Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Mercer County Community College/SOC Honors 101-007 Fall 2016 (Fall 2016)

Honors Introduction to Sociology

Week 1
Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for your course. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if there are other pages you should be following as well.

This page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps, or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started on Wikipedia.

Your course has also been assigned a Wikipedia Content Expert. Check your Talk page for notes from them. You can also reach them through the &quot;Get Help&quot; button on this page.

To get started, please review the following handouts:


 * Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
 * Evaluating Wikipedia


 * Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you.
 * Attend your class Library session on campus, where various aspects of the Wikipedia project will be explained to you.
 * It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.
 * When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 2
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You should go and review at least one Wikipedia article on a sociological topic we have discussed in class. When you do this, you should also explore the &quot;talk&quot; page to see how discussion about articles takes place.


 * Complete the &quot;Evaluating Articles and Sources&quot; training (linked below).
 * Choose an article, and consider these questions:
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

Week 3
You will be working in pairs or small groups to inform and edit your Wikipedia stub articles. You will choose topics of interest in class, and your instructor will use these to suggest partner pairings.

Familiarize yourself with the types of sources and citations that are useful for Wikipedia articles:


 * Take a look over the resources and guidelines your instructor has posted for your class on your regular (non-Wikipedia) website.
 * Review the types of sources and evaluation criteria for sources used in Wikipedia articles.

Week 4
It's time to choose an article and assign it to yourself.


 * Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
 * Find an article from the list of &quot;Available Articles&quot; on the Articles tab on this course page. When you find the one you want to work on, click Select to assign it to yourself.
 * In your sandbox, write a few sentences about what you plan to contribute to the selected article.
 * Think back to when you did an article critique. What can you add? Post some of your ideas to the article's talk page.
 * Compile a list of relevant, reliable books, journal articles, or other sources. Post that bibliography to the talk page of the article you'll be working on, and in your sandbox. Make sure to check in on the Talk page to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.

Week 5
You've picked a topic and started finding sources.

This week you'll submit a check-in &quot;mini&quot; assignment. You should let your instructor know what topic &quot;stub&quot; your group decided on last week. You should have already assigned your article to yourself so that you can begin your draft and working with the &quot;sandbox&quot; workspace as you compose your rough draft in the coming week. You should familiarize yourself with the sandbox this week, so that you can start working in it right away.

Be sure that the preliminary sources you choose will be helpful, but also be mindful as you begin to move into composing your drafts that you do not accidentally plagiarize any material from your sources. Any claims, quotes, or direct information taken from a source must include a citation for that source. Keep this in mind!

Everyone submits their mini assignment as check-in and should have also begun writing their article drafts.

Week 6
This week you will submit your draft content. While your draft does not need to be complete in every way, it should be as close to your finished product as you can get in the time given. The more of your additions or edits you have drafted, the more feedback you can get. As you are writing your drafts, keep in mind the following points:


 * What information content are you adding or editing?
 * What sources support any new content you are adding?
 * How will you organize your new content, information, or edits in the article you are adding to or creating?

You should be working in your &quot;sandbox&quot; workspace to see how your work will fit into the current article stub page. You will submit a copy of this in the class website off of Wikipedia so that you can continue freely working in your sandbox space. However, the more you are working in your sandbox, the easier it will be to copy your final work over to the main workspace for the final deadlines.

Week 7
Submit a copy of your rough draft content to the other class website.

Once you've made improvements to your article based on your your own work and feedback you receive this week, it's time to move your work to Wikipedia proper - the &quot;mainspace.&quot;

'''Editing an existing article? '''


 * NEVER copy and paste your draft of an article over the entire article. Instead, edit small sections at a time.
 * Copy your edits into the article. Make many small edits, saving each time, and leaving an edit summary. Never replace more than one to two sentences without saving!

'''Creating a new article? '''


 * Read Editing Wikipedia page 13, and follow those steps to move your article from your Sandbox to Mainspace.
 * You can also review the Sandboxes and Mainspace online training.

Week 8
Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on suggestions and your own critique.


 * Read Editing Wikipedia page 12 to see how to create links from your article to others, and from other articles to your own. Try to link to 3–5 articles, and link to your article from 2–3 other articles.

This week you will submit your final drafts. These will be submitted on Wikipedia, and you'll also save a copy of all of your work into a separate document so that you can submit this in our class website off Wikipedia for grading.


 * Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.

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

Now you're finished! If you want to make polishing edits in preparation for the symposium, this is allowed. Remember, however, your submitted draft document will be what your instructor will grade. This also means that if Wikipedia does not accept your edits, content additions, or other work, it will not have an impact on your final grade (unless it is because you didn't follow instructions).

Congratulations on being done!