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:

• Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
• Evaluating Wikipedia

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.)

• 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.

Assignment - Wikipedia Blog on Canvas

Begin a blog (hosted on Canvas) about your experiences.

You can use discussion questions to frame your entries, or reflect on the research and writing process. Create at least four blog entries during the Wikipedia assignment. These posts are about substance and to show you have considered some of the wikipedia assignment discussion points in class. They should also demonstrate how you are progressing on the assignment, challenges and barriers encountered (how they have been overcome), limitations, etc...

• Quick Tip: This blog may be a helpful resource when you write your reflection paper, so feel free to put in more than 4 entries.

Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia

Assignment - Review the rules for health topics and learn how to draft in your sandbox

Assignment - Exercise

The list of topics selected is by no means comprehensive, so if you find an article you would like to edit that is not on the list please ask your instructor to consider it.

Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area

Medicine

Psychology

Science Communication

Assignment - Add to an article

Assignment - Start drafting your contributions

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

As you edit in the Sandbox, please keep two things in mind:

1) For context it is helpful if you copy over relevant parts or all of your chosen article. 

2) Please put your additions in bold, italics, or underline so it is clear what your proposed changes are. If you are eliminating or rearranging text, please indicate that clearly as well. 

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Assignment - Expand your Draft

Get ready for peer review of your article next week!

Assignment - Peer review three articles

Guiding framework

In class - Discussion

Milestones

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

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.

For evaluative purposes: Please include a summary statement in your sandbox about what changes were made in response to peer reviews and if you opted not to make suggested changes, please include your reasoning. It is helpful if you include information such as the reviewer's username in these summaries.

Resources:

• Editing Wikipedia, pages 12 and 14
• Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.

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." I recommend you start with small portions of your article to test out how the transfer works and see how it is received by the Wikiepedia community. 

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13

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.

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!

Assignment - Continue Polishing 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!

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.

Assignment - Reflective Essay

Write a reflective essay (~1500 words) on your Wikipedia contributions.

Consider the guiding 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?
• Peer Review: If your class did peer review, include information about the peer review process. What did you contribute in your review of your peers article? What did your peers recommend you change on your article?
• Feedback: Did you receive feedback from other Wikipedia editors, and if so, how did you respond to and handle that feedback?
• Finding sources: How did you find your souces? Did you have difficulty finding the correct type of sources? Were you able to understand your sources and did your comprehension improve as you progressed through the assignment?
• Editing process: How did you tackle editing? What was your methdology and did you feel it was successful?
• 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 (or is it)?