Wikipedia:United States Education Program/Courses/Behavior Theory (Dr. Mike Clayton)

Course information

• University: Youngstown State University
• Course title: Behavior Theory and Philosophy
• Professor name: Dr. Mike Clayton
• Professor's Wikipedia username: Mclayton1 (talk · contribs)
• Online Ambassadors : Smallman12q (talk · contribs)
• Course start date: August 28, 2012
• Assignment due date: December 4, 2012

Course description

This course is designed to help students understand the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of behavior analysis and to become familiar with some of the controversial issues surrounding the field from both modern and historical perspectives.

Wikipedia assignment

This portion of the course will contribute to the Association for Psychological Science Wikipedia Initiative. Students will add to and expand current articles on topics relevant to Radical Behaviorism. Students will gain in depth experience with theory in behaviorism, as well as improving communication skills on topics in behavior analysis.

This assignment has the following goals:

1. Gain in depth knowledge on topics in radical behaviorism.
2. Develop critical thinking skills by evaluating and analyzing topics relevant to Radical Behaviorism.
3. Enhance written communication skills in regards to topics in Radical Behaviorism.
4. Gain experience with collaboration through providing and responding to feedback, and negotiating changes.
5. Develop an understanding and appreciation of how information is both produced and consumed.

Timeline

• Course start date: August 28, 2012
• Assignment due date: December 4, 2012

September 18 (Week 4): Wikipedia Essentials

• Overview of the course
• Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
• Handout: Welcome to Wikipedia (available in print or online from the Wikimedia Foundation)
• Read Five pillars, a explanation of Wikipedia's basic rules and principles
• Handouts and videos: Video on creating an account, Account and user page creation handout, Wikimarkup cheatsheet
• Assignment: Need to create a Wikipedia Account

September 25 (Week 5): Explore Wikipedia

• See Wikipedia:Training/For students which contains an outline of the basics.
• Handouts and videos: Talk pages tutorial video, Evaluating Wikipedia article quality brochure, Wikimarkup cheatsheet
• To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to one of the class's Online Ambassadors (via talk page) Smallman12q (talk), and leave a message for a classmate on their user talk page.
• Sign up on the list of students on the course page.
• Handout: Advice for choosing articles

October 2 (Week 6): Continue Exploring Wikipedia and Topic Development

• Look for existing Wikipedia article related to the class, and critically evaluate it for content. Note the article's structure, tone, and coverage of the topic. Think of a few suggestions you could make to improve the article.

October 9 (Week 7): Topics Due, Begin Source Search

• TOPICS ARE DUE TODAY by 5:10 PM
  • You should have researched and determined 2-3 articles that you will consider working on as your main project. Professor will provide feedback on topic selection. After approval, ask your class's Online Ambassadors for comments.
• Handouts and videos: Referencing handout, Referencing: Wikicode handout, Plagiarism handout, Citing sources tutorial video, RefToolbar citation tool tutorial video
• Students should be developing a list of sources relevant to the chosen project topic.

October 16 (Week 8): Research Topic

• Begin reading the approved sources on your chosen topic.
• Compile your references of relevant research and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on.
• Begin drafting 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to your Wikipedia article related to the class.

October 23 & October 30 (Weeks 9 & 10): Drafting Starter Articles

• Instructor and/or Campus Ambassadors talk about Wikipedia culture & etiquette, and [optionally] introduce the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
• Q&A session with instructor and/or Campus Ambassadors about interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing
• Video resource: Sandbox tutorial
• If you are starting a new article, write a 3–4 paragraph outline version of your article (with citations) in your Wikipedia sandbox. If you are improving an existing article, write an outline version reflecting the content the article will have after it's been improved, and post this along with a brief description of your plans on the article's talk page.
• Begin working with classmates and Online Ambassadors to polish your short starter article and fix any major transgressions of Wikipedia norms.
• Continue research in preparation for expanding your article.

November 6 (Week 11): Writing and Editing

• Handout: Moving into main space, Submitting articles to Did You Know
• Handouts and videos: Uploading images handout, Uploading files to Wikimedia Commons video, Evaluating Wikipedia article quality brochure (handed out originally in week 2), Article assessments video, Evolution of an article video
• Expand your article into an initial draft of a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

November 13 (Week 12): Getting, Giving, and Responding to Feedback

• Peer review one of your classmates' articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.

November 20 & November 27 (Weeks 13 & 14): Working Days

• Make edits to your article based on peers' feedback.
• For new articles or qualifying expansions of stubs, compose a one-sentence "hook," consider nominating it for "Did you know," and monitor the nomination for any issues identified by other editors.
• Consider nominating your article for Good Article status.
• Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.
• Prepare your Oral presentation about your topic and Wikipedia experience.

December 4 (Week 15): Due Date

• Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading (Must be submitted by 5:10 PM on December 4th).

December 11 (Week 16): Oral Presentations

• Students will give Oral presentations December 11th.

Student usernames

Student usernames should follow the ExampleUser format below.

• jersey_1102 (talk · contribs)
• Shinrae (talk · contribs)
• Mkvallinger (talk · contribs)
• Anthonymiller65 (talk · contribs)

Articles

This table will list each article that a student is working on, and which other students will be peer reviewers for the article.

jersey_1102	Relational Frame Theory	reviewer
Shinrae	Motivating Operations	reviewer
Mkvallinger	Tact	reviewer
Anthonymiller65	Experimental Analysis of Behavior	reviewer

Student resources

For on-wiki help, please refer to this student orientation and this brief resource page.

Immediate help

Looking for immediate help from a Wikipedia Ambassador? Click the big purple button on the right.

Enter your Wikipedia username, fill out the CAPTCHA, and click "Connect" to enter chat. Then explain what you need help with.

If no one replies within about 3-5 minutes, try this help channel instead.