User:Soossw/SW 697 - Social Work Practice with Community and Social Systems

For this assignment you and a partner will either create or substantially improve a Wikipedia article on a social work practice related topic, invoking concepts learned in class. The importance of this project is two-fold. First, writing this article will sharpen your understanding of your practice skill and will force you to condense large amounts of information into a cogent article. Second, as students enrolled in the #1 School of Social Work you will be instrumental in making social work practices and methods more accessible, globally by creating an easily accessible Wikipedia article that is available to the public.

Week 1 (2015-01-12/13):  Wikipedia introduction

 * Discussion overview of Wikipedia assignment
 * Teams assigned

Week 2 (2015-01-26/27):  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
 * Copyright issues and ethics in Wikipedia
 * Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
 * Handouts: Using Talk Pages handout and Evaluating Wikipedia brochure


 * Create an account and then complete in-class training with ChemLibrarian and Soossw. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia. Slides to review and consult this training later can be found in your course CTools site.


 * 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.
 * 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.


 * Handouts: "Illustrating Wikipedia" (pgs 4-7) and "Evaluating Wikipedia article quality" (handed out originally earlier in the course)
 * Submit a list of three potential article topics.


 * All students have Wikipedia user accounts and will enroll on the course page.

Week 3 (2015-02-02/03):  Exploring the topic area

 * Be prepared to discuss some of your observations about Wikipedia articles your topic area that are missing or could use improvement.
 * Handouts: Choosing an article


 * Review pages 4-7 of the Evaluating Wikipedia brochure. 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.
 * 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 bias 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?


 * Select an article to work on. Add your article to the class’s course page.
 * Instructor will evaluate your article selection and approve or make suggestions by 2015-02-16

Week 4 (2015-02-23/24):  Drafting articles and writing workshop

 * ChemLibrarian, Soossw and Betsy Williams of the School of Social Work Office of Career Services discuss writing basics for Wikipedia during class time.
 * Review and 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.
 * Handouts: Citing sources on Wikipedia and Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia.
 * Explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.
 * Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.
 * As a group, offer suggestions for improving one or two other students' articles, based on your ideas of what makes a solid encyclopedia article.


 * Peer review comments and discussion on talk pages of sandbox article version due 3-9/10


 * All students have started editing articles or drafts in their sandbox.

Week 5 (2015-03-02/03):  Winter Break

 * Work on articles during Winter Break

Week 6 (2015-03-09/10):  Getting and giving feedback

 * As a group, offer suggestions for improving one or two other students' articles, based on your ideas of what makes a solid encyclopedia article.


 * 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.
 * Respond to feedback from peer reviewers on talk pages.
 * Copy-edit the reviewed article.
 * Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 7 (2015-03-15/16):  Moving articles to the main space

 * Share experiences and discuss problems.
 * Handout: Moving out of your sandbox
 * 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.


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