Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Penn State Brandywine/Language and Thought (Summer 2016)

This course explores the relationship between language and thought by investigating several controversial, ongoing questions in psychology and linguistics:


 * Does the language we speak influence the way we think?
 * Do we “think” in words?
 * Does someone who speaks more than one language see the world differently?

Week 1

 * 1) Create an account and join this course page.
 * 2) Complete the introductory training modules. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
 * 3) Create a User page.
 * 4) * include basic information about yourself, like your name, major, languages you speak, and what your interests are as they relate to your course (we will use this to help us for project groups and choose topics).
 * 5) * Use formatting (like headers, lists, text formatting, etc.) to enhance your page and make it easier to read.
 * 6) * Include a link, using proper syntax, to your favorite Wikipedia page
 * 7) To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to another student on their user talk page.
 * 8) Explore topics related to our topics to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a mental note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement; some pages to start with:
 * 9) * Linguistic Determinism
 * 10) * Linguistic Relativity
 * 11) * Grammatical Gender
 * 12) * Linguistic relativity and the color naming debate
 * 13) * Multilingualism
 * 14) * Eskimo words for snow (see also Snowclone)
 * 15) * Propaganda &amp; Spin
 * 16) List 3–5 articles on your Wikipedia user page that seem interesting to you as project topics. Look at the talk page for existing topics for a sense of who else is working on it and what they're doing.

Resources:  Editing Wikipedia,


 * All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.
 * Everyone has a user page with content.

Week 2

 * 1) Review pages 4-7 of the Evaluating Wikipedia brochure. This will give you a good, brief overview of what to look for in other articles, and what other people will look for in your own.
 * 2) Evaluate an existing Wikipedia article related to the class (probably one you listed on your page in the last assignment), and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's talk page.
 * 3) * You can choose one of the articles linked in last week's assignment;
 * 4) * Or, start with one of those and follow links until you find another (related) article you want to evaluate;
 * 5) * Or, choose another page you're interested in, as long as you think it's related to the course.
 * 6) * Use &quot;Assign Review&quot; to assign yourself the article in the Students tab, so that I can keep track of what everyone is doing
 * 7) A few questions to consider (don't feel limited to these):
 * 8) * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
 * 9) * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * 10) * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * 11) * Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * 12) * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * 13) * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
 * 14) * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

Resources: Evaluating Wikipedia,


 * Every student will have a group.
 * Preliminary topics will be set for each group.
 * Larger groups will be expected to make a more substantial contribution, such as creating a new article.

Week 3

 * 1) Communicate with your group to make a plan for your contribution:
 * 2) * Will you expand an existing article, or draft a new one?
 * 3) * What information will your section/article need to have?
 * 4) * Who will take responsibility for each section/task?
 * 5) * Larger groups will be expected to make a more substantial contribution, such as creating a new article.
 * 6) * Use &quot;Assign Article&quot; to assign yourself the article in the Students tab, so that I can keep track of what everyone is doing
 * 7) Each group member should contribute to a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on.
 * 8) * The books/sources we are using in class are appropriate here, as are the sources cited in them.
 * 9) * You will probably also need to find additional sources; good places to start are:
 * 10) ** Google Scholar
 * 11) ** PsycINFO
 * 12) Begin reading the sources. Make sure to check in on the talk page (or watchlist) to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.

Resources:, , and


 * Groups have decided which articles to improve/create based on their assignments.
 * Every group has collected sources which will contribute to their articles.

Week 4

 * 1) If you are starting a new article, write an outline of the topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia lead section of 3–4 paragraphs in a sandbox:
 * 2) * Wikipedia articles use &quot;summary style&quot;, in which the lead section provides a balanced summary of the entire body of the article, with the first sentence serving to define the topic and place it in context.
 * 3) * The lead section should summarize, very briefly, each of the main aspects of the topic that will be covered in detail in the rest of the article.
 * 4) If you are improving an existing article, draft a new section reflecting your proposed changes/additions:
 * 5) * post this along with a brief description of your plans on the article’s talk page.
 * 6) * Make sure to check that page often to gather any feedback the community might provide.
 * 7) Work with classmates and other editors to polish your lead section and fix any major issues.
 * 8) Continue research in preparation for writing the body of the article.

Resources:  Editing Wikipedia,

Week 5

 * 1) Offer suggestions for improving two (or more) other groups' articles on their Talk pages, based on your ideas of what makes a solid encyclopedia article.
 * 2) * If the group you're reviewing is expanding an existing article, try to concentrate on the portions they are working on, as opposed to older sections (you can see who is working on what at the &quot;Students&quot; and &quot;Activity&quot; tabs).
 * 3) * Consider using Inline Cleanup Tags to provide detailed markup within the article.
 * 4) * Use &quot;Assign Review&quot; to assign yourself the article in the Students tab, so that I can keep track of what everyone is doing
 * 5) Some aspects to consider:
 * 6) * Are all of the contributions relevant to the article topic?
 * 7) ** For new articles, does each part relate to the overall topic?
 * 8) ** For sections added to existing articles, do they fit well within the existing article, or would they be better moved to their own article?
 * 9) * Are the contributions appropriately cited?
 * 10) * Are the contributions neutral?

Resources: Evaluating Wikipedia


 * Every student has finished reviewed articles
 * Every article has been reviewed.

Week 6

 * 1) Continue to research and write your own project this week, in consultation with your group.
 * 2) Expand your article/section into a comprehensive draft by adding new information, sources, or sections according to your classmates' suggestions and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.
 * 3) Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback.
 * 4) * Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on your classmates' suggestions and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.
 * 5) * If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.


 * 1) Move your sandbox articles into main space.
 * 2) * If you are expanding an existing article, copy your edit into the article. If you are making many small edits, save after each edit before you make the next one. Do NOT paste over the entire existing article, or large sections of the existing article.
 * 3) * If you are creating a new article, do NOT copy and paste your text, or there will be no record of your work history. Follow the instructions in the &quot;Moving out of your sandbox&quot; handout.
 * 4) * A general reminder: Don't panic if your contribution disappears, and don't try to force it back in.
 * 5) ** Check to see if there is an explanation of the edit on the article's talk page. If not, (politely) ask why it was removed.
 * 6) ** Contact your instructor or Wikipedia Content Expert and let them know.
 * 7) Add final touches to your Wikipedia article, including proofreading.

Resources: ,


 * 1) Only some topics will require illustrations or images.
 * 2) if yours would, please consider assigning a group member to add an illustration.
 * 3) * All media uploaded to Wikipedia must fall under a &quot;free license,&quot; which means they can be used or shared by anyone. Examples of media you can use are photos that you take yourself, images and text in the public domain, and works created by someone else who has given permission for their work to be used by others. For more information about which types of media can be uploaded to Wikipedia, see Commons:Help desk.

Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia


 * Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.