This course page is an automatically-updated version of the main course page at dashboard.wikiedu.org. Please do not edit this page directly; any changes will be overwritten the next time the main course page gets updated.
Course objective: To learn about mineral, water, and food resources, in the context of economic and environmental consequences of their extraction and use; and the differences between concepts of sustainability of resource utilization in the short term (e.g., market cycles, electoral cycles), longer term (decades to centuries) and ultimate sustainability for indefinite support of industrial society.
Students come from a wide range of backgrounds and are not required to know any Geology beforehand. Their Wikipedia assignment will be to edit or create a Wikipedia page about the past, present, or future outlook for a mineral, energy, or food resource or major policy issues pertaining to such a resource. Their task will be to review popular literature as well as primary academic literature to provide a balanced synthesis of current understanding of the topic of their choice.
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 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:
Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (To avoid hitting Wikipedia's account creation limits, this is best done outside of class. Only 6 new accounts may be created per day from the same IP address.)
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 3
Course meetings
Thursday, 25 January 2018
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.
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.
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?
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 — ~~~~.
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"?
Week 4
Course meetings
Thursday, 1 February 2018
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.
Week 5
Course meetings
Thursday, 8 February 2018
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?
Best practices for working in groups
Once your group has a Wikipedia article to work on, make sure everyone in the group is assigned to that article on the Students tab of this course page.
Select one group member whose Sandbox space you'll all share to draft your article. (It will be titled something like User:Diderot/sandbox.) Each person should link to that shared Sandbox from their own Sandbox page. A sandbox is like any other page on Wikipedia, and anyone can edit it.
Wikipedia doesn't handle multiple people editing from different devices at the same time very well. If you're working together in person, one person should add the work to the Sandbox. If you are all working independently, make small edits and save often to avoid "editing conflicts" with classmates. Make sure that you're logged in under your own Wikipedia account while editing in your classmate's sandbox to ensure your edits are recorded.
Don't create a group account for your project. Group accounts are prohibited.
Assignment - Choose your topic / Find your sources
It's time to choose an article and assign it to yourself.
Find an article from the list of "Available Articles" on the Articles tab on this course page. When you find the one you want to work on, click Select to assign it to yourself.
Inyour 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.
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.
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.
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 - 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 Wikipedia Expert to review your draft, now is the time! Click the "Get Help" button in your sandbox to request notes.
Assignment - Peer review and copy edit
First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the articles that you want to review. Then in the "My Articles" section of the Home tab, assign them to yourself to review.
Peer review your classmates' drafts. 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?
Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
Week 8
Course meetings
Thursday, 8 March 2018
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!
Return to your draft or article and think about the suggestions. Decide which ones to start implementing. Reach out to your instructor or your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.
Week 9
Course meetings
Thursday, 15 March 2018
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' 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.
Optional: For new articles or qualifying expansions of stubs, compose a one-sentence “hook,” nominate it for “Did you know,” (see the DYK instructions handout) and monitor the nomination for any issues identified by other editors. Wiki Education staff can provide support for this process.
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 Contributing Images and Media Files training before you upload an image.
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 11
Course meetings
Thursday, 29 March 2018
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!
Week 12
Course meetings
Thursday, 5 April 2018
Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.
