Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo/Gender, Race, Culture, Science and Technology (Fall 2015)

This course examines the complex relationships between gender, race, culture, science, and technology in historical and contemporary contexts. This examination highlights the role of ethical, social, cultural, political, and economic factors in determining historical and contemporary meanings of scientific and technical practice, as well as knowledge and beliefs about gender, race, class, and sexuality. The course also asks students to engage with reform efforts that seek to create more socially responsible scientific and technical knowledge production and decision-making practices (Fulfills GE F, USCP).

At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, this course functions as: A required course in the Comparative Ethnic Studies major; an elective course in the Ethnic Studies minor; an elective course in the Women's &amp; Gender Studies minor; a required course in the Gender, Race, Culture, Science and Technology Minor; a required course in the Culture, Society &amp; Technology concentration in the Liberal Arts &amp; Engineering Studies major. This course also fulfills the General Education Area F: Technology requirement as well as the United States Cultural Pluralism (USCP) requirement.

Week 2

 * Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
 * Understanding Wikipedia as a community, we'll discuss its expectations and etiquette.

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Handout: Editing Wikipedia


 * 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

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Handouts:, Evaluating Wikipedia

* Discuss the topics students will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them.
Handouts:

Week 3
To be completed by all students


 * 1) Create a Wikipedia User page.
 * 2) * Read the Wikipedia Username Policy before choosing your username.
 * 3) Identify and read at least 2 Wikipedia articles, selecting from the following pairs:
 * 4) * A Wikipedia article about a scientist, engineer, or mathematician from an underrepresented group AND a Wikipedia article about a scientist, engineer, or mathematician from a group that is not from an underrepresented group
 * 5) * A Wikipedia article about an invention, discovery, or other STEM accomplishment that is associated with a person or group of people from an underrepresented group AND an article with #a similar topic that is associated with a person or group of people that is/are not from an underrepresented group
 * 6) * A Wikipedia article about an example of speculative or science fiction written or created by a person or group of people from an underrepresented group AND a Wikipedia article about an example of speculative or science fiction written or created by a person or group of people that is/are not from an underrepresented group
 * 7) * A Wikipedia article about an example of speculative or science fiction that is understood to be feminist, anti-racist, or otherwise challenges oppression AND a Wikipedia article about an example of speculative or science fiction that is not understood to be feminist, anti-racist, or otherwise challenges oppression
 * 8) * A Wikipedia article from the English-language Wikipedia written about any of the above AND a Wikipedia article from a non-English-language Wikipedia about the same or a similar topic
 * 9) In at least 1 page, compare and contrast the 2 articles – from your perspective AND an ES/WGS perspective.
 * 10) * Include at least 2 quotations from course readings. Images/drawings can be included.
 * 11) * Think about length, breadth, contextualization, types and number of sources, images, etc.
 * 12) * Think about how often this pages is viewed and who links to the different Wikipedia pages within Wikipedia
 * 13) ** Tool to determine how many times the page has been viewed - http://stats.grok.se
 * 14) ** Links to the Wikipedia article from inside Wikipedia - use the What Links Here tool on the left hand side of the article.
 * 15) * Include the “Article” or &quot;Read&quot; tab (default tab in Wikipedia) AND the “View History” tab AND the “Talk” tab as part of your analysis
 * 16) Turn in your assignment on PolyLearn
 * 17) * Include links to sources, bibliographic information (without annotations), and your analysis prior to class. Contact the instructor in advance if you will turn in a hard copy of your analysis instead – for example, if your analysis is represented by drawings.

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Handouts:


 * Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.

To be completed by all students. 1. Select two of your classmates' Comparative Analyses to review. 2. Post your comments directly to the PolyLearn Pre-Class Activity forum. As a class, let's make sure that each student receives two reviews.

Week 4

 * Complete the online training for students. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
 * To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to another student on their user talk 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.

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Resources: Online Training for Students


 * Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.

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Handouts: and

Week 5
All students in the Applied ES/WGS Path 2 have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.


 * Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
 * Q&amp;A session with instructor about interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.

Week 6
All students have completed the online training.

Creating a Draft Contribution to Wikipedia as an ES/WGS Scholar (due M 10/20)


 * 1) Choose a Wikipedia Article with which to work. You may choose to:

* Continue to work with at least one of the existing Wikipedia pages you analyzed for the previous assignment.


 * Choose a different existing Wikipedia page to work with that is related to the course.


 * Is a topic or person explored in this course missing from Wikipedia? Choose to create a new Wikipedia page to address this gap.
 * 1) Produce a Draft Wikipedia Contribution as an ES/WGS Scholar. You may choose to:

* Write for your selected Wikipedia page’s “Talk” forum

1. If you choose this option, you should create a minimum 250-word contribution to the “Talk” Forum in which you ask questions and make proposals for changes to the page based on your ES/WGS analysis of the page. If the “Talk” Forum is already active for your page, please read these contributions first so that you can add to the dialogue.

2. In a minimum of an additional 50 words, as a Wikipedian committed to editing from a [Neutral Point](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view) of View, describe why this “Talk” contribution is important AND why you chose to make this contribution.

3. In a minimum of an additional 50 words, from an ES/WGS perspective, describe why this Talk contribution is important AND why you chose to make this contribution.


 * Revise your selected Wikipedia page

1. If you choose this option, you will be re-writing the Wikipedia page as an ES/WGS Scholar

2. Copy the existing Wikipedia into your word processing software

3. Turn on your “review” function or find some other way to track changes to the existing page’s text and audio/visual components

4. Make at least three important changes from an ES/WGS perspective

5. In a minimum of an additional 50 words, as a Wikipedian committed to editing from a Neutral Point of View, describe why each change is important AND why you chose to make each change.

6. In a minimum of an additional 50 words, from an ES/WGS perspective, describe why each change is important AND why you chose to make each change.

7. You are also encouraged to make these draft changes in your sandbox.


 * Create your new Wikipedia page

1. If you choose this option, you will be creating a new Wikipedia page as an ES/WGS Scholar

2. In your word processing or other software, create the content (minimum 150 words) of your new Wikipedia page.

3. Include images, links internal and external to Wikipedia, and sources.

4. In a minimum of an additional 50 words, as a Wikipedian committed to editing from a [Neutral Point of View](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view), describe why this new contribution is important AND why you chose to make this contribution.

5. In a minimum of an additional 50 words, from an ES/WGS perspective, describe why this contribution to Wikipedia is important AND why you chose to make this contribution.

6. You are also encouraged to make these draft additions in your sandbox.
 * 1) Learn more about Wikipedia Debates

* Find, read, and provide a (non-annotated) citation for an article about either

* bias and Wikipedia’s editors (e.g., Wikipedia and women)

* bias and Wikipedia’s content (e.g., what is included, what is not included, why, and with what significance)
 * 1) Discuss Wikipedia and ES/WGS

* In a minimum of 100 additional words, and including at least one quotation from course readings, reflect on why you believe editing and/or analyzing Wikipedia is important or not important from an ES/WGS perspective.
 * 1) Discuss Wikipedia and You

* In a minimum of 100 additional words, reflect on why you believe editing and/or analyzing Wikipedia is important or not important from your perspective. NOTE: There is definitely no right answer for this section.
 * 1) Write a Cover Letter Requesting Peer Review
 * 2) * Some general advice for writing a COVER LETTER for your draft Wikipedia Contribution: *The purpose of writing a cover letter is first for you as the Wikipedia Contributor to evaluate your own work critically. What are you happy about? What are you less happy about? What confuses you about the assignment? Your topic? What do you want to spend more time working on?
 * 3) ** The cover letter is a way for you to direct your reviewer’s attention to those things that you have already identified as strengths and weaknesses. But be prepared, your reviewers may have a different opinion than yours. This doesn’t mean that they are right and you are wrong, but you should take their opinion seriously, especially when there seems to be consensus among the reviewers.
 * 4) Turn in your assignment on PolyLearn

Week 7

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


 * Prior to class on T 11/3, each student must provide and post peer review feedback on PolyLearn for at least two of your classmates’ draft contributions to Wikipedia. Your peer review should be a minimum of 150 words, and should be designed to provide specific technical and conceptual feedback to strengthen the contribution. As appropriate, constructively challenge each other’s assumptions, and note any oversights. Let’s make it work so each contribution gets at least two peer responses!
 * Additional advice for providing constructive criticism:
 * Begin by describing your peer’s Wikipedia contribution in your own words. Restating the contribution will help the writer see if you understood his/her point.
 * Then list the strengths of the contribution. Constructive criticism must include a discussion of the strengths. This will help your colleague to recognize what he/she did well and to build on this.
 * After you have discussed all the strengths, then move on to weaknesses. Limit your discussion of the weaknesses to three (at most) main areas. A laundry list is counterproductive because it does not show your colleague what is most important and where they should begin their revisions. By focusing on what is important, you also demonstrate to your professor that you understand and can rank importance.
 * As best you can, offser concrete suggestions for improvement or questions that might give them some direction. Keep in mind, this is another student’s project not yours, so any suggestions should be focused on their interests, resources, etc.

-- * In addition, on the table at the bottom of this course page, add your username next to the articles you will peer review.

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

Week 8

 * 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.
 * By Th 12/3, you will have completed your Wikipedia contribution and will submit a document providing a link, clearly describing what you contributed, and sharing your reflections. At this point, you will also describe how you responded to the peer reviews your received.
 * Respond to Peer Review
 * In a minimum of 250 words, respond to the peer review letters you have received describing how you took these suggestions and questions into account, and/or why you did not choose to do so.
 * In a minimum of 100 words, describe the additional revisions you have made since 10/27.


 * We'll discuss moving your article out of your sandboxes and into Wikipedia's main space.
 * 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.

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Handout:

Week 9

 * Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.

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Handout:


 * Prior to class on T 11/17, post your Wikipedia Contribution. This will give you ample time to observe any feedback your contribution receives before your final observations and reflection essay is due on Th 12/03.

* Make sure to make edits to your original draft based on peer/instructor feedback prior to posting.

* Move your sandbox articles into main space.

* If you are expanding an existing article, copy your edit into the article. If you are making many small edits, save after each edit before you make the next one. Do NOT paste over the entire existing article, or large sections of the existing article.

* If you are creating a new article, do NOT copy and paste your text, or there will be no record of your work history. Follow the instructions in the &quot;Moving out of your sandbox&quot; handout.

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Handout:

Week 11
Observations &amp; Final Reflections (due Th 12/03)

* In at least 500 words, reflect on your experiences with Wikipedia. Think and write about:

1. your experiences in preparing for and making a Wikipedia Contribution.

2. what happened, if anything, to or in response to your Wikipedia Contribution between its date of posting and now.

3. how making a Wikipedia Contribution has changed or not changed your current/future use and/or engagement with and/or contributions to Wikipedia.

4. your final thoughts on why you believe editing and/or analyzing Wikipedia is important or not important from an ES/WGS perspective.

5. what you have learned from your participation in this Wikipedia project.

*Turn in your assignment on PolyLearn.