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- Course name
- IST431
- Institution
- Penn State
- Instructor
- Lynette Yarger
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Science Communication
- Course dates
- 2020-08-25 00:00:00 UTC – 2020-12-10 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 50
The Information Environment
This course surveys the social environment of information technology themes such as AI, big data, virtual reality, sharing economies, surveillance, and digital labor.
Timeline
Week 2
- Course meetings
-
- Thursday, 3 September 2020
- In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia assignment
Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline. This page guides you through the steps you'll need to complete for your Wikipedia assignment, with links to training modules and your classmates' work spaces.
Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.
Resources:
- Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia
Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (Because of Wikipedia's technical restraints, you may receive a message that you cannot create an account. To resolve this, please try again off campus or the next day.)
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
Week 3
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 8 September 2020 | Thursday, 10 September 2020
- Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia
This week's training and exercise will help you to know the criteria for a good article. Further, you will learn ways to create or work on your own articles for submission to Wikipedia. Finally, you will able to evaluate Wikipedia articles as good or not based on certain criteria, which are explained in the training.
- Assignment - Discussion
Submit your responses in the Canvas Discussion
Week 4
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 15 September 2020 | Thursday, 17 September 2020
- Assignment - Choose possible topics
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6
Choose the topic for your final project. Select one of the articles you reviewed in Wikipedia. The topic should relate to a product, concept, or idea pertaining to the topics discussed in this class.
To search for articles, select "Home" on the Wikipedia Dashboard. On the Home page, select "Article Finder" in the My Articles section. Here you can use the Search feature to find articles related to the keyword that you enter in the search bar.
When reviewing the list of articles that are returned from the search, please look at the "Class" column. You want to select articles with a class C or S. These are articles that need moderate to significant improvement. Articles with GA, B, and other class designations are already in good shape and would be more difficult to improve.
- Assignment - Discussion
Submit your responses in the Canvas Discussion
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 22 September 2020 | Thursday, 24 September 2020
- Assignment - Add to an article
This week's assignment is designed to teach you how to add citations to the article that you have selected.
Create a new section in your Sandbox called "Bibliography" or "Notes" where you find and record at least two sources that you can add to your articles.
Using the sources saved to your Sandbox, use the "edit" feature to add at least two citations throughout your selected Wikipedia article.
Remember to click “Publish Changes”, once you finished, to save your work.
- Assignment - Exercise
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 29 September 2020 | Thursday, 1 October 2020
- Assignment - Start drafting your contributions
For your contribution to a Wikipedia article, add a paragraph to the article you selected in your Wikipedia sandbox and post this along with a brief description of your plans on the article’s talk page.
Begin working with other editors to polish your addition and fix any major issues.
Continue research in preparation for expanding the article.
Compile a bibliography of relevant research and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on. Begin reading the sources.
Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have questions using the Get Help button at the top of this page.
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9
- Milestones
Everyone should be writing their article drafts.
Since you're editing an existing article, a sandbox is a great place to prepare your updates by copying a small portion of the article that you want to change or expand. Do not try to overhaul an entire article from the sandbox. Instead, identify what's missing from the current form of the article. Keep reading your sources as you prepare to write the body of the article. When you're ready to make edits:
- Open the article you want to change in Edit mode. (References and other templates will break if you copy from Read mode.)
- Select the portion you want to work on — a few paragraphs at most — and copy it.
- Open your sandbox in Edit mode and paste the copied article content.
- Add an edit summary that says copied from [[article]] with the name of the original article, then save it by clicking Publish changes.
- Re-enter Edit mode in your sandbox, make your changes, and publish them.
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 6 October 2020 | Thursday, 8 October 2020
- Assignment - Peer review an article
Here are the steps to follow in reviewing your fellow learner’s article:
- Everyone has been randomly assigned to review two articles being editted by classmates.
- When you are ready to perform the peer review, click on the “sandboxes” tab of your peer. You will find the “sandboxes” right below their name. Then successively,
- ** Go to the talk page.
- Click "New section".
- Add a subject - "Your Name's peer review".
- Leave your notes in the space below.
- Save the page by pressing on “ Publish Changes”
Once it is done, you have successfully reviewed your peers' article!
PS: If you didn’t receive any feedback, you have the option of seeking assistance from your instructor or teaching assistant. Wikipedia’s staff is also available to provide valuable points of view about your work. The feedback can serve you to gradually improve your article.
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned article, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 13 October 2020 | Thursday, 15 October 2020
- Assignment - Respond to your peer review
You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. Consider their suggestions, decide whether it makes your work more accurate and complete, and edit your draft to make those changes.
Resources:
- Editing Wikipedia, pages 12 and 14
- Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 20 October 2020 | Thursday, 22 October 2020
- Assignment - Continue improving your article
Now's the time to revisit your text and refine your work. You may do more research and find missing information; rewrite the lead section to represent all major points; reorganize the text to communicate the information better; or add images and other media.
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 27 October 2020 | Thursday, 29 October 2020
- 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 Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 3 November 2020 | Thursday, 5 November 2020
- Assignment - Reflective essay
The goal of the assignment is to delve deeper into the Wikipedia project experience. You will provide your own ideas in a well-conceived reflection paper.
Week 12
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 10 November 2020 | Thursday, 12 November 2020
- 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 move your revisions from the Sandbox to the Mainspace! The Wikipedia Experts will complete this step.
- Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Wikipedia Expert at any time!
Week 13
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 17 November 2020 | Thursday, 19 November 2020
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading. DO NOT move your changes in the Sandbox to the live Wikipedia page.