Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/UC Berkeley/Ethics and Methods for the Global Poverty and Practice Minor (Fall 2017)
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- Course name
- Ethics and Methods for the Global Poverty and Practice Minor
- Institution
- UC Berkeley
- Instructor
- Clare Talwalker
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Interdisciplinary
- Course dates
- 2017-08-31 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-12-15 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 15
This is a required course for students in the Global Poverty and Practice (GPP) Minor. The course prepares students for the GPP practice experience (PE). It examines the ethics, methods, politics, and pragmatics surrounding poverty action as undertaken by undergraduate college students. A major assignment in the class involves library research on the region/area (eg. a country such as the U.S., Chile, Kenya, Malaysia ... or it could be a city or region such as Lima, Peru or the San Francisco Bay Area) and sector (eg. water sanitation, community health, microfinance) of the student's selected PE org -- it is this research that the student will bring to Wikipedia, with the goal of identifying and adding to/editing existing Wikipedia articles.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
-
- Thursday, 21 September 2017
- In class - Introduction to the GPP 105 Wikipedia assignment
Welcome to your GPP 105 Wikipedia assignment timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for your course.
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 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 - Get started on Wikipedia
- Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you on bCourse. (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! 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 -
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
Week 2
- Course meetings
-
- Thursday, 28 September 2017
- Assignment - Evaluate Two (Area and Sector) Articles on Wikipedia
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate two Wikipedia articles related to the course (see below) 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 learning.
- Choose two articles on Wikipedia to read and evaluate -- one relevant to your PE org area and one to your PE org sector, respectively. The area article should be about a specific aspect of the area (you pick the scale -- eg. the city or the region or the country) in which your PE org is situated. The sector article should be about a specific issue relevant to a key debate or approach within the sector in which your PE org works. Avoid choosing articles are very long and well-developed. It's best to select medium-length articles or short articles. An eg. of a good length of article is the one on "At Risk Students". As you read, consider the following questions (but don't feel limited to these) for each of your two articles:
- 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?
- Identify one or two areas from each that you could improve. Optional: Choose at least 1 question relevant to the articles you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on each article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Ctalwalker (talk) 18:11, 4 December 2017 (UTC).
- In class - Discussion
- What's a content gap?
Now that you're thinking about what makes a "good" Wikipedia article and also which Wikipedia articles could be most suited to helping you understand something about your PE org location and PE org sector, consider some additional questions.
- Wikipedians often talk about "content gaps." What is your experience of identifying content gaps in the articles you are reading? How do those content gaps relate to what you need to research yourself for your PE area and sector?
- What are possible first steps you might take to begin remedying a content gap in the articles you are considering?
- How can you start looking for scholarly sources? By what process will you select scholarly sources to help you fill content gaps?
- What does it mean to be "unbiased" on Wikipedia? How is that different, or similar, to your own definition of "bias"?
Week 3
- Course meetings
-
- Thursday, 5 October 2017
- Assignment - Add to each article
- Get familiar with your article. Reread it.
- Use 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.
- Familiarize yourself with editing Wikipedia by adding 1-2 sentences to both your articles, using at least one scholarly citation for each. You can also choose, for one or both of your articles, to simply add a scholarly citation to an unreferenced statement. Be sure to describe your change before you hit "Save".
- In your sandbox, add the citations for your scholarly source(s). Do not paste a link to the electronic version of the article -- rather, instead, include the full citation in the style specified by Wikipedia.
Week 4
- Course meetings
-
- Thursday, 12 October 2017
- In class - Discussion
- Thinking about scholarly sources and plagiarism
- How can we move from identifying content gaps to filling them in?
- How can you find scholarly sources for editing your Wikipedia articles? What are your main challenges finding, selecting, and using them?
- What are some reasons you might not want to use an organization's website as the main source of information about that organization, or about your PE org sector?
- What are some good techniques to avoid close paraphrasing and plagiarism?
- Assignment - Review the rules for medical topics
Review Wikipedia's rules for topics related to medicine, human health, and psychology. These could apply also to the sociological and anthropological perspective on biomedicine and healing that we learn about and emphasize in GPP.
- Assignment - List scholarly sources and summaries
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
- Under a new heading, "Scholarly sources and summaries" in your sandbox, list out at least 3 scholarly sources for each of your two articles. Cite them fully as per Wikipedia guidelines (it is not enough for this assignment to simply share a link to the actual article).
- Add at least a line explaining how you intend to use this source to edit/add to the Wikipedia article.
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Thursday, 19 October 2017
- Assignment - Update your scholarly sources/summaries and begin synthesizing
- Add scholarly sources till you have roughly 5-10 each for area and sector. As you discover what you can use, this will involve a continual process of dropping and adding sources. Remember to follow Wikipedia citation guidelines (no link to articles).
- For each scholarly source on your list, add in 2-5 lines detailing what you can take from it for your understanding of your PE org area/sector, and for your plans to edit the two articles. This is not merely a summary; this should be your notes to yourself to help your later drafting.
- Start a new section in your sandbox and call it "Summarizing and Synthesizing". Here, drawing on your sources, begin writing sentences that could be added to your articles. Do this separately for area and sector.
Most of you will be planning to improve two existing articles, one related to your PE org area and one to your PE org sector. If any of you is considering creating a new article, then make note of the following:
- In your sandbox, write an outline of the article in the form of a standard Wikipedia article's "lead section."
- 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.
Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts in their sandboxes.
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Thursday, 26 October 2017
- In class - Discussion
- Thinking about Wikipedia
- What do you think of Wikipedia's definition of "neutrality"?
- What are your experiences creating sentences and paragraphs for Wikipedia? How would you describe the specific writerly approach it asks of us?
- What are the impacts and limits of Wikipedia as a source of information?
- Assignment - Expand your summarizing and synthesizing
This week's assignment is to expand your summarizing and synthesizing (sentences and paragraphs) for both your area and sector. If need be, work in separate sections, corresponding to the sections in your articles. You will be graded on the quality of your summarizing and synthesizing sentences/paragraphs (this quality in turn closely tied with the use you make of your scholarly sources). It is also important here to provide full citation information for your scholarly sources in your sandbox (just as you are required to do when you work directly in the Wikipedia article).
- Remember that this is the draft you will share for peer-review. Work in the "summarizing and synthesizing" section of your sandbox. This will be the place where your peers will come to look for this initial drafting of your contributions to your two articles.
- 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.
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Thursday, 2 November 2017
- Assignment - Peer review and copy edit
- First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
- Locate the sandboxes of the two classmates whose sandboxes you will peer review and copy edit.
- Peer review your classmates' drafts (the portions in the "summarizing and synthesizing" sections of their sandboxes). Leave suggestions on the Talk page of your peer's sandbox, making it clear which parts are yours and which parts are your peers' (eg. by using bold for your additions and by adding commentary about your changes in square brackets). 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/voice of the article. Is it encyclopedic?
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
- Assignment - Respond to your peer review
You probably have some feedback from your classmates 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 Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Thursday, 9 November 2017
- Assignment - Move your work to main articles
Once you've made improvements to your articles based on peer review feedback, it's time to move your work to Wikipedia proper.
Some of you may do this by moving your work to the Talk pages. Some of you may choose to move your work directly into the main articles themselves. It will not affect your grade if you choose to keep your contributions on the Talk page.
A few important tips to keep in mind if you choose to edit main articles:
- 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' mode. This ensures that the formatting is transferred correctly.
In the unlikely event that one of you is creating a new article, keep this in mind:
- 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.
Format your articles to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 12 to see how to create links from your articles 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.
- Consider adding an image to your articles. Wikipedia has strict rules about what media can be added, so make sure to take Contributing Images and Media Files training before you upload an image.
- 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
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Thursday, 16 November 2017
- In class - In-class presentation
Present about your Wikipedia editing experience and about what you have learned about your PE org area and sector.
Your presentation should be 5 minutes long. You may share a handout with your classmates on the day of presentation, or you may use Google slides/Prezi. Please do not take us directly to your Talk page or Mainspace, but represent the activity and your points through oral presentation or through handout/Google slides/Prezi. If you opt for Google slides/Prezi, then you must submit your link to me by noon, Wednesday, November 15. Remember that you can keep updating your presentation after you share the link.
In your 5 minutes, aim to:
- Summarizing your contributions: briefly state the focus and goal of your various edits. Comment on if and how your editing experience relates to your PE org area and sector (2 mins).
- Scholarly sources: Tell about your search for scholarly sources (ups and downs, any fascinating or unexpected findings, interesting detours and cul de sacs you discovered. Also describe the key historical events that pertain to your PE org/site and the debates or approaches you uncovered that animate your sector, also including here where you and your PE org fit into those debates. Briefly state your plan for further elaborating on your search and your contributions. (3 mins)
I look forward to hearing from each of you about your 105WikiR experiences and how/if it is shaped your framing of your PE work in the GPP Minor. Best of luck as you continue to work on your drafting (for Talk page and/or Mainstay page) and as you prepare for this brief presentation to share with your classmates.
- Assignment - Finalize your contributions
It's the final week to develop your contributions.
- 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!
As per our discussion in class, keep in mind the following:
- You need 5-10 scholarly sources each for area and sector. In a few of your cases, we have spoken about your need to focus more on area or more on sector, in which case you may think in terms of 10-20 sources distributed as per our discussion.
- In your sandbox, you should cite these fully, as per Wikipedia citation guidelines.
- Under each, include a description of what the source is about and how you are drawing on it (both facts and concepts/frameworks/arguments) for your own drafting.
- In order to garner copy editing and larger forms of feedback from Clare, consider copying and pasting your sentences and paragraphs to a word document and uploading it under the "Finalize your contributions" assignment on bCourses. It's easier to share copy edit feedback in that format.
- Add a new section in your sandbox titled "My Contributions", and here briefly list your work throughout this semester (eg. minor edits throughout the History section of "x" article; updated 4 citations on "y" article; added 3 new citations on "x" article; wrote 4 sentences on "z" article, major rewriting of 'Recent Contributions' section of "z" article, creating of new section in "x" article with # sentences in it ... etc.)
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.
- Assignment - Move final drafting to Mainpages
- Assignment - Reflective essay
Write a reflective essay (4-6 pages) on your 105WikiR contributions and submit it on bCourses.
Consider the following questions as you reflect on your Wikipedia assignment:
- Describe your contributions, especially focusing on its relationship (or challenges relating) to your PE prep: In what way were your contributions a valuable addition to the articles? How has your editing experience enhanced your understanding of your PE org area and sector?
- 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?
- Peer Review: Comment on your experiences with the peer review process (what you learned? whether and how it was useful -- both as reviewer and as recipient of feedback).
- 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 can Wikipedia be used to improve public understanding of your fields/your topics? Why is this important?
- Beyond Wikipedia: What have you learned about the area of your PE org and the debates/approaches/issues animating your PE sector that you found difficult to incorporate into your Wikipedia articles?