Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/The College of Wooster/Modern Brazil (Spring 2018)
| This Course
|
Wikipedia Resources
|
Connect
Questions? Ask us:
contact |
 | This course page is an automatically-updated version of the main course page at dashboard.wikiedu.org. Please do not edit this page directly; any changes will be overwritten the next time the main course page gets updated. |
- Course name
- Modern Brazil
- Institution
- The College of Wooster
- Instructor
- Emily Armour
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- History
- Course dates
- 2018-01-15 00:00:00 UTC – 2018-05-26 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 25
This course examines the history of modern Brazil, focusing on the negotiation of race, gender, and class in a heterogeneous society. Our readings and discussion will focus on cultural production including novels, films, soap operas, music, and food as a window to Brazilian identity. Themes include Brazilian slavery and the transition to free labor; immigration and the construction of national identity; populism and the cooptation of the Brazilian working classes; state projects for modernization and the construction of Brasilia; the persistence of racial prejudices in a racial democracy; authoritarianism, tropicalísmo, and the return to civilian rule; and economic growth and development in a highly stratified society.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 16 January 2018 | Thursday, 18 January 2018
- In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia project
Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for History 217 Modern Brazil. This schedule is *not* a replacement for our class syllabus, but to provide you more detailed structure for the Wikipedia assignments.
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 - Blog Post
- Critiquing Wikipedia's Coverage of Brazilian History
Pick your choice of one of these articles about Brazilian history: "Afro-Brazilians," "Race & Ethnicity in Brazil," or "Indigenous Peoples in Brazil"
After you read, write a 3-5 paragraph blog post that 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?
- Assignment - 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.
- Finally, we introduce Intertwine, a video conferencing tool where you can will create your own User page and User Talk Page with peer editors enrolled in other courses. Sign up for a sessionhere or using the Intertwine training module below.
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account, join our course page, and set up their talk page.
Week 2
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 23 January 2018 | Thursday, 25 January 2018
- In class - Discussion
- Thinking about sources and plagiarism
- 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 - Trainings
- Assignment - Early Brazilian Books Project
On your assigned entry's talk page, outline your group's plans for expanding the article. What reliable sources will you use as evidence? What information do you need to include in the lead, synopsis, publication information, reception, and outside sources? Sign your work with Shalor (Wiki Ed) (talk) 21:06, 25 May 2018 (UTC)
Week 3
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 30 January 2018 | Thursday, 1 February 2018
- Assignment - Early Brazilian Book Project Entries Completed
Following the guidelines for Wikiproject: Books, we'll improve these four articles to include a detailed lead (introduction) to the book, a short synopsis of its contents, information about the author, information about the historical context, and a balanced analysis regarding its reception (abiding by neutral point of view).
Week 4
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 6 February 2018 | Thursday, 8 February 2018
- In class - Primary Source Essay
This week, you'll focus on your primary source essay.
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 13 February 2018 | Thursday, 15 February 2018
- In class - Discussion
- What's a content gap?
Now that you're thinking about what makes a "good" Wikipedia article, consider some additional questions.
- 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 - Blog Post
- Wikipedia Article Idea
Write a blog post proposing a potential article that you can tackle for your Wikipedia Article assignment. What content gaps do you see? Why is this article important for improving the coverage of Brazilian history and culture? What reputable sources exist to back up your added content? For your proposed article, check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians might be doing. Tag your post "Wikipedia."
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 20 February 2018 | Thursday, 22 February 2018
- Assignment - Planning Your Intervention, Finding Your Sources
- On your article's talk page, create a new heading to introduce your proposed edits.
- On the talk page, write a few sentences about what you plan to contribute to the selected article. Think back to our discussions of content gaps, Wikipedia's 5 Pillars, and the American Historical Association article.
- Compile a list of at least 6-8 relevant, reliable books, journal articles, or other sources. Post that bibliography to the talk page of the article you'll be working on. Make sure to check in on the Talk page to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.
- In class - Discussion
- Thinking about Wikipedia
- 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
Everyone has begun working on their research and plans for improvement.
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 27 February 2018 | Thursday, 1 March 2018
- Assignment - Peer review
- Initial article ideas
- First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
- I'll assign you two articles to review (you'll find them in the "My Articles" section of the Home tab.
- For this first stage of your peer review, use the article "Talk" page to leave feedback on your peers' planned improvements and use of sources. Do you have any additional ideas?
- Other editors may be reviewing your work, so look for their comments! Be sure to acknowledge feedback from other Wikipedians.
- Not only your classmates, but also a broader group of Wikipedia student editors can benefit from peer review! Here, we introduce Intertwine one more time. You will do an hour-long peer review session with peers from other courses. Sign up for a sessionhere using the Intertwine training module below.
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 6 March 2018 | Thursday, 8 March 2018
- Assignment - Respond to your peer review
You have some feedback from other students, your professor, 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 article plan 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.
- Assignment - Continue your research
You've picked a topic and found your sources. Now it's time to wrap up your work reading sources and taking careful notes.
Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9. Review the Plagiarism training (below) and make sure you understand the requirements for acknowledging all sources of information.
- Assignment - Over Spring Break
- Start Drafting Your Article
Once you've made improvements to your article based on peer review feedback, it's time to start your edits on the article mainspace. While your full rough draft isn't due until the week we return from Spring Break week (Thursday, March 29), you can start working this week.
- 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.
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 27 March 2018 | Thursday, 29 March 2018
- In class - Our Syllabus
- Week 9
- Assignment - Polished First Draft Due
- Keep working on transforming your article into a complete first draft. Get draft ready for peer-review.
- Make sure that your new content includes citations and links. 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.
- 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 - Did You Know
- Optional: For new articles or qualifying expansions of stubs, compose a one-sentence “hook,” nominate it for “Did you know,” (see the DYK instructions handout) and monitor the nomination for any issues identified by other editors. Wiki Education staff can provide support for this process.
Handout: "Did You Know" submissions
- Assignment - Peer Review & Copy Edit
- Full Articles
Peer review your assigned classmates' drafts. Use your best judgement: depending on the kind of change you're proposing, you can either leave suggestions on on the Talk page of the article, or make direct edits to the article itself (posting explanations of your changes). 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 10
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 3 April 2018 | Thursday, 5 April 2018
- In class - Our Syllabus
- Week 10
- 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 Content Expert at any time if you need further help!
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 10 April 2018 | Thursday, 12 April 2018
- In class - Our Syllabus
- Week 11
- Assignment - WGSS
- Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon
Join us in the Andrews library CoRE from 11 to 1 to complete your final edits, and highlight our contributions to improving coverage of underrepresented topics on Wikipedia!
We'll celebrate with brownies!
- Assignment - Final article due
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!
- Assignment - Wikipedia Reflective Essay
Write a reflective essay (500-750 words) on your Wikipedia contributions and upload it to Moodle by 4pm on Friday, April 13.
Consider the following questions as you reflect on your Wikipedia assignment:
- Why did you select this article to improve? What is the larger cultural significance of this entry, and how does your work make it better?
- What state was it in before your intervention? Why?
- How did you improve this entry? Why did you choose to intervene in these ways?
- What did you learn about evaluating sources of information? How does your work show your skills completing college-level research?
- How did you shape your edits to meet the Wikipedia community guidelines (5 Pillars)
- How did your peer review of other students' articles improve their work?
- How can Wikipedia be used to improve public understanding of our field/your topic? Why is this important?