Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Columbia College/African American History (Fall 2021)

This Course Wikipedia Resources Connect
Questions? Ask us:

contact@wikiedu.org

Course name
African American History
Institution
Columbia College
Instructor
Sarah Lirley McCune
Subject
history
Course dates
2021-08-30 00:00:00 UTC – 2021-12-21 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
5


We will examine African American history from the 1600s to the present day. Students will research and create a Wikipedia page for one person who is important to African American history. The course is a junior and senior-level course and the Wikipedia project is their major research project for the course.

Timeline

Week 1

Course meetings
Monday, 30 August 2021   |   Wednesday, 1 September 2021   |   Friday, 3 September 2021
In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia assignment

Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline. This page guides you through the steps you'll need to complete for your Wikipedia assignment, with links to training modules and your classmates' work spaces.

Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Resources:

In class - Get started on Wikipedia

Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (Because of Wikipedia's technical restraints, you may receive a message that you cannot create an account. To resolve this, please try again off campus or the next day.)

Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 2

Course meetings
Wednesday, 8 September 2021   |   Friday, 10 September 2021
In class - Evaluate Wikipedia

Exercise

Evaluate an article

In class - Choose possible topics

Exercise

Choose a topic

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

Week 3

Course meetings
Monday, 13 September 2021   |   Wednesday, 15 September 2021   |   Friday, 17 September 2021
In class - Discussion

What's a content gap?

Week 4

Course meetings
Monday, 20 September 2021   |   Wednesday, 22 September 2021   |   Friday, 24 September 2021
In class - Add to an article

Exercise

Add a citation

Week 5

Course meetings
Monday, 27 September 2021   |   Wednesday, 29 September 2021   |   Friday, 1 October 2021
In class - Start drafting your contributions

Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have questions using the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area

History

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 6

Course meetings
Monday, 4 October 2021   |   Wednesday, 6 October 2021   |   Friday, 8 October 2021
In class - Discussion

Thinking about Wikipedia

Milestones

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

In class - Peer review an article

Guiding framework

In class - Respond to your peer review

You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. Consider their suggestions, decide whether it makes your work more accurate and complete, and edit your draft to make those changes.

Resources:

  • Editing Wikipedia, pages 12 and 14
  • Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.
In class - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia

Now that you've improved your draft based on others' feedback, it's time to move your work live - to the "mainspace."

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13

In class - Continue improving your article

Exercise

Add links to your article

Now's the time to revisit your text and refine your work. You may do more research and find missing information; rewrite the lead section to represent all major points; reorganize the text to communicate the information better; or add images and other media.

Assignment - Polish your work

Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!

Week 7

Course meetings
Monday, 11 October 2021   |   Wednesday, 13 October 2021   |   Friday, 15 October 2021
In class - In-class presentation

Guiding questions

Assignment - Reflective essay

Guiding questions

Assignment - Original analytical paper

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

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 Wikipedia Expert at any time!
Milestones

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