Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Florida/Principles of Systematic Biology (Spring 2017)
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- Course name
- Principles of Systematic Biology
- Institution
- University of Florida
- Instructor
- Emily Sessa
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Biology
- Course dates
- 2017-01-04 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-05-19 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 13
This is your Wikipedia project homepage.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Wednesday, 4 January 2017 | Friday, 6 January 2017
- Assignment - Friday 1/6
- Introduction to the Wikipedia project
Welcome to Wikipedia course timeline for Principles of Systematic Biology! This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for this course.
This page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps corresponding to assignments or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started on Wikipedia. You will also see in-class activities or tasks and assignments on the Timeline.
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
- Evaluating Wikipedia
Week 2
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 9 January 2017 | Wednesday, 11 January 2017 | Friday, 13 January 2017
- Assignment - Due 1/13
- Practicing the basics
- For your first assignment, 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.
- Milestones
By the end of this week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 16 January 2017 | Wednesday, 18 January 2017 | Friday, 20 January 2017
- Assignment - Choose possible topics
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
- Choose 2-3 potential articles that you might want to work on 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. Finally, present your choices to your instructor for feedback.
- After you've selected your topics, complete a quick review of each article to determine how it might best be improved.
Assignment
- Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
- With each topic, 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?
Week 4
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 23 January 2017 | Wednesday, 25 January 2017 | Friday, 27 January 2017
Week 5
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 30 January 2017 | Wednesday, 1 February 2017 | Friday, 3 February 2017
Week 6
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 6 February 2017 | Wednesday, 8 February 2017 | Friday, 10 February 2017
- In class - Friday 2/10 in class
- Finalize your topic & Find your sources
In class this week, we will discuss your article selections and finalize everyone's topics. To help us make these choices, we need to think about what makes a "good" Wikipedia article. In class today we will consider the following 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"?
After our discussion, you should have your topic finalized.
- Once you have your topic finalized, 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.
- Milestones
By the end of this week, everyone should have chosen their topic
Week 7
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 13 February 2017 | Wednesday, 15 February 2017 | Friday, 17 February 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
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
Week 8
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 20 February 2017 | Wednesday, 22 February 2017 | Friday, 24 February 2017
- 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 Content Expert to review your draft, now is the time! Click the "Get Help" button in your sandbox to request notes.
You must have a complete draft available for peer review by 2/24.
- Assignment - Due 2/24
- Peer review and copy edit
- First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
- You will be assigned a classmates’ article that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the article that you will review, and then assign it to yourself in the Review column.
- Peer review your classmate's draft (the draft may be on their userpage or in their sandbox space). Leave suggestions on the Talk page of the userpage, or sandbox, that your fellow student is working on. Other students & instructors may also 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 9
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 27 February 2017 | Wednesday, 1 March 2017 | Friday, 3 March 2017
- In class - Friday 3/3 in class
- Respond to your peer review
In class today, we will spend some time talking about Wikipedia generally and going over your articles and peer reviews.
Today's discussion:
- 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?
Peer Review Activity:
You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians or instructors. 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.
- Milestones
By the end of this week, peer reviews are complete
Week 10
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 6 March 2017 | Wednesday, 8 March 2017 | Friday, 10 March 2017
- Milestones
Spring break!
Week 11
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 13 March 2017 | Wednesday, 15 March 2017 | Friday, 17 March 2017
- Assignment - Continue improving your article
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.
Week 12
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 20 March 2017 | Wednesday, 22 March 2017 | Friday, 24 March 2017
- 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 Content Expert at any time if you need further help!
You should be ready to move your work live in class on 3/27! If you're working on improving an existing article, to prepare, you may want to look back at the "live" article and see how it's changed since you've been drafting new content. Does your draft contribution still make sense?
Week 13
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 27 March 2017 | Wednesday, 29 March 2017 | Friday, 31 March 2017
- In class - March 27th in class
- Begin moving your work to Wikipedia
Together, we'll have some time to work on our article drafts and move our work live.
If you're ready and 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. Making an improvement to the "History" section of an article? Be sure to edit only that section, and not the entire article, while you make your improvements.
- Copy your edits into the article from your draft space. To do so, make sure you are copying out of the "Edit" view - this will ensure all the Wikipedia html gets copied in.
- 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.
- Make sure your article hasn't been created since you started drafting it!
- You can also review the [[../../../training/students/sandboxes|Sandboxes and Mainspace]] online training.
- In class - Move to Wikipedia
In class this week, we'll start moving work to Wikipedia
Week 14
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 3 April 2017 | Wednesday, 5 April 2017 | Friday, 7 April 2017
- Assignment - Prepare for in-class presentation
- Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience. On April 10th, you'll each have 5 minutes to discuss your article and the work you've done to improve it.
- When you present, consider the following questions:
- What was the article missing before you touched it?
- What did you contribute?
- Why were you contributions valuable?
- Why do you think having the correct information about your topic is so important to Wikipedia?
- What do you wish you'd done differently?
- What was the article missing before you touched it?
- 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.
- You should be working "live" for this portion of the assignment. What small changes can you make to the article as a whole to improve it? Could you add an image? Copyedit?
- Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Content Expert at any time!
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.
Week 15
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 10 April 2017 | Wednesday, 12 April 2017 | Friday, 14 April 2017
- Milestones
April 10: In class discussion about the Wikipedia experience