User:ScottPKingPhD/History & Systems of Psychology

'''Note: as of 3/3/15, this project is discontinued for the course. Students may continue to revise articles, but it is no longer a graded or required component of the course.'''

The course "History and Systems of Psychology" is a study of the emergence of psychology as a science. It emphasizes both continuity and change as psychology has evolved, and provides an overview of the development of schools of thought, prominent figures, and key theories of psychology.

The Wikipedia Assignment portion of this class asks students to critique and improve an instructor-approved article stub of their choice.

Week 1 (2015-01-12):  Wikipedia essentials, Editing basics

 * Overview of the course
 * Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
 * Handout: Welcome to Wikipedia
 * Handout: Editing Wikipedia (available in print or online from the Wiki Education Foundation)
 * Handouts: Using Talk Pages handout and Evaluating Wikipedia brochure
 * Video resource: Sandbox tutorial


 * 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. (due by start of class Thurs. 1/22)


 * Create a User page, and then click the "enroll" button on the top left of this course page. Enrollment token is Hornets. (due by start of class Tues. 1/20)


 * 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. (due by start of class Thurs. 1/22)


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

Week 2 (2015-01-19):  Exploring the topic area

 * 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
 * List of article stubs to use for our class
 * Handouts: Using Talk Pages handout and Evaluating Wikipedia brochure and bigger cheatsheet


 * 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.
 * Find any article at all, but preferably something you're interested in and know a good amount about, and post some suggested edits to its Talk page. (due by start of class 1/27)
 * A few questions to consider (don't feel limited to these):
 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear biased to one side or an other?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * What's missing that could be added?
 * Check a few citations. Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?

Week 3 (2015-01-26):  Using sources and choosing articles

 * Specifics about editing psychology 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 article stubs on your Wikipedia user page that you 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. Use the list here to find your stubs. (due by start of class 2/3)


 * For next week
 * Instructor evaluates student's article selections, by 2/5.

Week 4 (2015-02-02):  Using sources and beginning to edit

 * Handouts and videos: Referencing handout, Referencing: Wikicode handout, Plagiarism handout, Citing sources tutorial video, RefToolbar citation tool tutorial video

(due by start of class 2/10)
 * Select an article to work on, removing the rest from your user page. Add your article to the class’s course page. (due by start of class 2/10)
 * 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:
 * Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to your article. (due by start of class 2/12) (note: this changed in announcement sent after class 2/12. As long as you add a bibliography and outline to article talk page by 2/19, you can earn these points)


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

Week 5 (2015-02-09):  Moving articles to the main space, more research

 * 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.
 * 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. Include a brief outline of what you want to add to the article. Make sure to check in on the talk page (or watchlist) to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography. (due by start of class 2/19)
 * Your bibliography should contain at least two scholarly secondary sources (see WP:Scholarship for an explanation of what makes a source secondary and why Wikipedia prefers them over primary sources). When you post on the talk page of your article, feel free to introduce yourself and say what you're doing before listing the sources ("I'm editing this article as part of my History & Systems of Psychology course at Shenandoah University, in conjunction with the APS Wikipedia Initiative..."). Be sure to sign your post with four tildes, which shows your username to other users.
 * Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 6 (2015-02-16):  Building articles, Getting and giving feedback

 * 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)
 * Video resource: Sandbox tutorial
 * Handout: Moving into main space


 * As a group, have the students offer suggestions for improving one or two of the students' articles, setting the example for what is expected from a solid encyclopedia article.

Week 7 (2015-02-23):  Continuing to improve articles

 * Discussion of any new issues


 * Continue research in preparation for expanding your article. You should add at least 250 words of new text (correctly written, cited, and formatted) to your target article.
 * Finish first round of revisions to your target article; move into main space if in sandbox (by start of class 3/3)


 * 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.


 * Prepare for an in-class presentation on 3/17 about your Wikipedia editing experience.


 * Every student has finished improving their assigned articles

Week 8 (2015-03-02):  Topic presentations

 * Select one classmate's articles that you will peer review and copyedit. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet.)


 * Peer review one of your classmate's articles. Leave suggestions on classmate's talk pages based on the "Elements of quality articles" and "Signs of bad quality" sections of this brochure: Evaluating Wikipedia article quality brochure. If one element doesn't apply to their article (such as if they didn't work on the Lead section of the article), then you don't need to evaluate that part.
 * Copy-edit the reviewed articles. Make your edits directly to your classmate's article.

Week 9 (2015-03-16):  Final touches

 * On 3/17, students give in-class 5-minute-max informal presentations about their experiences editing Wikipedia.
 * Presentations should include discussion of topic and the evolution of your article.
 * Peer reviews are due by 3/19.


 * Make edits to your article based on peers' feedback. You can find a handy reference guide here.


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