User:Aagwebb/Evolution of Terrestrial Planets

Course name

Evolution of Terrestrial Planets

Institution

Louisiana State University

Instructor

Alex Webb

Subject

Geology

Course dates

2015-02-02 – 2015-05-06

Approximate number of student editors

8

For our main communications project, each student will make a Wikipedia page on a tectonics topic of their choice, complete with an original figure. Students may choose to create a page on any subject of course disciplinary interest provided that there is not already significant Wikipedia content on the chosen subject. Students are especially encouraged to make pages on the evolution of planetary lithospheres, the main theme of the course.

Notes to students

Quick perusal of the grading scheme for the Wikipedia project (see below) will make it immediately evident that hard work early in the semester will be triply rewarded. You will be graded three times for essentially the same product, to the tune of ~100 points each time, with each grading interval separated by about a month. Imagine if you produce a fantastic first draft and earn an A for the first grade. After this, you will have to do minimal work to maintain that A for the last two months of the semester, and you’ll earn another ~200 points for almost no work. By the end of the semester you’re going to have to do the total work anyway. You may as well do it early, to earn a better grade and have a lighter load in the second half of the semester when all your other courses get more challenging.

Plagiarism tends to be a major problem with initial Wikipedia drafts. For each Wikipedia turn-in, you will be required to submit your writing to the “Turn-it-in” resource through Moodle. Plagiarism scores above 5% will result in loss of credit proportional to the plagiarism score, and will require rapid correction / deletion for live Wikipedia pages. Note that in some cases proper nouns can lead to high plagiarism scores; if the student can prove that her/his high plagiarism score is a result of this (or a similar) circumstance, reasonable exceptions will be made. Both student and professor have the capability of referring this matter to the LSU Office of Student Advocacy and Accountability; folks in that office have long, deep experience with plagiarism cases and can guide student and professor alike to appropriate responses. You *can* fail this class and be referred to higher academic authorities for further judgment due to plagiarism alone. For more on this aspect, see the “Code of Conduct” section on your course syllabus.

Timeline

February 2: Wikipedia essentials with Dr. Becky Carmichael

In class

• 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
• Tips on finding the best articles to work on for class assignments
• Handout: Editing Wikipedia (available in print or online from the Wiki Education Foundation)
• Handouts: Using Talk Pages handout and Evaluating Wikipedia brochure

Assignment

• Create a User page, and then click the "enroll" button on the top left of this course page.
• 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.
• To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself on the user talk page of one of your classmates, who should also be enrolled in the table at the bottom of the page.

February 4: Exploring the subject matter

In class

• Tips on finding the best articles to work on for class assignments

Assignment (due February 6)

• 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.
• Review pages 4-7 of the Evaluating Wikipedia brochure. This will give you a good, brief overview of what to look for in other articles, and what other people will look for in your own.

Milestones

• All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.

February 6: Article topic selection

In class

• Be prepared to discuss some of your observations about Wikipedia articles your topic area that are missing or could use improvement.
• Handouts: Choosing an article

Assignment

• Mark the article's talk page with a banner to let other editors know you're working on it. To add the banner, add this code in the top section of the talk page:

{{course assignment | course = User:Aagwebb/Evolution of Terrestrial Planets | term = Spring 2015 }}

Milestones

• Students have researched and listed the proposed article on the Wikipedia course page. 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 on your user talk page.

February 9—13: Minor edits and begin your research

In class

• Discuss the topics students will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them.
• Handouts: Citing sources on Wikipedia and Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia.
  • Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.

Assignment

• Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the class.
• 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.

February 16—27: Drafting starter articles

In class

• 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

• 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.
• Expand your article into an initial draft of a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Milestones

• All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.

March 2: First draft due

In class

• Discuss your observations during the first month of research and editing.

Assignment

• Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the table at the bottom of this course page, add your username next to the articles you will peer review. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet.)

March 4: Wikipedia feedback workshop

In class

• 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 two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
• Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.

March 16—20: Building articles

In class

• Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
• Share experiences and discuss problems.
• Handouts: "Illustrating Wikipedia" (pgs 4-7) and "Evaluating Wikipedia article quality" (handed out originally earlier in the course)

Milestones

• Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

March 23—27: Preparing to go live

In class

• We'll discuss moving your article out of your sandboxes and into Wikipedia's main space.
• Handout: Moving out of your sandbox
• 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 (who is enrolled on this course page as an "Online volunteer") and let them know.

March 30: Wikipedia articles go live

Assignment

• 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 these instructions on how to move your work.
• Optional: For new articles or qualifying expansions of stubs, compose a one-sentence “hook,” nominate it for “Did you know,” (see detailed instructions) and monitor the nomination for any issues identified by other editors. Wiki Education Foundation staff can provide support for this process.

April 1: Wikipedia Feedback Workshop and responding to feedback

In class

• Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.

Assignment

• 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.

Milestones

• Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

NO CLASS WEEK OF 2015-04-06 (Spring Break)

April 13—24: Continuing to improve articles

In class

• Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for each article for next week.

Assignment

• 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.

April 27—May 1: Finishing touches

Assignment (due May 6)

• Add final touches to your Wikipedia article. You can find a handy reference guide here.
• Write a reflection report about your Wikipedia contributions and experience.

May 6: Due date

Milestones

• Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.

Grading

The Wikipedia assignment will be graded as follows. The points are out of the overall 900 points available in this course.

  20 pts  

   Selection of article topic

  130 pts  

   First draft of article

  100 pts  

   Initial live page

  60 pts  

   Peer reviews and collaboration with classmates

  90 pts  

   Quality of your final Wikipedia contributions

  10 pts  

   Reflection report