Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/The College of Wooster/History of Sexualities (Fall)
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- Course name
- History of Sexualities
- Institution
- The College of Wooster
- Instructor
- Jordan Biro Walters
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- History/Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
- Course dates
- 2022-08-25 00:00:00 UTC – 2022-12-15 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 25
This course will explore the shifting boundaries of sexualities that American society has created, maintained, and policed since the mid-1600s to present day. We will examine key moments in the history of sexuality, such as Victorian sexual morality, the birth of sexology, and the homophile movement, in order to explore how and why changes in sex occurred. The purpose of the course is to enable students to develop a critical understanding of how definitions of sexualities have developed in particular historical contexts, how social concerns about sexuality have played out in private and public realms, and how a spectrum of sexual identities have been made and remade over time.
Timeline
Week 12
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 8 November 2022 | Thursday, 10 November 2022
- Assignment - 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:
- Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- 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.
- Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article related to the course and leave suggestions for improving it 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.
- Choose an article on Wikipedia related to your course to read and evaluate. 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?
- Optional: 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 — ~~~~.
Week 13
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 15 November 2022 | Thursday, 17 November 2022
- Assignment - Choose possible topics
Exercise
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
- Look up 3-5 potential topics related to the course 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 sandbox.
- Finally, present your proposal to your instructor for feedback.
- Assignment - Finalize your topic/Find sources
- 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.
- Compile 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.
Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have questions using the Get Help button at the top of this page.
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9
- Assignment - Exercise
Week 14
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 22 November 2022
- Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
Week 15
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 29 November 2022 | Thursday, 1 December 2022
- 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
- Assignment - Continue improving your article
Exercise
- Keep working on transforming your article into a complete first draft. Get draft ready for peer-review.
- If you'd like a Wikipedia Expert to review your draft, now is the time! Click the "Get Help" button in your sandbox to request notes.
- 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.
- Assignment - Peer review and copy edit
- First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
- Consult the peer partner list on Moodle and edit their working article. On the Articles tab, find the article that your peer partner is working on. Then in the "My Articles" section of the Home tab, assign it to yourself to review.
- Peer review your classmate's draft. Leave suggestions on the User Talk page of your peer partner, 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?
Week 16
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 6 December 2022 | Thursday, 8 December 2022
- 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.
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
- 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!
- 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 - 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!
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.