Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/California State University Fullerton/Gender and Technoculture (Spring 2020)
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- Course name
- Gender and Technoculture
- Institution
- California State University Fullerton
- Instructor
- Ariella Horwitz
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Women and Gender Studies
- Course dates
- 2020-01-21 00:00:00 UTC – 2020-05-07 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 36
Most broadly, this course looks at the ways in which our technologically mediated world influences our understanding of gender.
For this assignment, students will be making contributions to Wikipedia specifically designed to correct the well-documented gender, heterosexual, white, and Western bias in this extremely influential resource.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 21 January 2020 | Thursday, 23 January 2020
- In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia assignment
Our course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.
If you haven't already done so, create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link available on our TITANium page. (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 2
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 28 January 2020 | Thursday, 30 January 2020
- Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia
It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Above, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take.
You will also need to review the following handouts & readings:
- Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
Week 3
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 4 February 2020 | Thursday, 6 February 2020
- In class - Explore Wikipedia and Select a Topic!
Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook then peruse these pages and choose a Wikipedia editing project*:
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Feminism/Open tasks
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:United_Nations_biography_stubs
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Women%27s_rights_activist_stubs
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Women%27s_history_stubs
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Stub-Class_Women_scientists_articles
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Feminism_stubs
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Stub-Class_WikiProject_Women_articles
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Indigenous_peoples_of_North_America_stubs
- Or, you can also peruse Wikipedia on your own and identify an article that demonstrates either gender, heterosexual, racial or other Western biases. Check the page's "Edit" page to make sure its not under any protected status, which would limit your ability to edit it! Also, you MUST read through the article's "Talk" page to become familiar with the work of other editors watching this page before you edit!
Choose 1-2 potential articles that you can tackle, and post links to them on your Wikipedia user page. For articles that already exist, check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians might be doing.
- Milestones
Please email me for the ok!
Week 4
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 11 February 2020 | Thursday, 13 February 2020
- Assignment - Evaluate Your Article and & Compile Your Sources
After your topic has been approved and before you start working on your draft make sure you assign yourself your chosen article topic on the Students tab.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _
Carefully read through the page's History Page and Talk Page so you understand how the Wikipedia community has been working with this topic. Then, do your research! Gather all citations that you will be using to document your corrections and additions and, compile all edits and citations in a Word document (which you will turn in along with your reflection paper!).
While you work, you should also 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.
While you read through your article, 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?
- Check the "talk" page and the "view history" page. What kinds of conversations is the Wikipedia community having about how to represent these issues? How has the article changed over time?
Week 5
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 18 February 2020 | Thursday, 20 February 2020
- In class - Draft an Article!
You've picked a topic and found your sources. Now it's time to start writing. To start, take the online trainings linked below. Then, continue to build your draft. Remember, you'll need to gather all citations that you will be using to document your corrections and additions and, compile all edits and citations in a Word document as well as be working on your draft in your sandbox. Later, you will turn in your word document with your draft and your citations with your reflection paper!.
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
- Assignment - Things to keep in mind when drafting your contributions.
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
- Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 25 February 2020 | Thursday, 27 February 2020
- In class - What you don't know...can hurt you?
- In class - Do Wikipedia's biases matter...and can you ever be truly neutral?
Carefully read Wikipedia's "neutral point of view" policy here and Wikipedia's "Don't-Give-a-Fuckism" page here.
- Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia
It's time to move your work live - to the "mainspace."
Make your edits!!! Be sure you are keeping with Wikipedia's guidelines, particularly Neutral Point of View and No Original Research, both of which can be tricky to catch. Also, be sure to cite all your changes/additions! See the "Citing Sources" Wiki pamphlet if you're unsure of what this means: Be sure to explain each edit in the box provided at the bottom of the editing window!
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 Sandboxes and Mainspace online training.
Week 7
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 3 March 2020 | Thursday, 5 March 2020
- Assignment - Continue improving your article
Exercise
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.
You are also editing in response to any concerns, questions or revisions from the Wikipedia community. If your article does not recieve any comments, please work with another student to complete a peer review.
- Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Content Expert at any time!
Week 8
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 10 March 2020 | Thursday, 12 March 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!
- 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 Wikipedia Expert at any time!
Week 9
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 17 March 2020 | Thursday, 19 March 2020
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.
- Assignment - Reflective essay
REFLECTIVE ESSAY REQUIREMENTS:
Your essay should be 2-5 pages (12-pt font, double spaced) and should be college-level grammar and writing.
In this essay you should describe your Wiki editing experience. In doing so, you should discuss the following:
- What have you learned about how Wikipedia functions?
- What have you learned about how "knowledge" is produced?
- How did you come to recognize the biases you helped to correct in Wikipedia?
- Are the biases in Wikipedia different than biases in other texts (i.e. text books, literary works, photographs, etc.)?
- How do you feel about Wikipedia as a source of knowledge in comparison to other kinds of texts?
- What were your interactions with the Wiki editing community like and what might these tell us about the bias documented in Wikipedia?
- Don't forget to include a Word document with a copy of your Wikipedia contribution(s) as part of your Reflective Essay--due via email Friday March 20th.
- Don't forget to include a Word document with a copy of your Wikipedia contribution(s) as part of your Reflective Essay--due via email Friday March 20th.