Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Caltech/Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry (Spring)

Graduate-level class on the principles and applications of stable isotopes used to understand a range of problems in earth, environmental, and biological sciences.

Week 1

 * Overview of the course
 * 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


 * Create an account and join this course page.
 * Complete the introductory training modules. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
 * Create a User page.
 * To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself on the user talk page of one of your classmates, who should also be enrolled in the table at the bottom of the 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.

All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.

Week 2

 * We will work collaboratively on a single Wikipedia article titled Hydrogen Isotope Biogeochemistry. Our goal is to summarize the broad overview of this field, including fundamentals and basic concepts, analytical techniques, and applications.
 * Each student will lead the writeup of 1 or more sections, depending on length. You will provide detailed reviews of 2 other sections.
 * Grading will be based ⅔ on your section, and ⅓ on your reviews of other sections.


 * Our first task is to prepare a broad outline of what subtopics we want to cover in this article, and how to structure them. I have made a crude start (see class notes), we need to discuss and iterate on this outline.
 * Search Wikipedia for articles related to stable isotope biogeochemistry in general. Keep a list, with ones you like and ones you don't like.
 * Due in class: draft outline of complete Wikipedia article; headings only, no text, emphasis is on which topics to cover and how to order them.
 * Be prepared to discuss your observations and outline during class, so that we can reach a consensus outline for Hydrogen Isotope Biogeochemistry
 * Think about which topic(s) you would be interested in writing about.

Week 3

 * Divide sections of our article among students
 * Begin reading about your subject, collecting papers, starting an outline and bibliography (in your sandbox)

Complete a brief outline of your section (in sandbox) for review by ALS

Week 4
Continue your reading and research on assigned topic(s).

Week 5

 * Completed first draft and bibliography due in sandbox for review.


 * Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
 * Share experiences and discuss problems.

Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and [http://wikiedu.org/evaluatingwikipedia Evaluating Wikipedia ]

First rough drafts of all sections complete in your sandbox.

Week 6

 * receive feedback from ALS on first draft
 * continue reading and research, expanding sections
 * add multimedia content
 * migrate article to MainSpace


 * 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.
 * Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 7
Revised and completed topical section(s) due on MainPage (live!)

Working sections of our article have been moved to the MainPage and are visible by the Universe!

Week 8

 * Peer review two of your classmates’ articles (assignments will be made in class). Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
 * Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.


 * Class discussion about how well sections are integrated, what might have fallen into the cracks or be duplicative.

Week 9

 * 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.

Week 10

 * Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.
 * Address any outstanding integration issues

Handout: [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Polishing_your_articles.pdf Polishing your article ]

Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.