Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Georgetown University/WRIT 015-31, Writing for Others (Spring 2023)

This course focuses on the concept of “Writing for Others,” in which student work will be directed towards a public audience and adapted to meet the goals, guidelines, and ethos of a particular discourse community, in this case: English Wikipedia. Students will collaborate with other editors on Wikipedia, contributing to the site’s processes of knowledge production and distribution. Wikipedia is an every-day source of information for people worldwide. On the whole, Wikipedia seeks to democratize knowledge, crowdsourcing content through its many editors and providing free access to its readers. Given that many people use this site, it is also noteworthy that the encyclopedia is impacted by social justice issues present in the larger US society. By studying some of the ethical dimensions of working within English Wikipedia, students will be prepared to intervene to address gaps in Wikipedia and to bring about more knowledge equity on the site.

Week 3
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

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account. 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.)

Week 4
Please complete the trainings listed above. Each one is worth 10 points towards your Wikipedia Project, Phase One grade.

Week 5
Each training is worth 10 points towards the Wikipedia Project, Phase One grade.

Week 6
Please complete this exercise as part of Wikipedia Project, Phase 1. It is worth 30 points. Also, please add a comment to the article's talkpage for an additional 5 points.

Week 7
Please complete these two trainings for class on Feb. 22. Each training is worth 10 points towards your grade for the Wikipedia Project, Phase One. Please note that The Adding Citations training has an embedded tutorial on page 7 that requires you to make edits in a sandbox. To receive full credit for this training, please follow the directions in the tutorial.

Week 8
Art History

Biographies

Books

Cultural Anthropology

Ecology

Environmental Sciences

Films

History

LGBT+ Studies

Linguistics

Political Science

Sociology

Women's Studies

Week 9
Please review this training in class on 13 March 2023.

Week 10
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

These assignments are due by 11:59pm on Sunday, March 19. The training is worth 10 points and the exercise is worth 40 points.

Week 12
Follow the directions in this exercise and then mark it as complete.

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 14
Please use the questions in this exercise for conducting peer review. Please mark the exercise complete when you have finished reviewing the work of your classmates.

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

Successful completion of this training is worth 10 points towards Wikipedia Project, Phase 1 grade.

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

Week 15
You probably have some feedback from other students 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.

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.

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 16
Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!

It's the final week to develop 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!

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