Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/United States Military Academy/Comparative Defense Policy (Spring 2022)

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Course name
Comparative Defense Policy
Institution
United States Military Academy
Instructor
Timothy Heck
Wikipedia Expert
Ian (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Political Science
Course dates
2022-01-03 00:00:00 UTC – 2022-05-15 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
15


The central question of this course is: Why and how do states and non-state actors structure and utilize their military force the ways that they do? Answering this question requires a comparative approach that cuts across traditional disciplines including international relations, comparative politics, history, economics, and cultural studies, among others. This course consists of forty lessons divided into two blocks. The first block, “Foundations of Comparative Defense Policy,” defines comparative defense policy and provides a comparative analysis framework that will be used throughout the course. Comparative defense policy is in some respects a highly specialized form of comparative politics and draws heavily upon the field of international relations. Students will be introduced to analytical tools for comparative defense policy. The second block, “Country Studies,” conducts a deeper look at the defense policies of the US, allies and partners, adversaries, and several non-state actors.



Assignment: students will create/edit Wikipedia entries about the defense policies of assigned nations, organizations, and group. This is replacing a current assignment to conduct a briefing on the topic.

Timeline

Week 2

Course meetings
Tuesday, 11 January 2022   |   Wednesday, 12 January 2022   |   Thursday, 13 January 2022   |   Friday, 14 January 2022
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:

Assignment - 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 3

Course meetings
Monday, 17 January 2022   |   Tuesday, 18 January 2022   |   Wednesday, 19 January 2022   |   Thursday, 20 January 2022   |   Friday, 21 January 2022
Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia
In class - Discussion

Week 4

Course meetings
Monday, 24 January 2022   |   Tuesday, 25 January 2022   |   Wednesday, 26 January 2022   |   Thursday, 27 January 2022   |   Friday, 28 January 2022
Assignment - Choose possible topics

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

In class - Discussion

Week 5

Course meetings
Monday, 31 January 2022   |   Tuesday, 1 February 2022   |   Wednesday, 2 February 2022   |   Thursday, 3 February 2022   |   Friday, 4 February 2022
Assignment - Add to an article
Assignment - Exercise

Week 6

Course meetings
Monday, 7 February 2022   |   Tuesday, 8 February 2022   |   Wednesday, 9 February 2022   |   Thursday, 10 February 2022   |   Friday, 11 February 2022
Assignment - 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

Biographies

History

Political Science

Sociology

Women's Studies

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 7

Course meetings
Monday, 14 February 2022   |   Tuesday, 15 February 2022   |   Wednesday, 16 February 2022   |   Thursday, 17 February 2022   |   Friday, 18 February 2022
Assignment - Peer review two articles

Guiding framework

In class - Discussion
Milestones

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

Week 8

Course meetings
Monday, 21 February 2022   |   Tuesday, 22 February 2022   |   Wednesday, 23 February 2022   |   Thursday, 24 February 2022   |   Friday, 25 February 2022
Assignment - 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.

Week 9

Course meetings
Monday, 28 February 2022   |   Tuesday, 1 March 2022   |   Wednesday, 2 March 2022   |   Thursday, 3 March 2022   |   Friday, 4 March 2022
Assignment - 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

Week 10

Course meetings
Monday, 7 March 2022   |   Tuesday, 8 March 2022   |   Wednesday, 9 March 2022   |   Thursday, 10 March 2022   |   Friday, 11 March 2022
Assignment - Continue improving 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.

Week 11

Course meetings
Monday, 14 March 2022   |   Tuesday, 15 March 2022   |   Wednesday, 16 March 2022   |   Thursday, 17 March 2022   |   Friday, 18 March 2022
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 12

Course meetings
Monday, 21 March 2022   |   Tuesday, 22 March 2022   |   Wednesday, 23 March 2022   |   Thursday, 24 March 2022   |   Friday, 25 March 2022
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!
In class - In-class presentation
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 13

Course meetings
Monday, 28 March 2022   |   Tuesday, 29 March 2022   |   Wednesday, 30 March 2022   |   Thursday, 31 March 2022   |   Friday, 1 April 2022
Milestones

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