Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Saint Louis University/Evolutionary Biology, 3010-02 (Fall 2015)

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Course name
Evolutionary Biology, 3010-02
Institution
Saint Louis University
Instructor
Evol&Glass
Subject
Evolutionary Biology
Course dates
2015-08-24 – 2015-12-10
Approximate number of student editors
50


Student Assigned Reviewing
Evol&Glass
ThatEvolGuy
Anon 2214
Evo1995
Biliken 1995
Random625
Adowney31
Xrysounaki
R-NH2
Shannon.tai House_mouse
Krish707
Weightedswim94
Honey4bees
SLUlax414
Khzzang9
Slu 2018
Biol&steel
Spreetycakes
Namaste314
Salenrs
Plantlover95
AnonARK25
Emiliaromagna1
Fins42
Cbiology
BlueBioBill
Evolution43
Cheungd
Cheesecakefantasy
Aa3z4
Fireblade7869
Lopezospina
Jihyek13
Gern Blanston 13
Drhumz
BabyPug49 Viviparous_Lizard
Anonymous4715
Anon330
Biol3010 evo bsp
Pubh101
Mdanzo0807
Mbastani Gryllus_bimaculatus
Gvirdi16
Daisuke 780
Evobioprachi
Kyranavia
Anon2831
Sluology
2015evolution7
Leflame123
NeverStopEvolving
Random6251
Impolitepotatoes

Timeline

Week 1

In class - Wikipedia essentials
  • Overview of the project
  • Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
  • Understanding Wikipedia as a community, we'll discuss its expectations and etiquette.



Handout: Editing Wikipedia

Assignment - Practicing the basics & create account
  • 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.
  • Create a User page.
  • To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to another student on their user talk page.



Resources: Online Training for Students

Week 2

Editing basics
  • Basics of editing
  • Anatomy of Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how to distinguish between good and bad articles
  • Collaborating and engaging with the Wiki editing community
  • Tips on finding the best articles to work on for class assignments



Handouts: Using Talk Pages, Evaluating Wikipedia

Assignment - Comment on Wikipedia article

Comment on the article found at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymorphism_(biology)

What did you learn? How do you see this article tying into evolutionary ideas we will learn in class? What did you like about how the article was constructed, what would you do differently? Were there certain sections that stood out as particularly strong? particularly weak? What made them stronger or weaker? Feel free to make some small edits to the article.

Assignment - Pick 5 topics

Pick 5 topics you would be most interested in focusing on. Assignments will be based on your choices.

Week 3

Assignment - Annotate article on polymorphism

Annotate article on polymorphism and evolution.

Week 4

In class - Using sources

Discussion on what you have learned so far. Positive or negative experiences? Common experiences among students? * Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.



Handouts: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism

Week 5

Assignment - Find 4 references for your article

Propose 4 references on the talk page to get feedback. One must be trusted internet source other than Wikipedia

Assignment - Annotate 1 article

Annotate 1 of the articles you chose that got positive feedback on the talk page. Email annotation to Dr. Fowler-Finn.

Assignment - Add to an existing article
  • Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to your organism or topic.

Week 6

In class - Wikipedia culture and etiquette
  • 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 - Annotate 2 more references

Annotate an additional 2 articles that received positive feedback on the talk page.

Week 7

In class - Moving articles to mainspace

Handout: Moving out of your Sandbox

Assignment - Publish 1st draft in mainspace
  • Place your article in main space.
  • Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Assignment - Peer review and copyedit
  • Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Which ones you are responsible for will be assigned on the class dashboard. Leave suggestions directly on the article's talk pages. Comment on the structure of the article, its relevance to evolutionary biology, the overall organization, and other major edits you would propose.
  • Copy-edit the two reviewed articles. (i.e. provide grammatical and spelling edits if needed - do so directly in the article itself).

Week 11

Week 12

Assignment - Address peer review suggestions - 2nd draft
  • Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback directly on the article's page. If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.

This will be your second graded draft. Feel good about the work you have done and progress made so far!

Assignment - Discuss further article improvements
  • Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved on the talk pages. Come up with your own improvement goals for each article for next week.
  • Return to your classmates' articles you previously reviewed, and provide more suggestions for further improvement. If there is a disagreement, suggest a compromise.

Week 13

Assignment - Continue improving article - final draft
  • 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.
  • Add additional reference to bring the number of references to 4+
  • Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.

What is published on December 10 by 10AM will be graded as your final project for the class. Congratulations - feel good about your contribution to the Wikipedia online encyclopedia!



Handout: Polishing your article

Week 14

Milestones

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