Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/College of DuPage/English 1102-047 (Summer)

Week 1
Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for your course. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if there are other pages you should be following as well.

This page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps, or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started on Wikipedia.

Your course has also been assigned a Wikipedia Content Expert. Check your Talk page for notes from them. You can also reach them through the &quot;Get Help&quot; button on this page.

To get started, please review the following handouts:


 * Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
 * Evaluating Wikipedia


 * Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you.
 * It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.
 * Begin looking for an article to evaluate.  Think of five topics that interest you. If  you cannot find a Wikipedia article, type a word (for example, cannabis) into Wikipedia's search box, scroll down and click on &quot;containing...&quot; You'll see different pages that relate to your topic.

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.


 * Create a user (Talk) page.
 * Practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.
 * Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
 * Find an article you would like to evaluate and make sure you show it to me for approval.  Next, assign the article to yourself.

Week 2
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page.


 * Complete the &quot;Evaluating Articles and Sources&quot; training (linked below).
 * Choose an article, and consider some questions (but don't feel limited to these):
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
 * Choose at least 2 questions relevant to the article you're evaluating. Leave your questions on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Jennrichd (talk) 15:32, 12 July 2017 (UTC).

By Monday of week 2 you should know which article you will edit. You can edit the same article you used for your evaluation, or  you can choose a new article.

Now that you're thinking about what makes a &quot;good&quot; Wikipedia article, consider some additional questions.


 * Wikipedians often talk about &quot;content gaps.&quot; What do you think a content gap is, and what are some possible ways to identify them?
 * What are some reasons a content gap might arise? What are some ways to remedy them?
 * Does it matter who writes Wikipedia?
 * What does it mean to be &quot;unbiased&quot; on Wikipedia? How is that different, or similar, to your own definition of &quot;bias&quot;?

Week 3
It's time to choose an article and assign it to yourself.


 * Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
 * Find an article on your own or from the list of &quot;Available Articles&quot; on the Articles tab on this course page. When you find the one you want to work on, click Select to assign it to yourself.
 * In your sandbox, write a few sentences about what you plan to contribute to the selected article.
 * Compile a list of relevant, reliable articles, or other sources.  You will need at least four sources for your annotated bibliography.

Week 4

 * What do you think of Wikipedia's definition of &quot;neutrality&quot;?
 * What are the impacts and limits of Wikipedia as a source of information?
 * On Wikipedia, all material must be attributable to reliable, published sources. What kinds of sources does this exclude? Can you think of any problems that might create?
 * If Wikipedia was written 100 years ago, how might its content (and contributors) be different? What about 100 years from now?

Week 5
Familiarize yourself with editing Wikipedia by adding a citation or making a small change to your article. There are a few ways you can do this:


 * Copyedit the article;
 * Re-write a couple sentences or paragraphs that are confusing or poorly written;
 * Review the citations and references and delete any dead links and find new sources;
 * Add 1-2 sentences to a section needing improvement, and cite that statement to a reliable source, as you learned in the online training.

Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9

Once you've made improvements to your article based on peer review feedback, it's time to move your work to Wikipedia proper - the &quot;mainspace.&quot;

Editing an existing article?


 * NEVER copy and paste your draft of an article over the entire article. Instead, edit small sections at a time.
 * Copy your edits into the article. Make many small edits, saving each time, and leaving an edit summary. Never replace more than one to two sentences without saving!

Creating a new article?


 * Read Editing Wikipedia page 13, and follow those steps to move your article from your Sandbox to Mainspace.
 * You can also review the Sandboxes and Mainspace online training.


 * First, take the &quot;Peer Review&quot; online training.
 * Select three classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the articles that you want to review, and then assign them to yourself in the Review column.
 * Peer review your classmates' drafts. Leave suggestions on on the Talk page of the article, or sandbox, that your fellow student is working on. Other editors may be reviewing your work, so look for their comments! Be sure to acknowledge feedback from other Wikipedians.
 * As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic?


 * Keep working on transforming your article into a complete first draft. Get draft ready for peer-review.
 * If you'd like a Content Expert to review your draft, now is the time! Click the &quot;Get Help&quot; button in your sandbox to request notes.

Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on suggestions and your own critique.


 * Take a look at the comments left by your peers during the review process. Which do you think you should implement? Make any changes necessary.
 * Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Content Expert at any time if you need further help!
 * Read Editing Wikipedia page 12 to see how to create links from your article to others, and from other articles to your own. Try to link to 3–5 articles, and link to your article from 2–3 other articles.


 * 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 Content Expert at any time!