font)
Make sure your essay has an introduction, and that your introduction includes a brief preview of what you will include in the rest of your essay.
First, summarize the article
Also, identify the primary argument or arguments being made in the article
In addition, identify and discuss the support strategies the author employs to make this article. Please use inline citation in your writing to cite the location/source of at least one of the support strategies. If you identify a quote, include the page number.
Also: Identify and discuss in a couple of sentences one thing that you learned about Wikipedia from this article that you didn't already know. You can work this into a separate paragraph, or else incorporate it into a condluding paragraph of your essay response.
Please include a bibliographic reference of your chosen article at the end of your essay. You can use any of the following styles: MLA, APA, Chicago/Turabian.
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 14 March 2022 | Wednesday, 16 March 2022
- In class - Wikipedia vs. Other Internet Resources and SA #21
We will engage in some closer inspection of Wikipedia pages in today's class. Here are four Wikipedia articles:
2. 2022 Peshawar Mosque Attack
4. Pi
I will group you into four smaller groups, and together, in class, each group will more carefully read the chosen article and come back together and discuss the following questions. You will work as a group to provide answers to these questions. You will upload your responses to Blackboard as SA #21.
1. Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
2. Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
3. Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
4. Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
5. Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
6. Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or suspected plagiarism in the article?
7. Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
8. Check the "talk" page of the article. What is the Wikipedia community saying about this topic?
9. What is the article rated? For your final project, you'll be asked to make improvements to an article. We'd like to focus your improvements on articles that are rated stub, start or c-class according to Wikipedia's article assessment rating.
- In class - Wednesday Discussion
- Identifying Wikipedia Articles for Editing
We are now going to start diving into the heart of Wikipedia articles. Here are information pages for discovering articles in your topic area that you can edit and improve. I will go through a couple of these with you so you get an idea about the advice and guidance in working with articles in these areas:
- Assignment - SA #22 (Done in class on Wednesday, 3/16)
Here is a list of current "stub" articles by Wikipedia. These are articles that need development and expansion. and this is where your own editing work will come into play.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Stub_sorting/List_of_stubs
We will take a few minutes to look at the short contents. Each of you will choose one of the short contents and then explore some of the types of stubs that you find. I will have students report their discovereries in class. This will count as SA #22
- Assignment - SA #23
This short essay response will be due to Blackboard before the start of class on Monday, March 21.
For this SA, I want you to choose any one of these Wiki Project pages. Wiki Projects pages are collaborations of editors whose mission it is to create (or split or merge or remove) and improve upon articles that connect to a particular theme or topic. This is also a good way to identify articles that are in need of improvement.
1. Choose one of the Wiki Project Pages from below
2. Have a look around the project page to learn more about what the goal of this project is.
3. Submit, in writing and to Blackboard, a brief write-up that includes:
A. What the goal of the chosen Wiki Project is (3-5 sentences).
B. At least two potential articles from this Project that could use revision or development. You can find the targeted articles by looking at links such as "Article Alerts", or "Popular Pages", or "Metrics". Try to focus on articles that are "C-Class" or else "Start" or "Stub" articles.
Wiki Project Pages
WikiProject: Countering Systemic Bias
Week 10
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 21 March 2022 | Wednesday, 23 March 2022
- Assignment - Monday
- More on Finding Potential Articles
We will work on "Finding Potential Articles (Exercise) together in class.
You will also complete SA #24 "Finding Your Article (Training) in class.
- In class - Wednesday
- Inspecting Stubs
By now, you have had a lot of time to practice with identifying Wikipedia articles that are either underdeveloped, or else are truly a "stub".
Today, I want you to choose a stub (you can choose any stub--you do not have to commit to it) and answer a few questions. You can choose any one stub from this link, below, or you can work with an article that you discovered via one of the prior activities or SA's:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Stub_sorting/List_of_stubs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Start-Class_articles
Here are the questions. I will have you practice in your Wikipedia Sandbox. The Sandbox is a valuable drafting space for you when you are working on article edits, or even creating a new article.
You don't have to write a polished essay--you can respond to each number in turn.
1. What stub did you choose? Why did you choose this one? Copy and past the URL link into your Sandbox
2. How do you know that it's a stub: Identify where on the page that you know that this is a stub
3. What are some missing or under-developed parts of this stub? A good way to determine this is to compare your stub to a more developed article on the same topic and category. So for example, if you chose a stub-article on a horror novel, look for another Wikipedia article on another horror novel that is more fully developed. What is missing on your stub page in comparison? You should devote 4-5 sentences to answering this question.
4. In particular, locate the "References" section of the stub. What, if anything, is listed in the references? If the references are hyperlinked, do the links still work?
5. And, when you compare this stub to a well developed article of the same category type, what sections of the overall article are present, and what are missing?
Week 11
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 28 March 2022 | Wednesday, 30 March 2022
- In class - Monday, 3/28
- Adding to an Article
Let's review the training "Adding to an Article", and then I will have you practice by searching for a source for a pre-selected stub article, and adding that source in the Sandbox for that article. All of this will be done in class, and will continue through Wednesday of this week.
Stub Articles: All reference local places or organizations in St Louis or Southwestern Illinois
Or else, you can choose another local stub article, by going here (note that there are MANY pages of stub articles about this region!). Look for one of these articles on Wikipedia. Make sure you are logged in, so that you can access your Sandbox.
1. Dierbergs Markets
2. Edwardsville Intelligencer
3. Fair Saint Louis
4. Brookllyn Unit School District 188
5. Festival of Nations St. Louis
6. Confluence Greenway
7. Gateway Grizzlies
8. Granite City Township, Madison County, IL
9. Crown Candy Kitchen
10. Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
11. Alton Township, Madison County, IL
12. Forest Park Parkway (St. Louis)
13. Lewis & Clark State Historical Site
Or, you can choose another local stub article from those listed here:
- Assignment - SA #25
Please complete this training by the start of class on Wednesday, March 30.
- In class - Wednesday 3/30
- Continuing with Adding to an Article
We will continue with work that we started in class on Monday.
But of particular importance: I will ask you to commit to the Wikipedia article that you will focus on for revision and edits. This article will be the one that you work with in Week 12 (next week) and that you publish by the end of Week 12.
- Assignment - SA #26
Please complete both of these trainings by the start of class on Monday, April 4.
Week 12
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 4 April 2022 | Wednesday, 6 April 2022
- In class - Monday, April 3
- We will focus on setting up your edits to be finalized
I will devote time in class to assisting you with getting your sandbox edits on your chosen article finalized in anticipation of publishing them "live" on the article itself.
- Assignment - SA #27
- In class - Wednesday, April 5
- Copy-editing and publishing
We will work together in class on Copy-editing and publishing.
- Assignment - SE #6, due Wednesday, April 13 by the start of class.
- Assignment - SA #28
- Publish your edits!
Your edits to your chosen article must be published to the main article page for the world to see by the start of class on Monday, April 11.
Week 13
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 11 April 2022 | Wednesday, 13 April 2022