Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Brigham Young University/The United States Since 1877 (Winter 2023)
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- Course name
- The United States Since 1877
- Institution
- Brigham Young University
- Instructor
- David-James Gonzales
- Wikipedia Expert
- Brianda (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- History
- Course dates
- 2023-01-09 00:00:00 UTC – 2023-04-26 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 60
This course surveys the history of the United States from the end of Reconstruction to the present day.
In lieu of a final exam, the final project for the course will consist of a series of online trainings, activities, writing assignments, and presentations that culminate in the researching, writing, and publishing of a Wikipedia article. Students may choose any topic (person, event, organization, artistic work or cultural representation, etc.) related to U.S. history from 1877 on, including those covered in course readings and discussions. Students will be assigned to work in groups of 2 persons. Students must complete this assignment to receive a passing grade in the course.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
-
- Friday, 13 January 2023
- Milestones
Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline. This page guides you through the steps you'll need to complete your Wikipedia assignment, with links to training modules and your classmates' work spaces.
IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU CHECK THIS PAGE REGULARLY TO STAY ON TOP OF YOUR WIKIPEDIA TRAININGS AND ASSIGNMENTS.
Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.
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.)
Resources:
- Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
Week 2
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 18 January 2023 | Friday, 20 January 2023
- Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia Training Modules & Choose a Partner
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, 23 January 2023 | Wednesday, 25 January 2023 | Friday, 27 January 2023
- Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia & brainstorm topics w/ partner
Exercise
[[../../../training/students/evaluate-wikipedia-exercise|Evaluate an article]]
After completing the training, be sure to spend time browsing our course books (These United States, The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, and An African American and Latinx History of the United States) while also searching topics and articles on Wikipedia. Take note of topics you are interested in that have little or no coverage on Wikipedia.
Acceptable topics include any person, organization, event, place, development, artistic or cultural production (food, music, dance, artwork, film, stage play, etc.), theory (educational, political, social, etc.) that relates to the history of the United States from 1877 to the present day.
Be sure to look at the existing articles (see below) created by my former students on Wikipedia. These provide good models of the type of article you are expected to create:
History of African Americans in Utah
Mexican Cuisine in the United States
Military History of Native Americans
Historic Chinatown in Deadwood, South Dakota
Prisoners of War in Utah during WWII
Women in the United States Prohibition Movement
Viet Cong Motivation and Morale Project
Week 4
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 30 January 2023 | Wednesday, 1 February 2023 | Friday, 3 February 2023
- Assignment - Meet w/ professor to discuss topic
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 6 February 2023 | Wednesday, 8 February 2023 | Friday, 10 February 2023
- Assignment - Add to an article
- Milestones
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 13 February 2023 | Wednesday, 15 February 2023 | Friday, 17 February 2023
- In class - Edit an article
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 22 February 2023 | Friday, 24 February 2023
- Assignment - Annotated Bibliography
Guidelines for the Annotated Bibliography Assignment
Objective: This is an opportunity to begin significant research on your Wikipedia article by finding those sources and material that will help you build the citations that will provide the documentation for your piece.
Annotated Bibliography: In preparation for their Wikipedia article, students will present an annotated bibliography that includes at least 12 verifiable sources related to their topic. These can include journal articles, book chapters, newspaper accounts, magazine articles, documentaries, etc. A minimum of half your sources must come from peer-reviewed academic journal articles, book chapters, or anthologies accessed via the university library. Your sources should include both broad general texts that provide the historical, geographic, or contextual framing for your Wiki article and more specific articles that focus directly on your topic. Please format your bibliography by using the Chicago Manual of Style.
- Each entry in the Annotated Bibliography must be a minimum of 3-4 sentences long and include an evaluation of the source (including author and publisher) and an explanation of how you anticipate using it in the Wikipedia article you will write. The assignment will be graded based on the range and quality of the sources cited, your assessment of the author's credentials and the quality of the publication, your understanding of the content in the source, and the creativity and resourcefulness used to track down pertinent citations. Each topic will be different, but here are some things to consider:
Quality of Sources: The better your sources, the more credible your Wikipedia article. The highest quality sources are those that come from scholarly/academic peer-reviewed books and journals—academic books are typically published by university presses. The next level would be books, magazines, and newspapers, from highly credible publishers, and finally, the least reliable are web pages and blogs. Even here there are differences—the Human Rights Watch is a much better source for Human Rights than a random page by an unknown author. Always aim to use the highest quality of sources you can find. This is the primary purpose of your, to evalutate the quality of the source.
Context: In considering what sort of things to include, think about the larger historical, cultural, or geographic context of your topic, these might not specifically mention your subject but can help provide the background to establish their significance or importance. For general context, academic books and academic journal articles are best to establish the grounding and significance of your topic. Sources will generally come from databases like J-Stor, Project MUSE, EBSCO, LexisNexis (for Law), etc. But you will also need to seek out sources that directly speak about your topic, and for these, you may need to look harder, including local/regional newspapers and magazines, local/regional public history websites and publications, trade publizations, documentaries, etc.
Grading Criteria for Annotated Bibliography
Things I will look for in sources:
· A wide range of high quality sources: including a mix of books, articles, newspapers, magazines, websites, etc.
· The quality and scholarly value of the sources
· Sources that suggest that you have considered several aspects of the topic
· Chicago Style citation format
Things I will look for in annotations:
· How focused are they relative to your project and how well are you able to describe the relevance of the content in the source to your project?
· How well do you evaluate the credibility and authoritativeness of the source (especially the author and publisher)?
· How insightful is your understanding of the ideas presented in the source?
· How effectively are the annotations written in terms of style and grammar?
Grading Grid
A (90-100) An excellent range of substantive and high-quality sources that work well together to illuminate a topic in compelling ways. The sources demonstrate advanced research skills, tenacity in seeking out obscure sources, and familiarity with assessing the value of diverse sources. The annotations are well written and illustrate an understanding of the significance of the relevant issues and how they might be applied to the final Wikipedia entry.
B (80-89) A good range of sources that work together to construct a solid research foundation for a topic. Overall the annotations demonstrate a clear understanding of the issues involved. This assignment may have benefited from one or more of the following: greater use of high quality sources; more specific and targeted sources that directly address your topic; more creativity or perseverance seeking out useful sources; greater clarity in presenting the larger relevant issues; greater attention to existing Wikipedia sources to avoid duplication; greater attention to grammar, punctuation and proofreading.
C (70-79) The assignment has an identifiable topic and demonstrates evidence of some independent research. This assignment would have benefited from one or more of the following: more high quality sources; more specific and targeted sources that directly address your topic; clearer focus on the larger context and relevance of your topic; more attention to connecting your annotations to your project; greater analysis or thought in terms of understanding the larger context; more attention to existing Wikipedia sources to avoid duplication; considerably greater attention to writing, grammar and proofreading.
D (60-70) The assignment does not evidence meaningful research or consideration of the issues. This assignment is lacking in several significant areas including quality of research; clarity of annotations; focus; grammar and proofreading.
F (59 or less) The minimum requirements of the assignment were not met.
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 27 February 2023 | Wednesday, 1 March 2023 | Friday, 3 March 2023
- Milestones
At this point you should create an outline that organizes the approach you will take to writing your Wikipedia article. The annotated bibliography (and whatever additional sources you've added or will continue to add) should serve as your guide to the type of content you will cover.
By outlining effectively, you will be able to adequately assess what you are qualified to write about (again, this is based on your sources). Your outline will help you identify gaps or holes in the subject you are covering and should prompt additional research. It should also help you to determine what to title your article.
Be sure to look at "Featured" Wikipedia articles as well as those written by students in my previous classes (see week 3) as these provide good models of the type of article you want to create.
- Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 6 March 2023 | Wednesday, 8 March 2023 | Friday, 10 March 2023
- Milestones
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 13 March 2023 | Wednesday, 15 March 2023 | Friday, 17 March 2023
- In class - Continue drafting your article
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 20 March 2023 | Wednesday, 22 March 2023 | Friday, 24 March 2023
- Milestones
Week 12
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 27 March 2023 | Wednesday, 29 March 2023 | Friday, 31 March 2023
- Milestones
Exercise
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 13
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 3 April 2023 | Wednesday, 5 April 2023 | Friday, 7 April 2023
- Milestones
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 14
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 10 April 2023 | Wednesday, 12 April 2023 | Friday, 14 April 2023
- Assignment - Final article Due (all edits finalized and complete)
Final Wikipedia Article
All edits must be complete and your article must be moved to a live Wikipedia page. In addition to publishing the article on Wikipedia, you must upload a PDF copy (only your group's contributions) to Learning Suite by 11:59 PM.
The Wikipedia article/page will be graded as follows:
Your article should present a substantial and thoughtful contribution to the Wikipedia community by using a wide range of sources to either introduce new or expand on existing information and knowledge.
Sources (12 minimum) including scholarly books and articles; national, international and community newspapers; films, television, and videos; musical recordings, government, organizational, and community websites and reports. At least half of your sources must come from academic/peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and/or book chapters. The university library system should be the primary mode of accessing your sources.
The article should be 1500 words in length and display a sophisticated understanding of the topic, careful and precise editing, and a clear understanding of Wikipedia standards.
The article represents significant research into the academic literature surrounding the topic and places the topic within a larger socio-historical context. It also evidences a thorough interrogation of existing Wikipedia pages that address the issue.
The article contains at least 3 images (photographs, artwork, graphs, charts, or other related pieces). Note, wikicommons and other wikipedia articles are great sources for images that coincide with Wikipedia's copyright policy.
Things that detract from this excellence and will result in deductions:
· Insufficient attention to the larger historical, cultural, or geographic context
· Focusing on a small aspect of a topic without making important connection to related topics and Wikipedia entries
· Insufficient attention to other related Wikipedia pages
· Lack of organization and structure in your contributions
· Biased language & lack of attention to grammar and style—remember clear, accessible, and impartial language is the goal!
· Insufficient research to support your points
· Over-reliance on poor quality sources
Things that merit extra points:
· An article/page that is well organized into topics and sections with headings and subheadings that flow logically and are easy to follow
· Research that evidences extra effort to track down sources
· Linking to related Wikipedia articles/pages and external websites
- In class - Class Presentations (Mon, Wed, Fri)
Instructions for in class presentation:
Each group will have 7-8 minutes to present their Wikipedia article to the class. Both group members must present (be sure to split your time equally among yourselves, 3-4 min. each). Presentation order will be assigned randomly. We will aim for 4 or 5 group presentations per day.
Be sure to explain the following in your presentation:
- What is your topic, why did you choose it, and how does it relate to our course?
- What specific contributions does your article/page make to Wikipedia (i.e., why does it matter that your page exists on Wikipedia)?
- What did you learn from the process of completing this project?
You will be graded on how well your presentation meets the criteria specified above.
Week 15
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 17 April 2023 | Wednesday, 19 April 2023 | Friday, 21 April 2023
- In class - Class Presentations (Mon and Wed)
Instructions for in class (Zoom) presentation:
Each group will have 7-8 minutes to present their Wikipedia article to the class. You will be permitted to share your screen (so choose which presenter will do this) with the class to show us your LIVE Wikipedia page. Both group members must present (be sure to split your time equally among yourselves, 3-4 min. each). Presentation order will be assigned randomly. We will aim for 4 or 5 group presentations per day.
Be sure to explain the following in your presentation:
- What is your topic, why did you choose it, and how does it relate to our course?
- What specific contributions does your article/page make to Wikipedia (i.e., why does it matter that your page exists on Wikipedia)?
- What did you learn from the process of completing this project?
You will be graded on how well your presentation meets the criteria specified above.
Week 16
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 24 April 2023 | Wednesday, 26 April 2023
- Assignment - Reflective essay
Wikipedia Reflection Paper Instructions
(4-5 double-spaced pages, 12pt. font, 1-inch margins)
Please create a heading for each of the 3 following sections and answer the questions in full sentence and paragraph form.
I. Individual Contributions & Learning Goals (3-4 pages):
Please describe your contribution to Wikipedia in detail. Specifically, explain how your article (specify whether you created a new article/page or made an addition to an existing one) contributes to the collective knowledge of the public via the Wikipedia community. Also, describe how your article relates to one or more of the six themes listed on the course syllabus.
Also discuss the obstacles and challenges you encountered during the project, and how you addressed and overcame them? This is a place to outline the particular efforts you made to research your topic, track down material, engage with other Wikipedia editors, etc.
What insights did you gain about Wikipedia, yourself, and the research process?
II. Collaboration, Self-Assessment (1/2 to 1 page):
Collaborating with others is an important aspect of this project. Please think about and rate your own contributions to collaboration, using a scale of 1-5 where 5 indicates exceptional contributions, and 1 indicates insufficient contributions.
Attendance and participation in group meetings:
Follow-through on tasks:
Contributing to collective ideas on group presentation (be specific):
Contributing to execution of group presentation, this can include preparing PowerPoint, compiling handouts, writing outline, etc.: Rate yourself and detail your contribution:
Additional contributions to others in or out of your group (editing, proofreading, translation, sharing materials, etc):
Contributing to collective ideas on Wikipedia article(s)(If you were the sole author of a page write N/A but mention any edits you might have made to the pages of other students if applicable):
Contributions to research efforts (be specific about any extra efforts in research):
III. Collaboration, Assessing Others (1/2 to 1 page):
Name your project partner/collaborator and rank his/her/their contributions. Assign each fellow student a number 1-5 for each area and explain your reasoning. These are confidential assessments.
Name of Group Member:
Attendance and participation in group meetings:
Follow-through on tasks:
Contributing to collective ideas on group presentation (be specific):
Contributing to collective ideas on Wikipedia article(s) (be specific): (Write N/A if not applicable)
Contributions to research efforts (be specific about any extra efforts in research):
Contributing to execution of group presentation, this can include preparing PowerPoint, compiling handouts, writing outline, etc.: Rate each group member and detail their contribution:
Did you receive any assistance from another class member that you want to recognize?:
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.