Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Lane Community College/WR 121 (Spring 2020)

Here's the project (term long) that students will do in the class. My plan is to assign them a topic and allow them to reject that topic/existing entry and assign themselves one.

Project #3 (Wikipedia): This final research and writing project has the goal of students in the class creating a new Wikipedia article or extend an existing one. To help students with this assignment, your instructor has set up a related Wiki-Edu class online that you will be asked to enroll in. Your successful completion of this assignment will be calculated by the instructor checking off all the following boxes: successful and timely enrollment in the Wiki-Edu class and completion of all required modules and activities contained therein will contribute 75% of your project score while 25% will be determined by the quality of the article you write. My inclination is to use the following rubric (based on one created by Wiki-Edu collaborators) for ascertaining your article’s quality:

• Is the topic notable?

• Have you successfully avoided a conflict of interest?

• Did you write in your own words? Check that your contribution doesn’t contain excessive quotations, or copy any sources, even if you’ve given them credit.

• Is the article—or portion of the article you contributed--clear to a non-expert? Check that you’ve explained acronyms and jargon in simple English the first time you use them.

• Does the article (or your contribution to it) let the reader decide for themselves? Rewrite any persuasive language that aims to sway a reader to a conclusion. Don’t ask the reader to do something. Let the reader make their own conclusions based on the facts.

• Did you proofread your words? Do a basic grammar and spelling check. Make sure your sentences are complete sentences. Remove any first-person (“I/we”) or second-person (“you”) writing.

• Is your formatting consistent with the rest of Wikipedia? Don’t use too many bullet-pointed lists or too many headings in your article.

• Is every claim of yours cited to a reliable source? Good sources include textbooks or academic journals. Don’t cite blog posts.

• Did you make links between your written words and other Wikipedia articles? Link relevant words to other Wikipedia articles the first time they appear. Visit other Wikipedia articles and link them to the article you’ve been working on, too. Stick to words that relate directly to your topic.

• Did you thank people who helped you? Check your User Talk page, and the Talk page of your article. If anyone offered help or feedback, say thanks!

Week 2
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.

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

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 6
Guiding framework

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

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.

Week 7
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 8
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.

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!

Week 9
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.