Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Emory University/Introduction to Ethics (Spring 2017)
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- Course name
- Introduction to Ethics
- Institution
- Emory University
- Instructor
- Jordan Stewart-Rozema
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Philosophy
- Course dates
- 2017-01-24 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-05-29 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 22
To navigate back to our class Canvas, go to http://www.classes.emory.edu. Be sure to look at both the "Modules" section of Canvas and the "Timeline" or "Overview" section of this dashboard for your complete set of work for any given week. All wikipedia assignments are here, everything else is on our Canvas page.
Printed Wikipedia Project Instructions: https://canvas.emory.edu/files/285723
Article List with some suggested expansions: https://canvas.emory.edu/files/314741
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 24 January 2017 | Thursday, 26 January 2017
- Assignment - Introduction to the Wikipedia project & Create an account
Welcome! This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for Phil 115: Intro to Ethics (class Canvas link here).
The project has been broken down into a series of steps, including online trainings. The current week's assignments will appear on the Home page, but you can see the entire project by clicking on the Timeline tab.
It is important to check in here every week to see what you need to be working on. There are due dates listed for every assignment. Late, missing, or incomplete work (including incomplete trainings) will be reflected in your grade.
Our 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.
By Tuesday, 1/26 please:
- Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link posted at the top of our class Canvas Home page.
- Milestones
By the beginning of this week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
- Assignment - Write Pre-Project Reflection Essay
Write a 2-3 page (2 full page minimum) pre-project reflection about Wikipedia. Writing should be organized and polished, but can be semi-informal in tone. Minimum two full pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman size 12, 1-inch margins, hard copy, turned in in class. Please include the following in your reflection:
- How do you currently use Wikipedia? Do you visit it a lot, a little, never? Why? In what types of circumstances do you visit Wikipedia (answering a simple question, getting an introduction to a topic, what types of topics do you look up there, etc.)?
- What opinions do you currently hold about Wikipedia? Reflect on whether you hold any assumptions about the site, including how it it works or its impact. Describe these, why you think you hold them, whether or not you think they are accurate assessments, etc.
- Do you see any ethical relevance to Wikipedia? Think creatively about what ethical issues you see facing Wikipedia users; this can relate back to your own experience with Wikipedia as well. You may take as prompts any or all of the following: neutrality and bias, sources of information, anonymity and editor demographics, access, representation, the nature of knowledge and truth in online spheres, "crowdsourcing." If you don't think there's much ethical relevance to Wikipedia, say so, and why.
Week 2
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 31 January 2017 | Thursday, 2 February 2017
- Assignment - Review handouts & Take Wikipedia trainings
It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Please read through the handouts below, and take the first set of online trainings.
- Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- When you finish the handouts and trainings, practice by saying hello and introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page. Find someone who no one else has said hello to yet. (Seriously, do this. Practice is important -- it all seems a bit overwhelming until you actually try it out.)
- Assignment - Read Wikipedia Literature
Pick 2 of these 4 articles to read about Wikipedia. You may read these at any time over the semester, and will be writing about them in your post-project reflection.
- "WP:Clubhouse? An Exploration of Wikipedia’s Gender Imbalance"
- "Uneven Geographies of User-Generated Information: Patterns of Increasing Informational Poverty"
- "The use of software tools and autonomous bots against vandalism: eroding Wikipedia’s moral order?"
- "Companies Have Been Editing Wikipedia Pages To Make Themselves Look Better" AND "Edits to Wikipedia pages on Bell, Garner, Diallo traced to 1 Police Plaza"
- Assignment - Begin thinking about choosing a topic
Explore the list of available articles on the Articles tab. Click on links in each article to other related articles. Try to think about how the articles could be improved, and what's missing from them.
Think about other ideas beyond the articles listed here -- just remember that your final article has to be about:
- an ethical concept, author, or text we discussed in class (even if only in passing) or otherwise pertaining to ethics at an introductory level, or
- some intersection between online social networks/social media and ethics.
- An article/article section purely about social media without an ethical component is not acceptable.
If you have ideas you would like to pursue outside of the suggested articles, please send them to Jordan. Talk to me before/after class, during office hours, set up another time to meet face to face, or send them to me via email with a short explanation as to the ethical relevance, what you find interesting about it or why you want to write on this topic, if there is room to expand in this direction on the currently existing Wikipedia article, etc. I will review the proposed topic/article(s) and let you know what I think -- please start contacting me about this as soon as possible. All topics must be chosen and cleared by me on Thurs 2/16, and I don't want a bunch of last-minute proposals.
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 7 February 2017 | Thursday, 9 February 2017
- Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia articles
This week you will be evaluating two Wikipedia articles. This will probably be quite a bit of work, so don't leave it to the last minute!
1. Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
2. Create a section in your sandboxwhere you leave your full article critiques. Choose at least 5 questions listed below (1 needs to be the quality scale question) to include in your critiques. Pick one of the following articles from each of the two lists below and do a full evaluation of the content there:
- List 1
- List 2
- Any article listed under the Articles tab that you are considering choosing as your topic, or an article you are considering that's not on the list (please clear with Jordan before evaluating).
During your evaluation, consider the following 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?
- How does the way Wikipedia discusses the topic differ from the way we are talking about these subjects in class?
- Read the "talk" page of each article. What do you find there?
- Take a look at the Wikipedia quality scale and compare it to your article. Where do you think it falls? If the article has a rating assigned to it, do you think it is accurate?
3. Choose at least one of your answers to the evaluation questions above for each of the articles you're evaluating & leave this abbreviated evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Helaine (Wiki Ed) (talk) 21:12, 27 May 2017 (UTC).
- Assignment - Continue to think about article topics & propose ideas
Please continue to be in communication with Jordan about any ideas you have for articles beyond the ones listed in the Articles tab.
All self-chosen articles must be cleared with Jordan by Thurs 2/16, and that does not mean contacting her for the first time on 2/16.
Week 4
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 14 February 2017 | Thursday, 16 February 2017
- Assignment - Choose your topic
It's time to choose an article and assign it to yourself.
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia handout.
- Find an article from the list of "Available Articles" on the Articles tab on this course page. When you find the one you want to work on, click Select to assign it to yourself.
- If you are selecting a topic not proposed in the Articles tab, you must have cleared it with Jordan by today.
- 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.
- Assignment - Begin finding sources for your article
- Start compiling 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.
- Milestones
By the end of this week, everyone has chosen an article.
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 21 February 2017 | Thursday, 23 February 2017
- Assignment - Continue finding sources & researching
- Assignment - Begin drafting your article
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
Please complete the below trainings by Thurs 2/23.
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 28 February 2017 | Thursday, 2 March 2017
- Assignment - Continue researching & drafting your article
- Assignment - Remember to read the Wikipedia Literature
If you haven't already, make sure to read 2 of the 4 options listed in Week 2 regarding ethical issues on Wikipedia.
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 7 March 2017 | Thursday, 9 March 2017
- Spring Break -- Halfway Point
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 14 March 2017 | Thursday, 16 March 2017
- Assignment - Finish first draft of article by TU 3/21
- 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, 21 March 2017 | Thursday, 23 March 2017
- Milestones
First draft of article completed by Tues, 3/21.
- Assignment - Peer review and copy edit
- By TH 3/23, select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the articles that you want to review, and then assign them to yourself in the Review column. If an article already has 2 reviewers, please select a different one so that everyone receives feedback.
- By TH 3/23, take the "Peer Review" online training.
- Peer review your classmate's draft (x2). Go to your classmate's sandbox page and read their draft. In the upper lefthand corner, hit the "talk" tab. This will create a talk page for the sandbox (it will have a title like this: "User talk:Jmstew2/sandbox"). Leave your comments here.
- As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other copyediting adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic? Are there further places they could expand on or make explicit the ethical importance of the topic (if that is what they are discussing)?
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 28 March 2017 | Thursday, 30 March 2017
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their peers' articles.
- Assignment - Respond to your peer reviews
Work with the feedback you received from your peers 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. Write a couple sentences in your sandbox page about which suggestions you are implementing and exactly how you have or will implement them. Reach out to your instructor or your Content Expert if you have any questions.
- Assignment - Continue improving your article & Add links
Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on suggestions and your own critique.
- 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!
- 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.
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 4 April 2017 | Thursday, 6 April 2017
- 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.
- Assignment - Begin writing your Post-Project Reflection
DEADLINE EXTENDED to TH, 4/20
Write a 3-4 page (3 full page minimum) post-project reflection on your experience editing Wikipedia, including any surprises or challenges you faced throughout the process (you may include discussion of any of the stages of the project: learning how navigate and edit Wikipedia, evaluating articles, selecting and researching your topic, peer critiques, etc.).
Discuss how your understanding of Wikipedia has (or has not) changed based on your participation in editing, your reading of the Wikipedia literature you selected (listed in Week 2), and your evaluation of articles. Please include specific details and citations. You must include a section where you discuss the literature you read, and any ethical issues they discuss surrounding Wikipedia such as bias, content gaps, conflict of interest, access and representation, and information sources.
If there are any other thoughts you have about the project, please include them—how you feel about your contributions to the article and to Wikipedia in general, any interaction you had with other non-classmate Wikipedia editors, how this project compares to other kinds of writing assignments you’ve had in college, etc.
Standard 12 pt. Times New Roman, 1 in. margins, double-spaced, turned in hard copy.
Week 12
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 11 April 2017 | Thursday, 13 April 2017
- Assignment - Finish editing your 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!
- Assignment - Finish writing your Post-Project Reflection
See above for assignment details.
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.
- Milestones
Deadline Extended: Post-project reflection paper turned in Thurs, 4/20.