User:Rjdejong/Choose an Article

Article Selection
Please list articles that you're considering for your Wikipedia assignment below. Begin to critique these articles and find relevant sources.


 * Article title
 * Service-learning

I choose this article because my portfolio encompasses a service and learning program. I am hoping to use this as an opportunity to share my knowledge in this particular are as well as benefit from the work of others. I also noticed, that in the 'talk' tab the article has bee labeled as 'Start-Class' on the projects quality scale and 'High importance' on the projects importance scale which indicates that this is a good article to read, edit, and revise.


 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? - The opening sentence is good. It is informative and to the point, however it is missing a citation.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? The Lead does not include a brief description of the article's major section. The Lead section summarizes what Service and Learning is well but does not go into any detail as to what the reader can anticipate learning more about in the body text.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?Author Barbara Jacoby is quoted in the Lead text, which might lead readers to believe that she i a much more prominent figure in the research then is mentioned in the text body. Jacoby is only mentioned once and not in a substantial manner and she is not mentioned in the Notable People section. The National Youth council quote is a very similar situation. Mentioned in the lead text but given very little definition or explanation in the article itself.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? It is fairly concise. The lead gives a brief description of Service and Learning and then two quotes that help define it further. But I believe the description can be made even more concise and more can be added regarding history and significance of the topic.

Lead evaluation[edit]
I give it 5 out of 10. There is work to be done here!

Content[edit]

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?

Tone and Balance[edit]

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Sources and References[edit]

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * Are the sources current?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Organization[edit]

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Images and Media[edit]

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Checking the talk page[edit]

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Overall impressions[edit]

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * How can the article be improved?
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Optional activity[edit]

 * Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

with four tildes — ~


 * Link to feedback: