Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Columbia University/Political Science Independent Study (Fall 2018)

Students will complete an independent study project where they select a topic related to their research and interests to update on Wikipedia.

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.

Exercise
Evaluate an article

Exercise
Choose a topic

Finalize your topic / Find your sources

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

Exercise
Add a citation to your article

Copyedit your article

Week 5
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

Films

Political Science

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Request review
Before Thanksgiving break, you should have a complete first draft in your Sandbox of what you plan to contribute to Wikipedia. Please send an email to Professor Snyder with a link to your Sandbox asking for notes/review. You should also request a review from your Wikipedia Expert using the Get Help button here or the Help button in your Sandbox.

Week 7
You probably have some feedback from your instructor and possibly other Wikipedians. Consider their suggestions, decide whether it makes your work more accurate and complete, and edit your draft to make those changes.

Resources:


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

Week 8
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 9
It's the final week to develop your article. Now's the time to 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.

Exercise
Add links to your article


 * 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 Wikipedia Expert at any time!

Guiding questions

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