Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Lewis-Clark State College/American National Government (Fall)

The American National Government (POLS 101) course is the introduction to U.S. politics from a political science perspective. In this class students will work in groups to update existing Wikipedia articles related to Idaho politics. Although all the articles are existing articles, most only provide limited information. Each group will research and provide relevant information for these articles.

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

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

Thinking about sources and plagiarism

Week 5
Choose your topic / Find your sources

What's a content gap?

Political Science

Exercise
Add a citation

Week 7
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Week 9
As a group, discuss your plan for completing the bibliography (i.e. list of sources).Do you want to set up a research appointment with the library? Will you virtually collaborate on the bibliography, is so what is the communication plan?

1. Let me know whose sandbox is the main sandbox for your article

2. In the sandbox you will add a list of sources (with the full citation). You should have at least 4-5 sources.

3. Under each source provide a brief description (2-3 sentences minimum) about the information contained in the source.

' The more research you do now the better equipped you will be to start editing, revising, and adding information to your article. '

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 10
As a group, discuss the next steps for your project. What do you need to work on as a group to have a full first draft of your article? Are there additional sources you need? Do you need to start writing new content?

'Continue to work on the draft of your article edits in  your sandbox. '

The following elements must be included in the draft:

1. Lead Section

Introductory sentence : States article topic concisely and accurately in single sentence.

2. Article

Content : At least 1-2 paragraph (minimum 4-5 sentences) of new content must be drafted.

3. References

Citations : Using the sources from bibliography, each group should have at least 3-5 sources. Make sure to review that sources meet the Wikipedia standards.

A reminder for your article draft: do not violate Wikipedia plagiarism and copyright standards in your sandbox.

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

The Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9 can also be helpful as you continue to develop your article draft

Assignment Grading (10 pts possible):

1 pts: The article draft has been added to the correct place (in your Sandbox).

1 pt: The article draft text includes a lead section with a concise and accurate single sentence.

2 pt: The article draft text includes at least one paragraph of new text.

1 pt: The article draft text includes at least 3-5 sources/references.

1 pt: The citations are relevant and appropriate to the statements where they are cited.

1 pt: The article draft text does not violate Wikipedia plagiarism policies.

1 pt: The writing is high quality (contains no spelling and few grammatical mistakes).

2 pts: Assignment is completed by the deadline

Assignment language adopted from Dr. Jennifer Glass (Georgia Tech)

Exercise
Add links to 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.

Week 12
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!

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 13
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!

Week 14
Guiding questions

The final writing assignment for POLS 101 is reflecting on your experience with the class Wikipedia project.

In this informal essay you will assess and write about the following (guiding questions have been provided to help you reflect on each of these items):



 Critiquing existing articles  : What did you learn about Wikipedia when you evaluated the article at the start of the semester? How did you decide what to add to your chosen article?

 Your contributions : Include a summary of working with your group, compiling the bibliography, and including your edits and additions to article. 

 Content : What new content did you learn from this assignment? Here you can also discuss what it was like to start the assignment in class and then have to switch to remote work on the project.

 Wikipedia : What did you learn about contributing to Wikipedia? How can Wikipedia be used to improve public understanding of political science and why is this important?

Guidelines

<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif;">Your essay should be at least 1-2 double-spaced pages (1-inch margin, 12-point font).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif;"> Upload the essay on Canvas  (submission link is located in the Wikipedia project module).

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