Wikipedia:WikiProject United States Public Policy/Courses/Spring 2011/Energy Economics and Politics, Environmental Economics and Policy (Ken Richards)

Course description
This is a very short description of the course, intended to give Wikipedians and other interested individuals an idea of what your class is about and what the broader context for your assignment is.

Assignment overview
For our group projects in V625 we are going to work in groups to develop articles in the area of domestic environmental policy. Over the course of the semester we will be completing a series of tasks that will allow us to familiarize ourselves with the Wikipedia community and practices, understand the highly developed style of Wikipedia, complete research on a focused topic in environmental policy, and write (or substantially revise) a Wikipedia article..

Assignment timeline
Due January 16:
 * Create a username
 * Post your username (and real name) to the Oncourse wiki
 * Try adding your username to the Wikipedia course page
 * Experiment in the public sandbox to practice editing

Due January 24:
 * Identify three environmental policy articles on Wikipedia and provide a written assessment of their strengths and weakness (no more than 200 words).

January 19-30:
 * Explore help resources
 * Create a sandbox
 * Practice the following six editing skills in your sandbox: add text, add headers & subheaders, create a bulleted list, add a link to a Wikipedia article, add a link to an external page on the internet, format text (bold & italics), create a table
 * “Like” the Wikipedia On Campus Facebook page (optional)
 * Meet with group project members and get acquainted.

Due February 9:
 * Leave a comment on a classmate’s Talk page
 * Request a mentor and report results on
 * Add content to your userpage, including the Public Policy Initiative userbox
 * Identify at least five articles related to your article topic
 * Make a minimum of 20 edits (comments, copyedits, references, etc.) to articles related to your proposed topic
 * Post your article topic beside your username on the Wikipedia course page

February 10-March 4:
 * Begin researching your topic
 * On your article’s Talk page, list a bibliography of sources and proposed changes you’d like to make to the article or concepts you would like to include
 * Add the following code to the top of your article’s talk page to mark it as the subject of your assignment:


 * Ask your mentor for suggestions about the comments on your article’s Talk page
 * Begin editing/writing the article based on your proposed changes and other conversation with Wikipedians

March 5-31:
 * Write a 3 – 4 paragraph summary version of your article (with citations) in your sandbox
 * Ask your mentor for suggestions about the paragraphs in your sandbox
 * Move your article from your sandbox to the main space
 * Add the code (below) to the top of your article’s talk page
 * After your article has been moved, nominate it for “Did You Know” status
 * Continue research on your topic
 * Work on your article with the help of your mentor

April 1-8:
 * Peer review two of your classmates’ articles; professor will assign articles to each member of the class
 * Make changes to your article based on your classmates’ suggestions

April 8-29:
 * Present Wikipedia article during class
 * Complete Wikipedia article due April 29

Students
This is a list of the students in your class (or rather their Wikipedia usernames), along with their Wikipedia articles (which students will select at the appropriate time).