Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Minneapolis Community and Technical College/Ecology (Spring 2023)

This course is the final course in our biology and environmental science majors' transfer pathway sequence. The course examines the interactions between living organisms and their physical, chemical, and biological environment. We explore ecological concepts at the level of organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems across the Earth. Topics include population structure and growth, species interactions, energy flow, nutrient cycling, and succession. We also learn about contemporary environmental change, evolutionary ecology, and conservation science. We give hands-on experience in designing experiments, data analysis and interpretation, and communication of results. The course includes four hours of required lab per week with extensive outdoor components including required field trips.

I would like the Wikipedia assignment to be used as a way for students to synthesize knowledge about an aspect of Ecology that will help them develop their own independent research proposal in the second half of the course. In the past I've had students design experiments without having much knowledge about a question so the Wikipedia assignment will allow them to build their own knowledge base for follow-up writing.

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 4
Ecology

Environmental Sciences

Week 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 7
Guiding framework

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

Week 8
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 9
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 10
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 11
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!

Write a paper going beyond your Wikipedia article to advance your own ideas, arguments, and original research about your topic.

Week 13
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.