User:DrBuchholz/Mammalogy (BISC 350)

Our Mammalogy course introduces students to the vertebrate class Mammalia, with an emphasis on the following topics: classification/diversity, phylogenetic relations, geographic distribution, life history: diet, habitat, mating system, social system, morphological adaptations, reproduction and survivorship, conservation status/efforts and interactions with humans, and interesting/unique/fun facts.

Students are asked to find an inadequate Wikipedia entry for a mammal species, and take steps to improve the page (more facts/detail, more referencing, error corrections, etc). The primary goal is for the students to learn how to research the peer-reviewed literature for information on biodiversity. The secondary goal is for them to learn how to assess the quality of written information and to strive to improve their own efforts at scientific communication.

Week 1 : Editing basics

 * Basics of editing
 * Anatomy of Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how to distinguish between good and bad articles
 * Tips on finding the best articles to work on for class assignments
 * Handouts: Using Talk Pages handout and Evaluating Wikipedia brochure
 * 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, and then click the "enroll" button on the top left of this course page.
 * To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to any Wikipedians helping your class (such as a Wikipedia Ambassador), and leave a message for a classmate on their user talk page.


 * All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.
 * Add your article to the class’s course page.


 * Handouts: Citing sources on Wikipedia and Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia


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


 * Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
 * Q&A session with instructor and/or Wikipedia Ambassadors about interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.


 * All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.

Week 2 : Moving articles to the main space

 * Handout: Moving out of your sandbox


 * Move sandbox articles into main space.


 * Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 3 : Finishing articles

 * Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
 * Share experiences and discuss problems.
 * Handouts: "Uploading images" and "Evaluating Wikipedia article quality" (handed out originally earlier in the course)


 * Expand your article into an initial draft of a comprehensive treatment of the topic.


 * Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit.


 * Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
 * Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.
 * Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback.


 * All articles have been reviewed by others. All students have reviewed articles by their classmates.
 * Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.