User:Jcammm/Biology 4125: Prokaryotic Diversity

From the Louisiana State University catalog: “Biology of bacteria and archaea; evolution, diversity assessment, systematics, ecology; emphasis on molecular approaches.”

This course is meant to expand the basic knowledge of microbes established in General Microbiology to help students appreciate the myriad forms, capabilities, and lifestyles of organisms in the Domains Bacteria and Archaea. This course will explore their evolutionary relationships on the tree of life, their lifestyle, metabolic, and genomic variations, and introduce methods for measuring microbial diversity.

Your Wikipedia contribution
We will have a presentation by Dr. Becky Carmichael, the LSU Science Coordinator at CxC and Wikipedia expert, on how to correctly build Wikipedia entries, including how to handle stubs vs. novel entries, and propoer use of the “sandbox.” Your entry will also be subjected to a draft-feedback-revision process, with your final product will be graded according to the rubric.

After final revisions, you will be approved to make the page live, and this final product will be presented to the class during the final week of the course. Work on the Wikipedia site, including your sandbox, is subject to strict anti-plagiarism rules. Volunteer editors (“Wikipedians”) routinely patrol all entries to identify malpractice. If at any time you fail to adhere to these rules, you will be disqualified from completing the assignment and receive a zero. For guidance, see this video.

Note: You can add your selected article topic next to your name at the bottom of this page.

Peer review
Both the Wikipedia proposal and the Wikipedia page will undergo a draft-feedback-revision cycle via peer-review. Each person will peer-review two different proposals and two different Wikipedia entry drafts, and thus each proposal and entry draft will receive two reviews. Peer review will be completed by students only, but I will be grading your peer review efforts according to the rubric.

Note: You can add your name as a peer reviewer next to the appropriate student below.

Key dates

 * January 29: teams due
 * February 12: first draft of Wikipedia proposal due
 * February 24: two peer reviews due of Wikipedia proposals
 * March 10: final draft of Wikipedia proposal due
 * April 2: first draft of Wikipedia entry due
 * April 16: two peer reviews due of Wikipedia entry drafts
 * April 23: final draft of Wikipedia entry due

Previous terms

 * Spring 2014 course page

January 15: Wikipedia essentials

 * Overview of the course
 * Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
 * Wikipedia is a community: a brief overview of its rules, expectations, and etiquette
 * Handout: Editing Wikipedia (available in print or online from the Wiki Education Foundation)

January 27: Editing basics with Dr. Becky Carmichael

 * 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 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 on the user talk page of one of your classmates, who should also be enrolled in the table at the bottom of the page.


 * Pair up with your partner for this group assignment.


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

January 29: Exploring the topic area

 * Read through this brochure on evaluating Wikipedia articles, especially pages 4-7. This will give you a good, brief overview of what to look for in other articles, and what other people will look for in your own.


 * Evaluate an existing Wikipedia article related to the class, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's talk page.
 * A few questions to consider (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 biased 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?


 * All students have completed online training.

February 3: Using sources and choosing articles

 * Handouts: Citing sources on Wikipedia and Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia.
 * Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.


 * Research and list 3–5 articles on your Wikipedia user page that you and your partner will consider working on as your main project. Look at the talk page for existing topics for a sense of who else is working on it and what they're doing. Describe your choices to your instructor for feedback.

February 5: Finalizing topics and starting research

 * Select your group's article to create or expand, removing the rest from your user page. Add your article to the class’s course page.


 * Mark your article's talk page with a banner to let other editors know you're working on it. Add this code in the top section of the talk page:


 * 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.

February 10: Drafting Wikipedia proposal
In groups of two, you will prepare proposal for your Wikipedia entry on a specific bacterial or archaeal species for which either no entry currently exists (including Microbewiki), or exists only as a “stub.” Your group will be responsible for scouring the internets using at least Wikipedia AND Google to determine this. Examples of stub entries for prokaryotes can be found by searching “Category:bacteria stubs” or “Category:archaea stubs” in the search box on Wikipedia. The proposal will be peer-reviewed according to your course rubric. Submit a maximum of two text page (single-spaced, 10pt Times New Roman font, all margins 1”) with one additional page for references.

After you receive your reviews, you will be responsible for editing your proposals to address these concerns and turning in final versions according to the schedule. Only the final versions will count towards your grade, and points will be awarded for completing peer review as well. IMPORTANT—if you fail to turn in a first draft, you will be ineligible to participate in peer review and therefore forfeit those points.


 * All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.
 * Groups have selected 2 other groups whose articles they will peer review and copyedit. Add yourself as a "peer reviewer" to the bottom of our course page on Wikipedia. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet.)

February 24: Getting and giving feedback

 * Peer review 2 Wikipedia proposals. Leave suggestions on the sandboxes' talk pages.
 * Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.


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

March 2: Responding to feedback

 * 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.


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

March 5: Building Wikipedia proposal

 * Handouts: "Uploading images" and "Evaluating Wikipedia article quality" (handed out originally earlier in the course)


 * Follow the rubric to fulfill the requirements for your group's Wikipedia proposal.

March 10—April 2: Creating first draft of Wikipedia article

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

April 7: Getting and giving feedback

 * Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages. Don't forget to add yourself as a peer reviewer on the bottom of this page.
 * Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.


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

April 16: Moving articles to the main space

 * Handout: Moving out of your sandbox


 * Move 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 these instructions on how to move your work.


 * Optional: For new articles or qualifying expansions of stubs, compose a one-sentence “hook,” nominate it for “Did you know,” (see detailed instructions) and monitor the nomination for any issues identified by other editors. Wiki Education Foundation staff can provide support for this process.


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

April 21: Continuing to improve articles; adding finishing touches

 * 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.
 * Add final touches to your Wikipedia article. You can find a handy reference guide here.


 * Every student has finished responding to feedback from peers and Wikipedia editors, implementing any constructive suggestions.

April 23: Due date

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