Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Saint Louis University/Sex, Evolution, and Behavior (Spring 2017)
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- Course name
- Sex, Evolution, and Behavior
- Institution
- Saint Louis University
- Instructor
- Kasey Fowler-Finn
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Sex, Evolution, and Behavior
- Course dates
- 2017-01-31 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-05-16 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 5
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 31 January 2017 | Thursday, 2 February 2017
- Assignment - Introduction to the Wikipedia project
Welcome to your 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.
Your 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.
To get started, please review the following handouts:
- Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- Assignment - 1. Practicing the basics
- Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you.
- 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! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.
- When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.
- Assignment - 2. Critique an article
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article, and note suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page.
- Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
- Choose an article, and 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?
- Choose at least 2 questions relevant to the article you're evaluating. Leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Evol&Glass (talk) 15:12, 9 May 2017 (UTC).
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
Week 2
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 7 February 2017 | Thursday, 9 February 2017
- Assignment - 3. List of possible topics (2/7)
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
- Choose 3–5 potential articles that you can tackle and list them on your talk page. For articles that already exist (and you plan to expand), check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians might be doing. Finally, email your instructor with the topics.
- Assignment - 4. Add to an article (2/9)
Familiarize yourself with editing Wikipedia by adding a citation to an article. There are two ways you can do this:
- Add 1-2 sentences to a course-related article, and cite that statement to a reliable source, as you learned in the online training.
- The Citation Hunt tool shows unreferenced statements from articles. First, evaluate whether the statement in question is true! An uncited statement could just be lacking a reference or it could be inaccurate or misleading. Reliable sources on the subject will help you choose whether to add it or correct the statement.
- Assignment - Meet with your instructor to discuss your topic (2/10)
- Meet with your instructor to finalize your topic any time between 2/8 and 2/10 or earlier if you wish! (email to set up an appointment)
Week 3
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 14 February 2017 | Thursday, 16 February 2017
- Assignment - 5. Finalize topic in course page and find 5 sources (2/16)
- On the Students tab, assign your chosen topic to yourself.
- 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, 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 (you should add 10 sources that have potential to be useful). Make sure to check in on the Talk page to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.
- Start building an outline of your article, and post the outline to your sandbox as you develop it (for this week, just a quick sketch of the main topics you want to include is sufficient)
Week 4
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 21 February 2017 | Thursday, 23 February 2017
- Keep up the good work!
This week there will be an exam in class, so nothing specific is due. However, read up on the next assignment and start plugging away at it if you can!
Week 5
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 28 February 2017 | Thursday, 2 March 2017
- Assignment - 6. Submit annotations for articles & Expand outline (2/28)
Email your article annotations to your instructor (annotation form provided on Blackboard)
Expand your outline to become more comprehensive, noting where specific sources will be used.
Week 6
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 7 March 2017 | Thursday, 9 March 2017
- Assignment - 7. Draft I
- Expand your writing (3/7)
- Keep working on transforming your article into a complete first draft. Get draft ready for peer-review, and post it in your sandbox.
- 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.
- Assignment - Discussion
- Thinking about Wikipedia (3/9)
This week, we will meet up immediately after thursday class to discuss the following, so please think about them on your own!
- 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?
- Milestones
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 14 March 2017 | Thursday, 16 March 2017
- Assignment - 8. Article summary "lead" section (3/14)
First steps to creating a new article
- Write an outline of your topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia article's "lead section." Write it in your sandbox. (this is not the same as the outline you submitted before, rather it is an official Wikipedia page outline)
- 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 (in fact, you will likely only have 1 paragraph of ~2 sentences). A good example is Ada Lovelace. See Editing Wikipedia page 9 for more ideas.
Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9
- Assignment - 9. Peer review and copy edit (3/17)
- First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
- Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit (we will divvy up in class). 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?
Make sure to make at least 2 "global edit" suggestions - these would include rearrangement of the article content, information missing or superfluous, and other major changes they could make to their article.
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 21 March 2017 | Thursday, 23 March 2017
- Assignment - 10. Respond to your peer review (3/22)
You probably 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.
- Indicate how you will address the comments in your talk page
- Assignment - 11. Draft II
- Begin moving your work to Wikipedia (3/22)
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."
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.
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!
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 28 March 2017 | Thursday, 30 March 2017
- Assignment - 12. Peer review II (3/28)
Review your peers' work. Make sure to include at least 1 comment for "global" edits and 1 for copy editing.
Week 10
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 4 April 2017 | Thursday, 6 April 2017
- Assignment - 13. Draft III
- Continue improving your article (4/4)
Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on suggestions and your own critique. This will be your third full draft. Also: link your article to two other Wikipedia articles, and link two other Wikipedia articles to yours!
- 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.
- Summarize your improvements, addressing reviewer comments, on the talk page
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 11 April 2017 | Thursday, 13 April 2017
- Assignment - 14. Draft IV
- Polish your work (4/11)
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!
Week 12
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 18 April 2017 | Thursday, 20 April 2017
- Assignment - 15. Draft IV
- Final article (4/18)
It's the final week to add last developments to your article. This will be the one that is graded for the final article grade!
- 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 - 16. Meet with instructor on presentation (4/21)
Sometime this week, meet with your instructor to go over a good draft of your presentation. At this point, you will need a complete full draft of the presentation, so start early!
- Assignment - 17. In-class presentation (5/2)
Present your work to your classmates!
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.