Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Andrew College/HIS 102 World Civilization since 1500 (Spring 2017)

Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for your course. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if there are other pages you should be following as well.

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 - 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.

Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 2

Course meetings

Monday, 27 March 2017 | Wednesday, 29 March 2017

Assignment - Critique an article

It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article, 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 learnings.
Read the Wikipedia article about Civilizations. While you read, consider the following questions (but don't feel limited to these):
- Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
- 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?
- Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
- Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
- Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
- 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?
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 — Annamarmolejo (talk) 17:17, 2 May 2017 (UTC). [reply]

Week 3

Course meetings

Monday, 3 April 2017 | Wednesday, 5 April 2017

Assignment - Choose possible topics

Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
Look up 3-5 potential topics related to the course that you might want to update on Wikipedia. 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.
Choose 2-3 potential articles from that list that you can tackle, and post links to the articles and your notes about what you might improve in your sandbox.
Finally, present your choices to your instructor for feedback.

Assignment - Finalize your topic / Find your sources

On the Students tab, assign your chosen topic to yourself.
In your sandbox, write a few sentences about what you plan to contribute to the selected article.
- Think back to when you did an article critique. What can you add? Post some of your ideas to the article's talk page, too.
- Compile a list of relevant, reliable books, journal articles, or other sources. Post that bibliography to the talk page of the article you'll be working on, and in your sandbox . Make sure to check in on the Talk page to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.

Week 4

Course meetings

Monday, 10 April 2017 | Wednesday, 12 April 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

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 5

Course meetings

Monday, 17 April 2017 | Wednesday, 19 April 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.

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.
Find the section in the article you want to improve and select "edit" - make sure you are in "edit" or "edit source" on both your draft and the proper section of the live article.
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!

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.

Week 6

Course meetings

Monday, 24 April 2017 | Wednesday, 26 April 2017

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.
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!

Assignment - Final article

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!

Week 7

Course meetings

Monday, 1 May 2017 | Wednesday, 3 May 2017

Assignment - Reflective essay

Write a reflective essay (2–5 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?
Feedback: Did you receive feedback from other Wikipedia editors, and if so, how did you respond to and handle that feedback?
Wikipedia generally: Reflect on some of the following questions...
- 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?
- What do you think of Wikipedia's definition of "neutrality"?
- What are the impacts and limits of Wikipedia as a source of information?

Milestones

Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.