Wikipedia:WikiProject AP Biology 2008

Join us at WikiProject AP Biology 2011 .

A high school class in North Carolina - Croatan High School in Newport, North Carolina - will contribute to Wikipedia until May 15, 2009. The collective goal is to write biology related articles and bring them up to featured article status (or, good article status).



Feel free to discuss this project. The lead editor is Jimmy Butler. Please notify me of any concerns; especially if they involve the behavior of my students on Wikipedia. They are young (10th grade high school); yet, enthusiastic. With a little patience, this should be an inspirational experience for all.

Goals / Motivation

 * To improve Wikipedia's coverage of selected articles in Biology, particularly those related to high school level biology.
 * To submit these articles to Wikipedia review processes, such as peer review, good article nominations and featured article candidates.
 * To increase the number of featured articles in this area.

The dreaded “Research Paper” is a standard hurdle for most AP Programs. Rightfully so, being that many college courses require such publications to validate your existence. As a consequence, I have graded literally hundreds of papers with the same enthusiasm as my students proclaimed during their creation.

In the end, they were rewarded for their effort or destroyed for their incompetency; some caught by the highly feared Turnitin.com anti-plagiarism software. The papers themselves merely contributed to our overly bloated landfills.

Hence, my excitement over this new approach to constructing a scientific document. Rather than researching for a paper that is destined to the circular bin, let us contribute to the world-wide data base for others to benefit.

News and Progress
A summary of how far we have come over the semester:


 * Just started (8/26/08)
 * Create Accounts (completed 8/29/08)
 * Create User Page with a bio, images, and a selection of user boxes (completed 9/5/08)
 * Selection of topic (biology theme). All topics must be approved by the instructor. (Completed 9/19/08)
 * Generate List of potential references. Post on the articles talk page with appropriate links. (Completed 9/26/08)
 * Insert one citation into an article using an acceptable template. Any article! (Completed 10/5/08)
 * Actively edit the article - with emphasis on improving citation skills and reference selection. (On-going)
 * Submit article for peer review (Due 11/18/08)
 * Deadline for submission of articles for FA or GA consideration. May,1,2009(In regards to class credit.) This leaves six weeks after the nomination for your entry to be reviewed - issues addressed - then accepted or rejected. Unless you are committed to the process, do not attempt either FA or GA. Articles that do not meet FA or GA standards will be graded by me based on your contributions and my own criteria.

Templates
Please place this template on any article that is being worked on as part of this project. It will help the community identify the work carried out by AP Biology 2008. Simply copy and paste into the article's talk page somewhere near the top.



Place this template on the talk page of articles that are granted the FA star.

Featured Articles

 * Banker Horse - Main page "Today's featured article/January 21, 2016"
 * Macaroni Penguin (Casliber)
 * Osteochondritis dissecans - Main page "Today's featured article/August 18, 2010"
 * Phagocyte - Main page "Today's featured article/August 6, 2009"


 * Featured Article Candidates

Good articles

 * Atlantic blue marlin
 * Endomembrane system
 * North American River Otter
 * Osteitis fibrosa cystica
 * Solar urticaria


 * Good article nominations:
 * Musculoskeletal system

B-class articles

 * Brain ischemia
 * Dwarfism
 * Gastritis

Planning and resources
Some information on planning and resources for the AP Biology 2008 Project.

Stages

 * Start. Get familiar with Wikipedia. Make some trial edits, however minor.  Demystify the process.  Leave behind any sense of intimidation.  As Wikipedia puts it, learn to be bold.  Learn basic editing skllls.


 * Plan. But minor edits alone won't get us much closer towards Feature Article status.  We need to have a sense of what more needs to be done, and an overall plan for the article.  Look at models and guidelines (e.g. guidelines for articles about novels) on how to write good and feature articles.  What sections are required?  What will be the article structure?  What information is needed?


 * Share. We will need to divide up the tasks that we've identified in the planning stage.  Who is going to do what and when?


 * Research. This is vital.  A Wikipedia article is worth nothing unless it comprises verified research, appropriately referenced.  This will entail going to the library, as well as surfing the internet!


 * Assemble and copy-edit. As the referenced research is added to an article, we need to ensure that it does not become baggy and disorganized, though there will be moments when it is obviously in a transitional stage.


 * Informal Review. First, informal reviews among ourselves and consultation with members of the FA-Team.


 * Good article nomination. There is always a backlog of articles to be reviewed, so nominate early.


 * Further Informal Review.


 * Peer Review.


 * Feature article nomination.

There's no precise order for everything. There's always the need for small, incremental change. But over the course of the project we're looking for radical change, in some cases seeking to create a feature article from scratch. So we need also to be methodical.

And it may turn out that not all articles will be submitted to Feature Article Review. But this should still be our goal!

NB see also what Wikipedia has to say about article development.

Whenever you edit, make sure that you are signed in. Also, add four tildes ~ to the end of all comments you make on talk pages. This will let people know who is talking.
 * Talk pages

Style guides
To get past the stumbling blocks of GA and FA, articles will have to conform to the Wikipedia style guides. The three largest barriers are:
 * Layout – this guide describes heading and sub-headings.
 * Lead section – the all important abstract at the head of an article.
 * Manual of Style – the collection of rules.

Secondary style guide are specific to different projects. Articles must conform to these also. Conflict between any of these is inevitable and troublesome; editors simply have to work out conflicts through consensus.
 * Manual of Style (medical articles) - collection of rules for medical articles.
 * Manual of Style (writing about fiction) - collection of rules for fiction.
 * WikiProject Novels/Style guidelines – mostly lay out issues for articles on novels.

You can always ask for help at:
 * The Help Desk

Resources

 * Getting started
 * The perfect article
 * Assessment
 * Article development
 * Peer Review
 * Good article criteria
 * Guide for nominating good articles
 * Good article review cheatsheet
 * Good article nominations
 * Featured article criteria
 * The differences between good and featured articles
 * How to satisfy Criterion 1a
 * Biology stubs (a list of articles that might be worth working on)
 * Biology featured articles

Members

 * / Mentor: Graham Colm / Topic: Phagocyte


 * / Mentor: User:the_ed17 / Topic:Osteochondritis dissecans


 * / Mentor: Karanacs / Topic: Banker Horse


 * / Topic: North American River Otter
 * / Topic: Dwarfism
 * / Mentor: / Topic: Musculoskeletal system
 * / Topic: Atlantic blue marlin
 * / Mentor: Graham Colm / Topic: Gastritis
 * / Topic: Macaroni Penguin
 * / Topic: Solar urticaria
 * / Topic: Brain ischemia
 * / Mentor: Snalwibma / Topic: Osteitis fibrosa cystica
 * / Mentor: Moni3 / Topic Endomembrane system
 * / Mentor: TimVickers / Topic: North American River Otter

Mentors

 * My deepest appreciation to those who are willing to offer the students assistance on this AP Biology project. It is my intent for the students to be responsible for the lion's share of the content as well as the necessary citations. Formatting, writing style, general organization, and grammar are the areas in which guidance would be greatly appreciated. It's a fine line between assistance and enablement!! I personally like the idea creating a list of concerns and allowing the students to address the problems. Admittedly I am shooting from the hip here --- but I'm confident a balance can be achieved that assures this is a learning process for the students and that they will feel a sense of accomplishment when the project ends.
 * I trust that the students will conduct themselves in an appropriate manner and at no time will their behavior be problematic. They do understand that their actions reflect on the class and school and they are being held accountable. Should any concerns arise, please contact me through the email option. I am very excited about the prospect of my students working with the brilliant and dedicated members of the Wikipedia community. This is an incredible learning opportunity for which I am most grateful. Please note, some of them are rather nervous and have considerable self-doubt. In time, they will overcome ... just a little patience! If you have adopted one of my lost souls; I will add your user name next to theirs on this page along with the topic. Cheers! --JimmyButler (talk) 23:47, 10 September 2008 (UTC)