Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Methodist University/Media and Mis-Disinformation (Spring 2023)

In our contemporary moment, false information circulates online at unprecedented speed and scale. The sheer volume of inaccurate, misleading, and even outright manipulative information can feel overwhelming, but we have tools at our disposal to confront it. This course will train you to analyze and address mis/disinformation in a variety of contexts. We will study various forms of mis/disinformation, from both past and present, and consider how low-quality information breeds social mistrust, worsens public health outcomes, and disrupts political processes, among other social ills. Rhetoric—the study of persuasion—will be our primary analytical lens, but the course readings will be interdisciplinary, drawing from a variety of fields in the humanities and social sciences. By the end of COM 4850, you will understand how and why false information spreads and possess the tools to resist it.

You will complete a Wikipedia editing assignment as a concrete way to confront mis/disinfo in the world. You will start by selecting a Wikipedia topic/page to edit; this can be any topic you care about, not necessarily something directly related to mis/disinfo. (Indeed, Wikipedia advises that you don't pick anything controversial!) You will conduct research, add your contribution, and peer review each other's work. By the end of this assignment, you will have gone through the full process of producing and editing high-quality, open-access information on Wikipedia.

Week 7
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.)

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.

Week 8
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

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 9
Use the allocated time in class on Wednesday (3/15) to get caught up on any of the previous weeks' tasks that you haven't completed yet. Your goal is to have your Wikipedia work (edits to your article, new sources added, etc.) ready for peer review in class next Wednesday (3/22).

Week 10
Guiding framework

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.

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

Week 11
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

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 12
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.