Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Rockford University/NURS 495 Senior Seminar (Fall 2017)
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- Course name
- NURS 495 Senior Seminar
- Institution
- Rockford University
- Instructor
- Andrea Anderson
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Nursing
- Course dates
- 2017-08-23 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-12-08 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 18
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 23 August 2017
- In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia project
Welcome to our Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for your course. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if there are other pages you should be following as well.
This page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps, or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started on Wikipedia.
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.
- Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia
- Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (To avoid hitting Wikipedia's account creation limits, this is best done outside of class. Only 6 new accounts may be created per day from the same IP address.)
- It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! These trainings are required for your course.
- Please review the following handouts:
- When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate's Talk page. Everyone should complete this and make a comment on a classmate's Talk page.
Due Friday, 8/25
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
Complete the assigned training
Make an introduction comment on a classmate's Talk page
Week 2
- Course meetings
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- Wednesday, 30 August 2017
- Assignment - Discussion
- What's a content gap?
Now that you're thinking about what makes a "good" Wikipedia article, consider some additional questions. With your group discuss the following:
- Wikipedians often talk about "content gaps." What do you think a content gap is, and what are some possible ways to identify them?
- What are some reasons a content gap might arise? What are some ways to remedy them?
- Does it matter who writes Wikipedia?
- What does it mean to be "unbiased" on Wikipedia? How is that different, or similar, to your own definition of "bias"?
- Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate two Wikipedia articles related to the course and leave suggestions for improving them on the article's Talk page.
- Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
- Create a section in your sandbox titled "Article evaluation" where you'll leave notes about your observations and learnings.
- Read the following articles on Wikipedia:
- As you read, consider the following questions (but don't feel limited to these):
- 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?
- Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
- Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
- Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
- Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
- Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
- How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
- How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
- COMPLETE: Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — ALAlmond7288 (talk) 19:23, 20 October 2017 (UTC).
Due Friday, 9/1
Week 3
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 6 September 2017
- Assignment - Discussion
- Thinking about sources and plagiarism
With your group discuss:
- Blog posts and press releases are considered poor sources of reliable information. Why?
- What are some reasons you might not want to use a company's website as the main source of information about that company?
- What is the difference between a copyright violation and plagiarism?
- What are some good techniques to avoid close paraphrasing and plagiarism?
- Assignment - Copyedit an article
Take the "Sources and Citations" training, linked below.
Choose an article from the list of Nursing stubs. Read through it, thinking about ways to improve the language, such as fixing grammatical mistakes. Then, make the appropriate changes. You don’t need to contribute new information to the article.
Due Friday, 9/8
Week 4
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 13 September 2017
- Assignment - Best practices for working in groups
This week, you'll begin working with your group on your Wikipedia research project. Please review these rules for working in groups before getting started.
- When the time comes, make sure everyone in the group is assigned to the same Wikipedia article on the Students tab of this course page.
- Select one group member whose Sandbox space you'll all share to draft your article. Each person should link to that shared Sandbox from their own Sandbox page. A sandbox is like any other page on Wikipedia, and anyone can edit it.
- Wikipedia doesn't allow multiple people to edit from different devices at the same time. If you're working together in person, one person should add the work to the Sandbox. If you are all working independently, make small edits and save often to avoid "editing conflicts" with classmates. Make sure that you're logged in under your own Wikipedia account while editing in your classmate's sandbox to ensure your edits are recorded.
- Don't create a group account for your project. Group accounts are prohibited.
- Assignment - Choose possible topics
With your group, review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
Option 1: select your own topic
- With your group, look up 3-5 potential topics related to the current trends in nursing or your own personal interests that you might want to update on Wikipedia. Review the content of the article and check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians are already contributing. Identify one or two areas from each that you could improve.
- Choose 1-2 potential articles from that list that you can tackle, and post links to the articles and your notes about what you might improve in your group sandbox.
- Notify Professor Anderson of the article and topic of interest and be prepared to explain why.
Option 2: work with a pre-selected topic
- If you can't find a topic to work on, review the list of "available articles" on the Articles tab above. Select one or two that you want to work on with your group and take notes about what you might improve in your group sandbox.
Due Friday, 9/15 - We'll discuss & finalize your choices next week.
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 20 September 2017
- Milestones
Make an appointment with Professor Anderson by Thursday 9/21 with your group and we will spend some time discussing the topics that each group would like to update. We will finalize which topic each group will move forward with!
- Assignment - Find your sources
- On the Students tab, make sure each group member has assigned your chosen topic to themselves.
- Each member of your group should complete the "Plagiarism" training individually this week.
- In your group 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, too.
- 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.
Due Friday, 9/22
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 27 September 2017
- Assignment - Draft 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
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 4 October 2017
- Assignment - Discussion
- Thinking about Wikipedia
With your group discuss:
What do you think of Wikipedia's definition of "neutrality"?
- What are the impacts and limits of Wikipedia as a source of information?
- On Wikipedia, all material must be attributable to reliable, published sources. What kinds of sources does this exclude? Can you think of any problems that might create?
- If Wikipedia was written 100 years ago, how might its content (and contributors) be different? What about 100 years from now?
- Assignment - Expand your draft
- Keep working on transforming your article into a complete first draft. Get draft ready for peer-review.
- Don't forget you can review the Editing Wikipedia articles on medicine handout at any time for help. The "Editing Medical Topics" training is also a great source of support.
- 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.
Due Friday, 10/6
- In class - Intertwine
- evaluate a Wikipedia article with your peers!
Intertwine is a platform where you you will be chatting with student editors enrolled in other Wiki Education courses. This week, the featured activities include:
- Learning Wikipedia’s five pillars as evaluation criteria
- Evaluating an existing Wikipedia article with your peers
- Getting to know more Wikipedia editors and learning from each other's experiences
Sign up for a session here. If you haven’t logged in using your Wikipedia account, you will first be redirected to Wikipedia logging page. After logging in using your Wikipedia credentials, you will be able to sign up for our activity.
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 11 October 2017
- Assignment - Peer review and copy edit
Individual assignment
Each member of your group will complete this assignment on their own.
- First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
- 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.
- Peer review your classmates' drafts. Leave suggestions on on the Talk page of the article, or sandbox, that your fellow student is working on. Other editors may be reviewing your work, so look for their comments! Be sure to acknowledge feedback from other Wikipedians.
- As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic?
Due Friday, 10/13
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 25 October 2017
- Assignment - Respond to your peer review
Your group should have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. It's time to work with that feedback 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. Reach out to your instructor or your Content Expert if you have any questions.
Due Friday, 10/27
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 1 November 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!
- Be sure to copy text from your sandbox while the sandbox page is in 'Edit' or 'Edit source' mode. This ensures that the formatting is transferred correctly.
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.
Due Friday, 11/3
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 8 November 2017
- Assignment - Continue improving your article
Now that your article is live, do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on suggestions and your own critique.
- 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.
- 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!
Due Friday, 11/10
- In class - Intertwine
- review your Wikipedia article draft with your peers!
Intertwine is a platform where you you will be chatting with student editors enrolled in other Wiki Education courses. This week, the featured activities include:
- Sharing the Wikipedia article your drafted with your peers.
- Getting feedbacks from your peers on how to make your Wikipedia article even better
- Providing feedbacks to your peers and help them improve their article
Sign up for a session here. If you haven’t logged in using your Wikipedia account, you will first be redirected to Wikipedia logging page. After logging in using your Wikipedia credentials, you will be able to sign up for our activity.
Week 12
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 15 November 2017
- Prepare for poster presentations
After Thanksgiving break each group will be asked to create a poster about their work and research on Wikipedia. You should consider the following questions as you reflect on your Wikipedia assignment:
- Critiquing articles: What did you learn about Wikipedia during the article evaluation? How did you approach critiquing the article you selected for this assignment? How did you decide what to add to your chosen article?
- Summarizing your contributions: include a summary of your edits and why you felt they were a valuable addition to the article. How does your article compare to earlier versions?
- Peer Review: If your class did peer review, include information about the peer review process. What did you contribute in your review of your peers article? What did your peers recommend you change on your article?
- Feedback: Did you receive feedback from other Wikipedia editors, and if so, how did you respond to and handle that feedback?
- Wikipedia generally: What did you learn from contributing to Wikipedia? How does a Wikipedia assignment compare to other assignments you've done in the past? How can Wikipedia be used to improve public understanding of our field/your topic? Why is this important?
- 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 Content Expert at any time!
Due Friday, 11/17
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.