Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Caltech/Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry 2018 (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

 * Each student will select a concept from the course to turn into a short wiki article
 * Topics should be selected based on multiple factors
 * Lack of coverage on wikipedia
 * Usefulness to public or scientific community
 * Relevance to biogeochemical cycles
 * Each article should be around 1000 words, include 1-3 figures, and have at least 3 references from scientific journals
 * Articles should also have a &quot;see also&quot; section and link to other wiki articles throughout the text
 * Grading will be based ⅔ on your article, and ⅓ on your reviews of other articles

Come to class with 1-3 potential topics that you want to write a wiki article on. We will discuss in class the feasibility of each topic and give feedback.

Week 3

 * Begin reading about your subject, collecting papers, starting an outline and bibliography (in your sandbox)
 * Your detailed outline should include headings, bullet point summaries, and ideas for figures

Week 4
Continue your reading and research on potential topic(s). Build your articles with figures and a bibliography.

Week 5

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

First rough drafts of all sections complete in your sandbox.

Week 6

 * receive feedback from ALS/AAP 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.
 * Begin adding links to other wikipedia articles as well as developing a &quot;See also&quot; section

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

These drafts should have figures, links, and references!

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.

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.