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Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of New Haven/Composition and Literature S17 (Spring 2017)

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Course name
Composition and Literature S17
Institution
University of New Haven
Instructor
Kimberley Browe
Wikipedia Expert
Shalor (Wiki Ed)
Subject
English
Course dates
2017-03-27 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-05-15 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
16


An undergraduate literature based writing course

Student Assigned Reviewing
Darbybarth
Rlync3 A Rose For Emily, The Cask of Amontillado
Neeshai
HChab14 A Rose for Emily
JBiggs The Five-Forty-Eight
Natepeduzzi123
Lturb1 The Five-Forty-Eight
Williams17
C.kamansky A rose for emily
Dwperrotti The-Five-Forty-Eight
Shellebryan
Coreykennedy07
DumarioL Cask of amontillado
SYisehak
Dboyn1 The Storm (short story), The Story of an Hour, A Rose for Emily
Amancini Emily Grierson, A Rose for Emily, The Story of an Hour

Timeline

Week 1

Course meetings
Wednesday, 29 March 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 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:


Assignment - Practicing the basics
  • 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! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.
  • When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.


In class -
Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 2

Course meetings
Monday, 3 April 2017   |   Wednesday, 5 April 2017
Assignment - Critique an article

It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page.

  • Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
  • Choose an article, and consider some questions (but don't feel limited to these):
    • Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
    • 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?
    • Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
    • Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
    • Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
    • Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
  • Choose at least 2 questions relevant to the article you're evaluating. Leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — ~~~~.


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 - Copyedit an article

Choose an article. Read through it, thinking about ways to improve the language, such as fixing grammatical mistakes. Then, make the appropriate changes. You don’t need to contribute new information to the article.

Week 3

Course meetings
Monday, 10 April 2017   |   Wednesday, 12 April 2017
In class - Discussion
Thinking about sources and plagiarism
  • Blog posts and press releases are considered poor sources of reliable information. Why?
  • What are some reasons you might not want to use a company's website as the main source of information about that company?
  • What is the difference between a copyright violation and plagiarism?
  • What are some good techniques to avoid close paraphrasing and plagiarism?


Assignment - Choose possible topics
  • Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
  • Choose 3–5 potential articles that you can tackle, and post links to them on your Wikipedia user page. For articles that already exist, check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians might be doing. Finally, present your choices to your instructor for feedback.


Assignment - Finalize your topic / Find your sources
  • 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 - Draft your article

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

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 prepare to write the body of the article.

Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 4

Course meetings
Monday, 17 April 2017   |   Wednesday, 19 April 2017
In class - Discussion
Thinking about Wikipedia
  • What do you think of Wikipedia's definition of "neutrality"?
  • What are the impacts and limits of Wikipedia as a source of information?
  • On Wikipedia, all material must be attributable to reliable, published sources. What kinds of sources does this exclude? Can you think of any problems that might create?
  • If Wikipedia was written 100 years ago, how might its content (and contributors) be different? What about 100 years from now?


Assignment - Expand your draft
  • Keep working on transforming your article. What will you revise? What will you add?
  • 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.

Week 5

Course meetings
Monday, 24 April 2017   |   Wednesday, 26 April 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!


Week 6

Course meetings
Monday, 1 May 2017
Assignment - Continue improving and finalize your article

It's the final week to develop your article.

  • 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. 



  • 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!


Assignment - Polish your work

Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Content Expert at any time if you need further help!