Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Northern Arizona University/Writing in the Biological Sciences 0003 (Fall 2019)

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Course name
Writing in the Biological Sciences 0003
Institution
Northern Arizona University
Instructor
Alison Singer
Wikipedia Expert
Elysia (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Biological Sciences
Course dates
2019-08-26 00:00:00 UTC – 2019-12-09 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
24


This course provides students with practice in biological writing for both technical and non-technical audiences, with the goal of fostering development of effective communication of scientific information by majors in the biological sciences. Students will be working in groups to develop Wikipedia articles on topics of their choosing in the biological sciences.

Student Assigned Reviewing
Saw478 Uranium mining and the Navajo people
Morganbinnie0315 Ehlers–Danlos syndromes
Kjt276 Uranium mining and the Navajo people
Hjh74 Ehlers–Danlos syndromes
Frantic777 Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
Tycampb
Sheapike Familial multiple lipomatosis Familial multiple lipomatosis
Tis Nat Familial Multiple Lipomatosis
Britneyw Uranium mining and the Navajo people
Noel Nite
Demilaw Uranium mining and the Navajo people
Zds33
JR3336 Familial Multiple Lipomatosis
Cinthya.g2599
Cneff287

Timeline

Week 1

Course meetings
Friday, 30 August 2019
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:

Week 2

Course meetings
Wednesday, 4 September 2019   |   Friday, 6 September 2019
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
Monday, 9 September 2019   |   Wednesday, 11 September 2019   |   Friday, 13 September 2019

Week 4

Course meetings
Monday, 16 September 2019   |   Wednesday, 18 September 2019   |   Friday, 20 September 2019
Assignment - Choose possible topics

Exercise

Choose a topic

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia

Exercise

Evaluate an article

Assignment - Add to an article

Exercise

Add a citation

Week 5

Course meetings
Monday, 23 September 2019   |   Wednesday, 25 September 2019   |   Friday, 27 September 2019
In class - Discussion

What's a content gap?

Assignment - Review the rules for health topics
Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area

Ecology

Environmental Sciences

Genes and Proteins

Medicine

Species

Week 6

Course meetings
Monday, 30 September 2019   |   Wednesday, 2 October 2019   |   Friday, 4 October 2019
Assignment - Start drafting your contributions

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Week 7

Course meetings
Monday, 7 October 2019   |   Wednesday, 9 October 2019   |   Friday, 11 October 2019
In class - Discussion

Thinking about Wikipedia

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 8

Course meetings
Monday, 14 October 2019   |   Wednesday, 16 October 2019   |   Friday, 18 October 2019
Assignment - Peer review an article

Guiding framework

Milestones

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

Week 9

Course meetings
Monday, 21 October 2019   |   Wednesday, 23 October 2019   |   Friday, 25 October 2019
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 10

Course meetings
Monday, 28 October 2019   |   Wednesday, 30 October 2019   |   Friday, 1 November 2019

Week 11

Course meetings
Monday, 4 November 2019   |   Wednesday, 6 November 2019   |   Friday, 8 November 2019
Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia

Now that you've improved your draft based on others' feedback, it's time to move your work live - to the "mainspace."

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13

Assignment - Continue improving your article

Exercise

Add links to 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 12

Course meetings
Wednesday, 13 November 2019   |   Friday, 15 November 2019
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 13

Course meetings
Monday, 18 November 2019   |   Wednesday, 20 November 2019   |   Friday, 22 November 2019
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!
Assignment - Reflective essay

Guiding questions

Milestones

Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.