Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Alaska Southeast/Introduction to American Government (Fall 2015)

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Course name
Introduction to American Government
Institution
University of Alaska Southeast
Instructor
Glenn Wright
Wikipedia Expert
Ian (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Government
Course dates
2015-08-31 00:00:00 UTC – 2015-12-11 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
25


Survey of American government, political processes, and contemporary issues, focusing on national institutions. Distributions and uses of power and the role of political values and beliefs. The Constitution and feder- alism; interest groups, parties, and elections; Congress, the Executive and the courts.

Student Assigned Reviewing
GlennDanielWright
Glenn d wright
Alaska.lulu
Izpowers Cathy muã±oz
Darion Enbusk
Elemente23
Kristin137
Dannilynnee
JasmihnMariah
Omarlee2
Zuelowc
Jessestringer
Milksr
CheyenneGirmscheid
AKWildcat John Coghill
Lulup907
Nredenshaw2 Dan Sullivan (U.S. politician)
Kctilley
Sorchauas Ernest Gruening
W0lflena Anti-Masonic Party Anti-Masonic Party
Mygalindo
Brandonjohnson784
Krysta.tilley
BMcRae005
Caitlyntab

Timeline

Week 1

Course meetings
Monday, 31 August 2015   |   Wednesday, 2 September 2015
In class - Wikipedia essentials
  • Overview of the course
  • Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
  • Understanding Wikipedia as a community, we'll discuss its expectations and etiquette.



Handout: Editing Wikipedia

Week 2

Course meetings
Wednesday, 9 September 2015
In class - Editing basics
  • Basics of editing
  • Anatomy of Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how to distinguish between good and bad articles
  • Collaborating and engaging with the Wiki editing community
  • Tips on finding the best articles to work on for class assignments



Handouts: Using Talk Pages, Evaluating Wikipedia


Assignment - Practicing the basics
  • Create an account and then complete the online training for students. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
  • Create a User page.
  • To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to another student on their user talk page.
  • Explore topics related to your topic area to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a mental note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement.



Resources: Online Training for Students

Milestones

All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.

Week 3

Course meetings
Monday, 14 September 2015   |   Wednesday, 16 September 2015
In class - Exploring the topic area
  • Be prepared to discuss some of your observations about Wikipedia articles in your topic area that are missing or could use improvement.



Handouts: Choosing an article

Week 4

Course meetings
Monday, 21 September 2015   |   Wednesday, 23 September 2015
In class - Using sources
  • Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.



Handouts: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism


Assignment - Add to an article
  • Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the class.


Assignment - Choosing your article
  • Your instructor has created a list of potential topics for your main project. Choose the one you will work on.
  • Compile a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on. Begin reading the sources. Make sure to check in on the talk page (or watchlist) to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.

Week 5

Course meetings
Monday, 28 September 2015   |   Wednesday, 30 September 2015
In class - Discuss the article topics
  • Discuss the topics students will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them.


Assignment - Drafting starter articles
  • If you are starting a new article, write a 3–4 paragraph summary version of your article—with citations—in your Wikipedia sandbox. If you are improving an existing article, create a detailed outline reflecting your proposed changes, and post this for community feedback, along with a brief description of your plans, on the article’s talk page. Make sure to check back on the talk page often and engage with any responses.
  • Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your short starter article and fix any major issues.
  • Continue research in preparation for expanding your article.

Week 6

Course meetings
Monday, 5 October 2015   |   Wednesday, 7 October 2015
In class - Wikipedia culture and etiquette
  • Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
  • Q&A session with instructor about interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.
Milestones

All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.

Week 7

Course meetings
Monday, 12 October 2015   |   Wednesday, 14 October 2015
In class - Moving articles to mainspace
  • We'll discuss moving your article out of your sandboxes and into Wikipedia's main space.
  • A general reminder: Don't panic if your contribution disappears, and don't try to force it back in.
    • Check to see if there is an explanation of the edit on the article's talk page. If not, (politely) ask why it was removed.
    • Contact your instructor or Wikipedia Content Expert and let them know.



Handout: Moving out of your Sandbox


Assignment - Moving articles to mainspace
  • Move your sandbox articles into main space.
    • If you are expanding an existing article, copy your edit into the article. If you are making many small edits, save after each edit before you make the next one. Do NOT paste over the entire existing article, or large sections of the existing article.
    • If you are creating a new article, do NOT copy and paste your text, or there will be no record of your work history. Follow the instructions in the "Moving out of your sandbox" handout.
  • Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 8

Course meetings
Monday, 19 October 2015   |   Wednesday, 21 October 2015
In class - Building articles
  • Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
  • Share experiences and discuss problems.



Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia


Assignment - Choose articles to peer review
  • Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the table at the bottom of this course page, add your username next to the articles you will peer review. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet.)

Week 9

Course meetings
Monday, 26 October 2015   |   Wednesday, 28 October 2015
Assignment - Complete first draft
  • Expand your article into a complete first draft.

Week 10

Course meetings
Monday, 2 November 2015   |   Wednesday, 4 November 2015
In class - Group suggestions
  • As a group, offer suggestions for improving one or two other students' articles, based on your ideas of what makes a solid encyclopedia article.


Assignment - Peer review and copyedit
  • Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
  • Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.
Milestones

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

Week 11

Course meetings
Monday, 9 November 2015   |   Wednesday, 11 November 2015
In class - Media literacy discussion
  • Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.


Assignment - Address peer review suggestions
  • Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.

Week 12

Course meetings
Monday, 16 November 2015   |   Wednesday, 18 November 2015
In class - Discuss further article improvements
  • Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for each article for next week.


Assignment - Continue improving articles
  • Return to your classmates' articles you previously reviewed, and provide more suggestions for further improvement. If there is a disagreement, suggest a compromise.
  • Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on your classmates' suggestions and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.

Week 13

Course meetings
Monday, 23 November 2015   |   Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Assignment - Final article
  • Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.



Handout: Polishing your article

Week 14

Course meetings
Monday, 30 November 2015   |   Wednesday, 2 December 2015
Milestones

Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.