Wikipedia:School and university projects/Towson University American Editors Project

Overview
Known as the “Wikipedia Editing Project,” the assignment for this project was for undergraduate students enrolled in Editing (ENGL 416) to expand on twenty American editor stubs in Wikipedia. Chosen stubs contained minimal to barely adequate information, all of which needed several content-level additions or changes as well as copy editing. Graduate students enrolled in a graduate Editing course (PRWR 617) were assigned to serve as project managers. They helped to guide, troubleshoot, and provide editorial “expertise” and support for the undergraduate students. This collaborative effort was organized by User: Mportolano, who served as the editor-in-chief and was the professor for both editing classes.

Goal
The goals for editing each Wiki page in the project were clarity, coherency, consistency, and correctness (the 4 C's). Whether or not a Wiki page is “perfect,” additional information is always welcome and editing is always encouraged on an ongoing basis by any editor/participant.

Development
After a graduate-level editing student selected twenty American editor stubs based on their potential for full articles, the professor assigned one editor stub to each undergraduate. The students were to research and develop their respective American editors’ Wikipedia pages. The students’ responsibilities included basic research, content editing, copy editing, mechanics, language, and exploring and understanding issues regarding permissions and copyright. They were also responsible for knowing about the legitimacy and viability of the references and sources they provided. Additionally, they were expected to provide their peers with constructive criticism. The last month of the project involved the undergraduate students making editorial changes to their teammate’s American editor pages and other pages on Wikipedia, as well as some critical thinking and writing about the phenomenon of collective editing online.

Graduate Student Duties
The graduate students were assigned various tasks to assist the undergraduate students with the development of their projects. The five graduate students each had a team of four undergraduate students to supervise and assist. Each graduate student was assigned one of these specific tasks:
 * Create a practice task list for the undergraduate students that would familiarize them with formatting and allow them to experiment with ideas for a Wikipedia article
 * Create a content editing assignment including research guidelines developed by one of Towson University’s librarians
 * Create an assignment providing copy editing guidelines on usage, grammar, language, mechanics, references, sources, permissions, copyright and other legal aspects of Wiki editing
 * Create an assignment for student follow-up memos that would engage the undergraduates in critical thinking about the project
 * Create a Wikipedia Project Page that describes the project and its development and provides links to the newly edited American editor pages

Group Communication
During the course of three months, both undergraduate and graduate students had the opportunity to explore and experiment with Wikipedia format for both individual and group editing. To familiarize the students with Wikipedia, the professor encouraged them to explore the various avenues of Wiki content and text. Each project participant was required to create/open a Wikipedia account and user talk page. This allowed them to make the necessary editorial changes for their stubs and their peers’ stubs. Each person’s progress could be viewed and tracked. Students could communicate and discuss their progress on group discussion boards and talk pages. Every student was expected to make at least one relevant editorial contribution on their group and/or teammate’s talk page. All students had access to the necessary tools for research and exploration, as well as other information needed for online open content.

Wikipedia Instructional Guidelines and Other Helpful Advice
All students were/are encouraged and advised to adhere to the "Five Pillars," which outlines the fundamental principles of Wikipedia. Some of the handouts that students were given included Resources for Researching American Editor Articles for Wikipedia and Evaluating Information on the Internet.  Other Wikipedia and external links that guided both undergraduate and graduate students were Citing Sources and Google scholar.

Value of Student Contribution
From a global perspective, students can be inspired by the contributions made by other students at colleges and universities around the world when they see the effort and process involved in making and editing online educational pages. Feeling that they have contributed to the “big picture,” they will be more motivated to become part of that trend.

American Editor Articles
The graduate and undergraduate students edited the following American editors' pages.

Adrian Zackheim Albert Schinz Alice Dalgliesh Andrew Fluegelman Annie Nathan Meyer Benjamin Cheever Benjamin Eli Smith Charlotte Fiske Bates David Eugene Smith Ellen Asher Fred Feldkamp Gene Healy Geoffrey Kloske George Nafziger Herman Slater Jim Trelease John F. Carr Lou Aronica Marvin Kaye May Massee Mayo Mohs Sander Hicks Sophia Lyon Fahs Stephen Thompson (producer) William Peterfield Trent

Skills Learned
For the more editorially experienced graduate student and professional, this project served to expand advanced writing and technical skills, as well as introduce editorial organization and management in an open environment online. For the editorial novice, this project provided much needed validation. Not only have students learned about and experimented with editing for open content, they have also gained various indispensible skills that will make them more marketable in the workforce. All students were able to follow a new style guide, engage in polite and professional interaction with other editors, and contribute to the ongoing practice of clarity and correctness in publicly accessible text. For both graduates and undergraduates, this educational experience allowed students to feel that they have contributed to the “big picture.”