Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Southern Indiana/Introduction to Mass Communication (Spring 2018)
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- Course name
- Introduction to Mass Communication
- Institution
- University of Southern Indiana
- Instructor
- Chad Tew
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Journalism
- Course dates
- 2018-01-09 00:00:00 UTC – 2018-05-01 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 40
Presentation, lectures, and assignments designed to introduce students to the basic concepts of mass communication; to foster an understanding of the roles and functions of communication media in our society; to present concepts and principles of journalism; and to prepare students to be intelligent users of media.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 9 January 2018 | Thursday, 11 January 2018
- 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.[http://wikiedu.org/editingwikipedia
]
Week 2
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 16 January 2018 | Thursday, 18 January 2018
- 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, [http://wikiedu.org/evaluatingwikipedia Evaluating Wikipedia
]
- 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.
- Finally, we introduce Intertwine, a video conferencing tool where you can will create your own User page and User Talk Page with peer editors enrolled in other courses. Sign up for a sessionhere or using the Intertwine training module below.
- Milestones
All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 23 January 2018 | Thursday, 25 January 2018
- 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: [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Choosing_an_article.pdf Choosing an article
]
Week 4
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 30 January 2018 | Thursday, 1 February 2018
- In class - Using sources
- Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.
- Again, we introduce Intertwine, a video conferencing tool where you will do an hour-long edit-a-thon to improve a fun Wikipedia article with peer editors enrolled in other courses. Sign up for a session here using the Intertwine training module below.
Handouts: Citing Sources and [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avoiding_plagiarism.pdf Avoiding Plagiarism
]
- Assignment - Choosing your article
- Research and list 10+ 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
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- Tuesday, 6 February 2018 | Thursday, 8 February 2018
- In class - Discuss the article topics
- Discuss the topics students will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them.
- 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 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 - Drafting starter articles
- If you are starting a new article, write a 3–4 paragraph summary version of your article—with citations—in your Wikipedia sandbox. If you are improving an existing article, create a detailed outline reflecting your proposed changes, and post this for community feedback, along with a brief description of your plans, on the article’s talk page. Make sure to check back on the talk page often and engage with any responses.
- 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.
Week 6
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 13 February 2018 | Thursday, 15 February 2018
- 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
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- Tuesday, 20 February 2018 | Thursday, 22 February 2018
- 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.
Week 8
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 27 February 2018 | Thursday, 1 March 2018
- In class - Building articles
- Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
- Share experiences and discuss problems.
Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and [http://wikiedu.org/evaluatingwikipedia Evaluating Wikipedia
]
- Assignment - Choose articles to peer review
- Select a classmates’ article that you will peer review and copyedit. On the table at the bottom of this course page, add your username next to the article you will peer review. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet.)
Week 9
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 13 March 2018 | Thursday, 15 March 2018
- Assignment - Complete first draft
- Expand your article into a complete first draft.
Week 10
- Course meetings
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- Thursday, 22 March 2018
- 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.
- Not only your classmates, but also a broader group of Wikipedia student editors can benefit from peer review! Here, we introduce Intertwine one more time. You will do an hour-long peer review session with peers from other courses. Sign up for a sessionhere using the Intertwine training module below.
- 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.
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
Week 11
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 27 March 2018 | Thursday, 29 March 2018
- 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
- 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.
Week 12
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 3 April 2018 | Thursday, 5 April 2018
- 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.
Week 13
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 10 April 2018 | Thursday, 12 April 2018
- Assignment - Final article
- Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.
Handout: Polishing your article
- Assignment - Reflective essay
- Write a reflective essay (2–5 pages) on your Wikipedia contributions.
Week 14
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 17 April 2018 | Thursday, 19 April 2018
- Milestones
Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.