Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Maryland, College Park/Biology of Language (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
Editing Wikipedia Articles on Linguistics
Evaluating Wikipedia

Assignment - Create your account & take introductory trainings

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.

Assignment - Critique an article

You'll spend some time thinking 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 & the "Editing Medical Topics" training (linked below).
Read the Wikipedia article for Biolinguistics or one other article related to the course.
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- Is any information out of date?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?
Create a section in your sandbox space where you leave your notes. This will help you get familiar with editing on Wikipedia.
Choose at least 1 questions relevant to one of the articles you're evaluating. Leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Ilikeverin (talk) 19:50, 5 April 2017 (UTC). [reply]

Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 2

Course meetings

Monday, 6 March 2017 | Wednesday, 8 March 2017

Assignment - Choose possible topics

Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.

Choose 3–5 potential articles that you can tackle, and post links to them on your Wikipedia user page. For articles that already exist, check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians might be doing.
Come to class ready to discuss.

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 3

Course meetings

Monday, 13 March 2017 | Wednesday, 15 March 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
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.

In class - Wiki Discussion

We'll be discussing Wikipedia in class. Here are some topics that might be interesting to discuss.

What makes a "good" article:

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"?

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?

Neutrality and reliability:

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?

Week 4

Course meetings

Monday, 20 March 2017

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 5

Course meetings

Monday, 27 March 2017 | Wednesday, 29 March 2017

Assignment - Peer review and copy edit

First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
Select one or two classmates’ article that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the article(s) that you want to review, and then assign it to yourself in the Review column.
Peer review your classmate's draft. Leave suggestions on the Talk page of the article, or sandbox, that your fellow student is working on. Other editors may be reviewing your work, so look for their comments! Be sure to acknowledge feedback from other Wikipedians.
As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic?

Week 6

Course meetings

Monday, 3 April 2017 | Wednesday, 5 April 2017

Assignment - Respond to your peer review

You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. It's time to work with that feedback to improve your article!

Read Editing Wikipedia pages 12 and 14.
Return to your draft or article and think about the suggestions. Decide which ones to start implementing. Reach out to your instructor or your Content Expert if you have any questions.

Week 7

Course meetings

Monday, 10 April 2017

Assignment - Final article

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!

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.

Once it's live:

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.

Final instructions:

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!

Assignment - Reflective essay

Write two paragraphs on your Wikipedia contributions, one each on the following topics:

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?
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?