Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Wesleyan University/Survey of Latin American History (Spring 2017)
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- Course name
- Survey of Latin American History
- Institution
- Wesleyan University
- Instructor
- Corinna Zeltsman
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Course dates
- 2017-01-26 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-05-09 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 22
This introductory survey examines the rich yet conflicted history of Latin America, from the crisis of Iberian colonialism and struggles for independence through the contemporary era. Latin America’s heterogeneous societies evolved over centuries under shared highly unequal systems of colonial power and rule. Our survey traces these legacies as we explore how post-colonial nineteenth-century rulers and ruled negotiated the contested and often ambivalent process of constructing new national polities, societies, and viable economies in a broader international context inhabited by expansionist foreign powers. We examine the move towards greater legal equality that unfolded amidst enduring hierarchies that continued to shape everyday experience, and consider how those excluded from the promises of equality pushed for greater social recognition, political participation, and economic redistribution in the 20th century.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Thursday, 26 January 2017
- In class - Welcome to class!
Week 2
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 31 January 2017 | Thursday, 2 February 2017
- Assignment - 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. The page should be synced up with our syllabus for major assignment deadlines, but be sure to complete all the training steps online even if they aren't explicitly listed on the syllabus.
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
- 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! These trainings are required for your course.
- When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate's Talk page.
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 7 February 2017 | Thursday, 9 February 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 - Explore "portals" as a way to identify possible topics
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
- Visit the Wikipedia home page and locate the "portals" section, which breaks down Wikipedia into broad categories. Spend some time exploring these categories with an eye towards identifying your specific article on Latin America. As you click your way through Wikipedia, keep track of your movements. Did you find any particularly helpful pages that served as gateways to more targeted information? Given the vast amount of potential categories and entries out there, what strategies will you use to identify the most feasible project? Post your findings in a brief paragraph on your user page.
- Choose 3–5 potential articles that you can tackle, and post links to them on your Wikipedia user page so you can return to them later. For articles that already exist, check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians might be doing.
- ***The user page (FYI) is accessed by clicking on your own user ID in the top right corner of Wikipedia. You can add to your user page by clicking edit in the upper right corner.
- 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 about some aspect of Latin American history, 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 — Nicolasfernandez1 (talk) 01:29, 24 April 2017 (UTC).
- In class - Discussion
- What Makes for a Good Wikipedia article?
How do you evaluate which articles might be the best ones to tackle for this assignment? As beginner editors, what types of articles might be best avoided and what kinds would lend themselves well to the task?
Week 4
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 14 February 2017 | Thursday, 16 February 2017
- Assignment - Finalize your topic / Brainstorm your sources and justification
- 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.
- Start to 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.
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 21 February 2017 | Thursday, 23 February 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 - Add to an article
You should add a small contribution to an article related to your class, or add a citation to a claim that doesn't have one.
- Complete the "Sources and Citations" training (linked below).
- When you make a small claim, clearly state the fact in your own words, and then cite the source where you found the information.
- The Citation Hunt tool can show you some statements that don't have citations. You can use that to find an article to reference.
- First, evaluate whether the statement in question is true! An uncited statement could just be lacking a reference or it could be inaccurate or misleading. Reliable sources on the subject will help you choose whether to add it or correct the statement.
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 28 February 2017 | Thursday, 2 March 2017
- Assignment - Annotated Bibliography and Source Base Reflection
Identify 5-7 sources will you use in your article. Include a brief 1 paragraph description of each source, including its main arguments and how you will use it. In a separate paragraph address the possibilities and limitations of your source base. What sources do you wish you had access to and how will the reality of your available options shape your article and the story you are able to tell? Due Friday, March 3 
9PM: upload to Moodle.
The bibliography should include scholarly books, book chapters, or peer-reviewed journal articles, and be formatted using Chicago Style. Be sure to be as specific as possible.
- 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"?
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 7 March 2017 | Thursday, 9 March 2017
- Assignment - Submit final topic and article proposal
Prepare a 2-3 page proposal for your Wikipedia article. You may use the following questions to guide your proposal: How will you use your sources to construct the article? What problems or challenges (with sources, images, point of view etc.) do you anticipate facing? How will you address or resolve these problems? What are the ethical engagements/broader ramifications of your article? In what way does your article contribute to or change the pre-existing information landscape on your chosen topic?
2-3 pages double spaced, 12pt Times New Roman. Due Friday, March 10 9PM on Moodle.
Don't forget to include a link to the Wikipedia page in your proposal.
- Assignment - Start to draft your article in your sandbox
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.
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 8
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 28 March 2017 | Thursday, 30 March 2017
- 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 Content Expert to review your draft, now is the time! Click the "Get Help" button in your sandbox to request notes.
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 4 April 2017 | Thursday, 6 April 2017
- Assignment - Post your article draft to your sandbox
Final articles will not be graded unless a draft is uploaded in your sandbox Friday April 7 at 9pm.
On your talk page, list any particular questions you have about the article that you would like to receive feedback on during the peer review process.
You'll need to complete your Sandbox training if you have not done so already.
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 11 April 2017 | Thursday, 13 April 2017
- Assignment - Peer review and copy edit
- First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
- You will be assigned two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the articles that you will be reviewing, and then assign them to yourself in the Review column.
- Visit the talk page of your classmates' articles, and check what specific questions they hoped to receive feedback on.
- 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.
- Peer review should address the questions raised by Wikipedia's training module, address the specific questions posted by your classmate on their talk page, and offer specific suggestions, questions, and critiques that will help your fellow classmates develop clearer final articles. Comments should be approximately 250 words per student x2.
- As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic?
- Bring laptops to Tuesday's class for in-class peer review workshop.
- 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 Content Expert if you have any questions.
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 18 April 2017 | Thursday, 20 April 2017
- Assignment - Continue improving 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.
- 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!
- 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!
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.
Week 12
- Assignment - Final article
It's the final week to develop your article.
- 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!
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.