User:Dmak78/UW/Philosophy 201 (Summer 2015)

Course name

Philosophy 201

Institution

UW

Instructor

Dmak78

Subject

Philosophy

Course dates

2015-08-01 – 2015-10-24

Approximate number of student editors

0

Description

Week 1: Building it

In Class

Wikipedia essentials

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

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Handout: Editing Wikipedia

Assignment

Practicing the basics

• 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 on the user talk page of one of your classmates, who should also be enrolled in the table at the bottom of the page.
• Explore topics related to your topic area to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a mental note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement.

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Resources: Online Training for Students

In Class

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

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Handouts: Using Talk Pages, Evaluating Wikipedia

Milestone

All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.

In Class

Exploring the topic area

• Be prepared to discuss some of your observations about Wikipedia articles your topic area that are missing or could use improvement.

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Handouts: Choosing an article

Assignment

Copyedit an article

• Choose one article, identify ways in which you can improve and correct its language and grammar, and make the appropriate changes. (You do not need to alter the article's content.)

Week 2

In Class

Using sources

• Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.

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Handouts: Citing Sources and Avoid Plagiarism

Assignment

Add to an article

• Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the class.

Assignment

Illustrate an article

• Identify an article that would benefit from illustration, create or find an appropriate photo, illustration, or audio/video, and add it to the article.
• All media uploaded to Wikipedia must fall under a "free license," which means they can be used or shared by anyone. Examples of media you can use are photos that you take yourself, images and text in the public domain, and works created by someone else who has given permission for their work to be used by others. For more information about which types of media can be uploaded to Wikipedia, see Commons:Help desk.
• To add a media file to an article, you must first upload it to Wikimedia Commons. For instructions on how to upload files to Commons, refer to Illustrating Wikipedia. This brochure will also provide you with detailed information about which files are acceptable to upload to Wikipedia and the value of contributing media to Wikipedia articles.

In Class

Discuss the article topics

• Discuss the topics students will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them.

Week 3

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

Drafting starter articles

• If you are starting a new article, write a 3–4 paragraph summary version of your article—with citations—in your Wikipedia sandbox. If you are improving an existing article, create a detailed outline reflecting your proposed changes, and post this for community feedback, along with a brief description of your plans, on the article’s talk page. Make sure to check back on the talk page often and engage with any responses.
• Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your short starter article and fix any major issues.
• Continue research in preparation for expanding your article.

Milestone

Students have started editing

• All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.

Week 4

In Class

Moving articles to mainspace

• We'll discuss moving your article out of your sandboxes and into Wikipedia's main space.
• A general reminder: Don't panic if your contribution disappears, and don't try to force it back in.
• Check to see if there is an explanation of the edit on the article's talk page. If not, (politely) ask why it was removed.
• Contact your instructor or Wikipedia Content Expert and let them know.

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Handout: Moving out of your Sandbox

Assignment

Moving articles to mainspace

• Move your sandbox articles into main space.
• If you are expanding an existing article, copy your edit into the article. If you are making many small edits, save after each edit before you make the next one. Do NOT paste over the entire existing article, or large sections of the existing article.
• If you are creating a new article, do NOT copy and paste your text, or there will be no record of your work history. Follow the instructions in the "Moving out of your sandbox" handout.
• Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 5

In Class

Building articles

• Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
• Share experiences and discuss problems.

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Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia

Assignment

Choose articles to peer review

• Select three classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the table at the bottom of this course page, add your username next to the articles you will peer review. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet.)

Assignment

Complete first draft

• Expand your article into an initial draft of a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 6

In Class

Group suggestions

• As a group, offer suggestions for improving one or two other students' articles, based on your ideas of what makes a solid encyclopedia article.

Assignment

Peer review and copyedit

• Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
• Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.

Milestone

• Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

In Class

Media literacy discussion

• Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.

Assignment

Address peer review suggestions

• Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.

Week 7

In Class

Discuss further article improvements

• Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for each article for next week.

Assignment

Continue improving articles

• Return to your classmates' articles you previously reviewed, and provide more suggestions for further improvement. If there is a disagreement, suggest a compromise.
• 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.

Assignment

Prepare for in-class presentation

• Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.

In Class

In-class presentation

• Students give in-class presentations about their experiences editing Wikipedia.

Assignment

Finishing touches

• Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.

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Handout: Polishing your article

Assignment

Reflective essay

• Write a reflective essay (2–5 pages) on your Wikipedia contributions.

Assignment

Wikipedia portfolio

• Put together a Wikipedia portfolio.

Assignment

Original analytical paper

• Write a paper going beyond your Wikipedia article to advance your own ideas, arguments, and original research about your topic.

Week 8

Milestone

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