Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Duke University/Evolution of Animal Behavior (Fall 2015)
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- Course name
- Evolution of Animal Behavior
- Institution
- Duke University
- Instructor
- Susan Alberts
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Behavioral Ecology
- Course dates
- 2015-08-24 00:00:00 UTC – 2015-12-03 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 20
Behavioral ecology is a major subfield of both ecology and evolutionary biology; it incorporates both ecological and evolutionary principles to analyze the ways in which animal behavior has evolved, and the ways in which animals use behavior to solve social and ecological problems. The course will cover 11 major topics in behavioral ecology distributed over the 15 week semester (see Course Overview handout), and will use these topics to introduce to students the conceptual framework of the field.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 1 September 2015 | Thursday, 3 September 2015
- In class - Wikipedia Assignment
LECTURE: SEPTEMBER 03 * Introduce Wikipedia Project * Understanding Wikipedia as a community, we'll discuss its expectations and etiquette.
- In class - Editing basics
DISCUSSION SECTION: SEPTEMBER 03/04 * 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: Editing Wikipedia Using Talk Pages, Evaluating Wikipedia
- Assignment - Practicing the basics
- Create an account and then complete the online training for students. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
- Create a User page.
- To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to another student on their user talk page.
- Explore topics related to your topic area to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a mental note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement.
DUE BY THE START OF YOUR NEXT DISCUSSION SECTION (September 10 or September 11)
Resources: Online Training for Students
Week 2
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 8 September 2015 | Thursday, 10 September 2015
- In class - Exploring the topic area
LECTURE: SEPTEMBER 10 * Be prepared to discuss some of your observations about Wikipedia articles in your topic area that are missing or could use improvement.
Handouts: Choosing an article
- Assignment - Copyedit an article
- Choose one article, identify ways in which you can improve and correct its language and grammar, and make the appropriate changes. (You do not need to alter the article's content.)
DUE BY THE START OF YOUR DISCUSSION SECTION (September 17 or September 18)
- Assignment - Choosing your article
- Research and list 3–5 articles on your Wikipedia user page that your group 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.
DUE BY THE START OF LECTURE SEPTEMBER 17
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 15 September 2015 | Thursday, 17 September 2015
- Assignment - Finalize your topic
- After receiveing feedback on your proposed articles, as a group select one article to work on. Add your topic on the course page.
DUE BY START OF LECTURE SEPTEMBER 22
Week 4
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 22 September 2015 | Thursday, 24 September 2015
- In class - Discuss the article topics
LECTURE: SEPTEMBER 22 * Discuss the topics students will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them.
- Assignment - Bibliography
- 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.
DUE BY THE START OF LECTURE OCTOBER 01
Handouts: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 29 September 2015 | Thursday, 1 October 2015
- In class - Wikipedia culture and etiquette
DISCUSSION SECTION OCTOBER 01/02 * 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.
- Assignment - Draft Outline
- Create a detailed outline reflecting your new article's structure or proposed changes to an existing article and, and post this in your sandbox for instructor review and feedback. Also post a brief description of your plans on the article’s talk page and make sure to check back on the talk page often and engage with any responses.
- Continue research in preparation for expanding your article.
OUTLINE MUS BE POSTED BY START OF LECTURE OCTOBER 08
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 6 October 2015 | Thursday, 8 October 2015
- In class - Moving articles to mainspace
DISCUSSION SECTION:: OCTOBER 10/11 * 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
- Work with your group to begin filling in your outline with the goal of moving your sandbox draft into the main space. Also take into consideration any advice you have received on the article's talk page.
- If you are expanding an existing article, this will mean begin filling in your outline. You will copy your filled in sections 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, post a short "starter article" based on your outline. In this case, 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.
YOUR GROUP SHOULD HAVE BEGUN POSTING IN THE MAIN SPACE BY FRIDAY OCTOBER 16TH TO REMAIN ON TRACK TO FINISH THE ASSIGNMENT ON TIME.
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Thursday, 15 October 2015
- Assignment - Continue work on main article
- Continue reviewing, revising and expanding your article with your team members.
- Remember your final article needs to include an original illustration
Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia
- Assignment - Choose articles to peer review
- Select another group's article that you will peer review and copyedit. On the table at the bottom of this course page, add your INDIVIDUAL username next to the article you will peer review. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet).
- This will be an ongoing process, but your first suggestions should be posted by November 05.
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 20 October 2015 | Thursday, 22 October 2015
- Assignment - Complete first draft
- Expand your article into a complete first draft.
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 27 October 2015 | Thursday, 29 October 2015
- 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.
- Assignment - Peer review and copyedit
- Peer review your classmates’ article. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages and make copy edits.
- Engage with the author on the article's talk page as needed.
YOUR FIRST EDITS MUST BE POSTED BY NOVEMBER 05.
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 3 November 2015 | Thursday, 5 November 2015
- 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.
- Assignment - Prepare for in-class presentation
- Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 10 November 2015 | Thursday, 12 November 2015
- In class - In-class presentation
- Students give in-class presentations about their experiences editing Wikipedia.
- Assignment - Final article
- Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.
FINAL ARTICLES MUST BE POSTED BY THE BEGINNING OF LECTURE NOVEMBER 19
Handout: Polishing your article
Week 12
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 17 November 2015 | Thursday, 19 November 2015