Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Allen University/ENG 226 Writing for Digital Media (Spring 2023)

The course will focus on developing or improving Wikipedia pages devoted to African-American writers.

Week 1
Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline. This page guides you through the steps you'll need to complete your Wikipedia assignment, with links to training modules and your classmates' work spaces.

This term, your class is participating in a special initiative (funded by the Broadcom Foundation) to create new Wikipedia biographies of people in technological fields (broadly defined) from historically underrepresented communities. In particular, you will be tasked with choosing an individual who has made notable contributions to a technological field (current or past) in the United States who belongs to one of the following communities: African American, Hispanic/Latinx, or Native American.

Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page. Throughout this project, you will be able to submit different stages of your work to your Wikipedia Expert for review on the Dashboard.

You may choose a subject for the biography from the list provided or you may independently find an individual through your own research. Remember, you will be creating an entirely new entry on Wikipedia, so make sure the person you select does not already have an article.

Your work this term will serve as a critical step forward in making Wikipedia more representative and equitable!

Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the  Get Help  button at the top of this page.

Resources:


 * Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
 * Evaluating Wikipedia

Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (Because of Wikipedia's technical restraints, you may receive a message that you cannot create an account. To resolve this, please try again off campus or the next day.)

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 2
For this exercise, you may wish to choose a biography to better understand how they are written on Wikipedia. Biographies generally follow a standard template. It will be helpful to familiarize yourself with the structure of biographies on Wikipedia before you start on your own page.

Suggested biographies:


 * Mary Jackson
 * Marsha Rhea Williams
 * Jerry C. Elliott
 * Floy Agnes Lee
 * Marcos A. Moreno
 * Anjelica Gonzalez
 * Ellen Ochoa
 * Daniel M. Romero
 * Luis von Ahn

Week 3
You may choose an individual from the list provided or you may wish to identify someone not on the list. As you're considering who to work on, review the following:


 * Does the individual meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines? In order for an article to meet these guidelines, you must identify 3-5 reliable and verifiable sources of information about the subject. This may be your biggest hurdle as you select a figure for this project.
 * Do not rely on sources like blogs, company, or personal websites. You need to find sources that are independent of the person in question.
 * Make sure that the person has some connection to the United States. They need not be American citizens, but they should have studied or worked in the United States for a significant amount of time.
 * Think about the ways in which your person contributed to some type of technological field. You can choose an historical or current figure.
 * Ensure that the person you choose belongs to one of the communities mentioned above: African American, Hispanic/LatinX, or Native American.
 * Remember, you will be writing an entirely new entry. Do not choose someone who already has a page on Wikipedia. Be sure to check to ensure that the person you choose does not yet have a Wikipedia article.
 * Be sure to look at Wikipedia's policies around writing biographies of living people.
 * If you're writing about an academic figure, look at Wikipedia's notability guidelines for establishing the notability of people in academia.

Resources:


 * Editing Wikipedia: Biographies
 * Editing Wikipedia, page 6

Week 4
It's time to start building out your bibliography for your Wikipedia assignment! You've likely already collected a few sources about your person, but now it's time to take a deeper dive. Consider the following as you're finding sources for this project:


 * Are the sources reliable? Do they come from publications that are independent of the person you're writing aboutk such as news articles or academic publications?
 * Sources not to use include: blogs, personal websites, and social media. These are not considered reliable.
 * Remember, you must identify at least 3-5 reliable sources in order to create your new biography.
 * When you're ready, submit your bibliography for review on the My Articles section on your home tab.

Week 5
It's time to start drafting your article! Before you move the article into Wikipedia's main live article space, you'll draft your work in your sandbox as outlined in the training module. Remember, biographies on Wikipedia follow a standard form. Please adhere to this structure as you write your draft.

Be sure to submit your draft for review when you're ready. Do not move the work before a member of the Wiki Education team has reviewed it.

Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have questions using the  Get Help  button at the top of this page.

Resources:


 * Editing Wikipedia Articles: Biographies
 * Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Books

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 6
Guiding framework

Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

Week 7
You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. Consider their suggestions, decide whether it makes your work more accurate and complete, and edit your draft to make those changes.

Resources:


 * Editing Wikipedia, pages 12 and 14
 * Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.

Week 8
Now that your draft has been reviewed, it's time to create your new Wikipedia entry! Follow the instructions on how to create a new article in the training module above to move your biography from your sandbox to Wikipedia's live article space.

Remember, do not move your work until it has been reviewed by someone at Wiki Education.

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13

Week 9
Now's the time to revisit your text and refine your work. You may do more research and find missing information; rewrite the lead section to represent all major points; reorganize the text to communicate the information better; or add images and other media.

Week 10
Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!

Week 11
It's the final week to develop your article.


 * Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
 * Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Wikipedia Expert at any time!

Week 12
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.