Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Chicago/Evolution and the Nervous System (Fall quarter)
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- Course name
- Evolution and the Nervous System
- Institution
- University of Chicago
- Instructor
- Cliff Ragsdale
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Evolutionary Neuroscience
- Course dates
- 2017-11-18 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-12-27 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 8
The course will focus on topics in evolutionary developmental neuroscience, such as origin of neurons and evolutionary mechanisms underlying the emergence of animal brains. Student wikipedia topics can extend beyond this to include related areas of knowledge such as neuroethology and molecular developmental biology. The students' work in Wikipedia may include reviewing and correcting (if necessary) existing entries, expanding stubs, and translating articles.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 20 November 2017 | Tuesday, 21 November 2017 | Wednesday, 22 November 2017 | Thursday, 23 November 2017
- In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia project
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 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
- Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia
- Create an account and join this course page, using this enrollment link.
- Review the trainings below.
- When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.
Best practices for working in groups
- Once your group has a Wikipedia article to work on, make sure everyone in the group is assigned to that article on the Students tab of this course page.
- Select one group member whose Sandbox space you'll all share to draft your article. (It will be titled something like User:Diderot/sandbox.) Each person should link to that shared Sandbox from their own Sandbox page. A sandbox is like any other page on Wikipedia, and anyone can edit it.
- Wikipedia doesn't handle multiple people editing from different devices at the same time very well. If you're working together in person, one person should add the work to the Sandbox. If you are all working independently, make small edits and save often to avoid "editing conflicts" with classmates. Make sure that you're logged in under your own Wikipedia account while editing in your classmate's sandbox to ensure your edits are recorded.
- Don't create a group account for your project. Group accounts are prohibited.
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
- In class - Discussion
- What's a content gap?
Now that you're thinking about what makes a "good" Wikipedia article, consider some additional questions.
- Wikipedians often talk about "content gaps." What do you think a content gap is, and what are some possible ways to identify them?
- What are some reasons a content gap might arise? What are some ways to remedy them?
- Does it matter who writes Wikipedia?
- What does it mean to be "unbiased" on Wikipedia? How is that different, or similar, to your own definition of "bias"?
- Assignment - Choose your topic / Find your sources
With your group
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook and the "Finding your article" training, linked below.
- You can do one of the following: select an existing article to improve OR select a new or missing article to create. To start:
- Look up 3-5 potential topics related to the course that you might want to update on Wikipedia. Review the content of the article and check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians are already contributing. Identify one or two areas from each that you could improve.
- From that list, choose 1 potential article that you can tackle or one new article that you want to create,, and post links to the articles or the title of the new article and your notes about what you might improve in your group sandbox.
- On the Students tab, each member of your group should assign your chosen topic to yourself. If you are starting a new article, you can assign yourself the future article title of your topic.
- In your group sandbox, begin compiling 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.
IF YOU SELECT A TOPIC THAT COULD BE SEEN AS RELATED TO MEDICAL CONTENT, PLEASE TAKE THE ADDITIONAL "Editing Medical Topics Training" (linked below).
- Assignment - Evaluate your Wikipedia article
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate your Wikipedia article 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 individual sandbox titled "Article evaluation" where you'll leave notes about your observations and learnings.
- Individuall or with your group, read through your selected article. 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?
- What recommendation should we make about improving the article?
Week 2
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 27 November 2017 | Tuesday, 28 November 2017 | Wednesday, 29 November 2017 | Thursday, 30 November 2017 | Friday, 1 December 2017
- Assignment - Draft your article
You've picked a topic and found your sources. Now it's time to start writing. To start, each member of your group should take the "Sandboxes and Mainspace" and the "Plagiarism" trainings, linked below. If you decided to translate any content, please review the "Translating Articles" training, also linked below.
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.
Everyone
- Keep reading your sources as you write the body of the article.
- Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
- Assignment - Expand your draft
- Keep working on transforming your article into a complete first draft. Get draft ready for peer-review.
- If you'd like a Wikipedia Expert to review your draft, now is the time! Click the "Get Help" button in your sandbox to request notes.
- Assignment - Peer review and copy edit
- First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
- Select two groups’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the articles that you want to review. Then in the "My Articles" section of the Home tab, assign them to yourself to review.
- Peer review your classmates' drafts. Leave suggestions 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?
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
- Assignment - Respond to your peer review
You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. It's time to work with that feedback to improve your article!
- 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 Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.
- Assignment - Prepare for in-class presentation
- Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 4 December 2017 | Tuesday, 5 December 2017 | Wednesday, 6 December 2017 | Thursday, 7 December 2017 | Friday, 8 December 2017
- Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia
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!
- Be sure to copy text from your sandbox while the sandbox page is in 'Edit' mode. This ensures that the formatting is transferred correctly.
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.
- Assignment - Final article
It's the final week to develop your 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.
- Consider adding an image to your article. Wikipedia has strict rules about what media can be added, so make sure to take Contributing Images and Media Files training before you upload an image.
- 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 Wikipedia Expert at any time!
- In class - In-class presentation
Present about your Wikipedia editing experience.
Consider the following questions as you reflect on your Wikipedia assignment:
- Critiquing articles: What did you learn about Wikipedia during the article evaluation? How did you approach critiquing the article you selected for this assignment? How did you decide what to add to your chosen article?
- Summarizing your contributions: include a summary of your edits and why you felt they were a valuable addition to the article. How does your article compare to earlier versions?
- Peer Review: If your class did peer review, include information about the peer review process. What did you contribute in your review of your peers article? What did your peers recommend you change on your article?
- Feedback: Did you receive feedback from other Wikipedia editors, and if so, how did you respond to and handle that feedback?
- Wikipedia generally: What did you learn from contributing to Wikipedia? How does a Wikipedia assignment compare to other assignments you've done in the past? How can Wikipedia be used to improve public understanding of our field/your topic? Why is this important?
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.