Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Colorado College/Human Impacts on Global Biogeochemical Cycles (Fall 2018)

In this course we will explore the large biogeochemical cycles of our planet, focusing on nitrogen, carbon, and water. By the end of the block (3.5 weeks) students should know how these cycles work (i.e. the chemical, biological, and geological mechanisms that drive them) and how humans have altered them. We will explore this intersection primarily through case studies that rely on multiple methods, using peer reviewed literature and modeling approaches.

Within this course students will write a biography of a woman scientist who works in the field of biogeochemistry and/or examines how society has affected critical global cycles. The list of potential biographies was crowdsourced via Twitter and Facebook discussion boards.

Course meets for 3.5 weeks, over 18 in class meetings.

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

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.

Thinking about sources and plagiarism

Exercise
Evaluate an article

During this evaluation exercise, please look over the very complete and thorough biography of Rachel Carson and then read two of the following biographies of women scientists. Each has their strengths and weaknesses. Compare and constrast what is included (as well as what isn't included). Of the two you chose, which biography do you think is stronger and why?

Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig

Dr. Ruth DeFries

Dr. Monica Turner

Exercise
Choose a topic

Please review the list of scientists on the shared Google Doc - this list was crowd sourced on Twitter and Facebook discussion boards. I have done fairly preliminary searches on all the names and I feel fairly confident they meet the Wikipedia  Notability Guidelines for academics.

Please also review these guidelines this week as they provide an excellent checklist of things to look for when gathering information about the subject of your biography.

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

What's a content gap?

Finalize your topic / Find your sources

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

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Biographies

Books

Chemistry

Ecology

Environmental Sciences

Films

History

Science Communcation

Species

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 3
Your first draft is due on Friday. Have it ready in your Sandbox for peer review.

Review the Guiding Framework here to help you complete your peer review by Wednesday.

Peer Review Guiding framework

Thinking about Wikipedia

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

You probably have some feedback from other students. Consider their suggestions, decide whether it makes your work more accurate and complete, and edit your draft to make those changes. You should implement your peer review notes by Monday.

Resources:


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

Now that you've improved your draft based on others' feedback, it's time to move your work live - to the &quot;mainspace.&quot;

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13

Week 4
Guiding questions

Exercise
Add links to your article

It's the final week to develop your article. 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. Once you're done, r ead  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!

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

To get points here, you'll need to have completed all the trainings, exercises, and modules throughout the assignment.