Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University at Albany/International and Comparative Public Management (Spring 2022)

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Course name
International and Comparative Public Management
Institution
University at Albany
Instructor
Erzsebet Fazekas
Wikipedia Expert
Ian (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Political Science
Course dates
2022-01-26 00:00:00 UTC – 2022-05-14 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
18


Do public administrators do the same things all over the world? What can public servants in the United States learn from practitioners in Poland? Why do administrative practices in Korea differ from those in Canada? Are global models implemented differently in different countries? Why are disparities in good governance practices persistent? How have public agencies responded to the COVID-19 pandemic across the world? What does international development tell us about the practice of public management? How do NGOs and multilateral organizations collaborate with governments to deliver public services and tackle international challenges? These are some of the questions comparative public management seeks to answer. Comparative public administration traditionally focused on comparing public bureaucracy—its structure, role, core activities, the recruitment and retention of public employees—across countries, with the United States as one of its ideal models. How this comparative perspective and subject matter have both expanded in the past decades is a key focus of this course. Readings will cover a variety of national and international environments, organizations and policy areas. To reflect the field’s traditional preoccupation with development administration, many readings and cases have a development focus. Most class sessions will include a case analysis that will require active participation.

Wikipedia Assignment

Working in international development or in other internationally focused careers means working in a community of practice where members have unequal access to knowledge. Your job will entail strategically and effectively synthesizing and communicating knowledge to people in an accessible, balanced and inclusive way to fill knowledge gaps. This assignment will prepare you to do that. You will need to identify, expand and update existing Wikipedia articles about course-related concepts, theories, trends, management tools, projects or interventions that need improvement—entries with missing, misleading, incorrect, outdated or biased information. Upon the instructor’s approval, you may write a new article about topics from among the course’s themes and within your research interests. For instance, these Wikipedia articles may be about the public management issues related to specific international humanitarian NGOs or disasters, or comparative assessments of public management tools used across countries to address common policy problems such as obesity, refugee settlement, or concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. All writing projects need to use a comparative lens and be expertly sourced and written. Our class is granted entry to the Wiki Education Program by the nonprofit Wiki Education. You will use their learning platform to complete the assignment. Deadlines and tutorials are on this dashboard. We will discuss the mechanics of the assignment during our first two classes.

Student Assigned Reviewing
Wilktyl Open government One stop shop, Representative bureaucracy
3113N3113N Humanitarian crisis New Public Management, Procurement
Noah Wetz Procurement Bribery, Rural development
RPIRED One stop shop International organization, International non-governmental organization
ElainaM2456 Community management Open government, Reprivatization
Hanfino Representative bureaucracy Public policy, Community management
Ab7155 Bribery Crisis management, Humanitarian crisis
Jameson.dimaio Civilian oversight One stop shop, Representative bureaucracy
Brestaino Public Policy International non-governmental organization, Civilian oversight
RYNOT1206 Crisis management New Public Management, Humanitarian crisis
PeaceProsperityDemocracy International non-governmental organization, Sister cities international Civilian oversight, International organization
Rahebradfar New Public Management Open government, Reprivatization
RedHead102 Rural development Public policy, Community management
Htetnaingoo9 International organization One stop shop, International non-governmental organization, Rural development, Bribery
JEOushak Reprivatization Crisis management, Procurement

Timeline

Week 2

Course meetings
Tuesday, 8 February 2022
In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia assignment

Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline. Each block below has a label: Assignment, Milestone, or In Class. 

Assignments are due by the start of class that week. You can find the deadline (meeting date) under the week's title and in the syllabus. Assignments either require completing training modules that prepare you for the assignment or completing a step of the assignment.

Milestones mark key points in our progress of the assignment. 

In Class refers to a discussion we will have in class about a particular stage of the assignment.

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:

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.)

Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 3

Course meetings
Tuesday, 15 February 2022
Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia
In class - Discussion

Week 4

Course meetings
Tuesday, 22 February 2022
Assignment - Review the rules for health topics
Assignment - Choose possible topics

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

In class - Discussion

Week 5

Course meetings
Tuesday, 1 March 2022
Assignment - Add to an article
Assignment - Finalize your topic and find sources
Assignment - Start drafting your contributions

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area

Political Science

Sociology

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 6

Course meetings
Tuesday, 8 March 2022
Assignment - Reading and Drafting

Everyone should be reading and drafting their articles.

Week 7

Course meetings
Tuesday, 22 March 2022
Assignment - Compiling Bibliography and Finalizing Your Plan

Everyone should be making tangible progress on their article.

 

  1. Post your bibliography on the dashboard's Bibliography section of 5–7 sources (most of which should come from peer-reviewed scholarly journals). Add 1–2 sentences for each source explaining how this work will help you write your contribution. The dashboard will give you the criteria for selecting sources and the template to list and justify your sources.
  2. Sketch the outlines of your contribution in the sandbox. At the minimum, describe where and how in the article you will contribute. An example:

·      I will contribute to the Marketization article by adding a new subsection on marketization strategies to the section Marketization of government branches and I will expand on the subsection Examples by adding examples from countries other than the United States.

Week 8

Course meetings
Tuesday, 29 March 2022
Assignment - First Draft

Have the first draft of your Wiki contribution ready in the sandboxYour first draft does not have to be pretty, concise, or written in perfect English. It should, however, be clear about the contours of the ideas you will contribute. Some alternative strategies:

  • You might write 1–2 sentences summarizing the relevant arguments, definitions, or classifications from each work you will use. Your next step then will be integrating these snippets into more coherent statements.
  • Draft the topic sentence(s) for each (or one) paragraph you plan to write and a few more sentences with details.

When you are done, sign off on Blackboard (e.g., by saying "I completed the Wikipedia bibliography/plan") to signal your completion of this part of the assignment. 

Week 9

Course meetings
Tuesday, 5 April 2022

Week 10

Course meetings
Tuesday, 12 April 2022
Milestones

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

Assignment - Peer review two articles

Guiding framework

Week 11

Course meetings
Tuesday, 19 April 2022
Assignment - Respond to your peer review by April 19

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.

Resources:

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

Week 12

Course meetings
Tuesday, 26 April 2022
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."

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 by April 26

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 13

Assignment - Final article by May 3

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!
Assignment - Reflective essay by May 3
Milestones

Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.