Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/American University/Understanding Media (Fall 2017)
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- Course name
- Understanding Media
- Institution
- American University
- Instructor
- Ericka Menchen-Trevino
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Communication
- Course dates
- 2017-08-28 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-12-08 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 40
Media pervade our society and our lives. Television, music, social media, books, text messages, phone calls, movies and video games dominate our attention. Each of these media has a history, a technology, an industry, and a variety of impacts on individuals and societies. In this class, we will learn to see the media world that surrounds us as an object of inquiry, not just a fact of life. Our textbook, “Converging Media” centers around the digital transformation that mass communication is undergoing. Once separate industries, technologies and even the production and consumption of media are all blending together. The consequences of these shifts are changing everything from our personal relationships, our government, and the wider world.
The goal of this course is to give students the tools they need to understand the contemporary media environment and shift toward more actively engaging with the media world we inhabit. To help achieve this goal the signature assignment of the course involves making your own productive contributions to one of the most popular websites in the world, Wikipedia.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 29 August 2017 | Friday, 1 September 2017
- In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia project
Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project. This guide is a supplement to the syllabus. While the syllabus has the last word, this page is a direct extension of the assignment description.
This page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps, or milestones. These steps include online training to help you get started on Wikipedia.
In addition to your professor, your course has also been assigned a Wikipedia Content Expert that you can turn to for help. 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
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
Week 2
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 5 September 2017 | Friday, 8 September 2017
- Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia
- 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 online training 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 training 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 - 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 or in your sandbox.
- Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
- 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?
- Create a section in your sandbox titled "Article evaluation" where you'll leave notes about your observations of an article and what you learned.
- Recommended, but 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 — Erickaakcire (talk) 19:09, 15 November 2017 (UTC).
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 12 September 2017 | Friday, 15 September 2017
- Assignment - Add to an article
Familiarize yourself with editing Wikipedia by adding a citation to an article. There are two ways you can do this:
- Add 1-2 sentences to a course-related article, and cite that statement to a reliable source, as you learned in the online training.
- 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.
- 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?
Week 4
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 19 September 2017 | Friday, 22 September 2017
- Assignment - Copyedit an article
Choose an article. Read through it, thinking about ways to improve the language, such as fixing grammatical mistakes. Then, make the appropriate changes. You don’t need to contribute new information to the article.
Week 5
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 26 September 2017 | Friday, 29 September 2017
- 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"?
- 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?
- Assignment - Illustrate an article
Extra Credit: 10 points if you do this successfully by Sept. 29.
You'll want to find or create an appropriate photo, illustration, or piece of video/audio to add to an article.
- Before you start, review the Illustrating Wikipedia handbook, or see Editing Wikipedia pages 10–11.
- When you've reviewed those pages, take the training linked below.
- When you're ready to start finding images, remember: Never grab images you find through an image search, or those found on Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit, Imgur, or even so-called "Free image" or "free stock photo" websites. Instead, you'll want to find images with clear proof that the creator has given permission to use their work. Many of these images can be found on search.creativecommons.org.
- Don't just upload an image to Wikipedia. Instead, upload it to Wikipedia's sister site for images, Wikimedia Commons. For instructions, read through the Illustrating Wikipedia handbook.
Week 6
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 3 October 2017 | Friday, 6 October 2017
- Assignment - Choose possible topics & sources
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
- Choose 2-3 potential articles related to the course that you might want to update on Wikipedia. This can be anything from your favorite band to an article about a concept we've covered or will cover. 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.
- For each article you have chosen, find at least 2 good sources. Review sources and citations training or Wikipedia guidance on proper sourcing as needed. Explain how the sources can be used to improve the article, and how you will find additional sources.
- Finally, submit your choices to your instructor on Blackboard for feedback. Make sure to include links to your articles.
Week 7
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 10 October 2017
Week 8
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 17 October 2017 | Friday, 20 October 2017
- Assignment - Expand your draft
- Keep working on transforming your article into a complete first draft. Get draft ready for peer-review.
- 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.
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 24 October 2017 | Friday, 27 October 2017
- Assignment - Draft 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
- In class - Peer review and copy edit
- First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
- In class, you will be assigned to a peer's article to review and they will review your article.
- As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic?
- Read Editing Wikipedia pages 12 and 14.
- Respond to your peer review (worksheet)
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 31 October 2017 | Friday, 3 November 2017
- Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia
Once you've made improvements to your article based on peer review feedback, it's time to move your work to Wikipedia proper - the "mainspace."
Editing an existing article?
- 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.
Creating a new article?
- 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.
- Assignment - Continue improving your article
Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on suggestions and your own critique.
- 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.
- Consider adding an image to your article. Wikipedia has strict rules about what media can be added, so make sure to take the 'Contributing Images and Media Files' training before you upload an image.
Week 11
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 7 November 2017 | Friday, 10 November 2017
- Assignment - Final article & responses to Wikipedians complete
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!
- Respond to comments and changes from other Wikipedians as appropriate
Week 12
- Course meetings
-
- Tuesday, 14 November 2017 | Friday, 17 November 2017
- Assignment - Reflective essay
Write a reflective essay (3–5 pages) on your Wikipedia contributions.
Consider the following questions as you reflect on your Wikipedia assignment:
- 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?
- Summarizing your contributions: include a summary of your edits and why you felt they were a valuable addition to the article. How does your article compare to earlier versions?
- Peer Review: If your class did peer review, include information about the peer review process. What did you contribute in your review of your peers article? What did your peers recommend you change on your article?
- 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 does a Wikipedia assignment compare to other assignments you've done in the past? How can Wikipedia be used to improve public understanding of our field/your topic? Why is this important?