Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Spelman College/Honors Composition (2016)

This course explores the relationship between argumentation and humans' ability to make new knowledge in the 21st century. As a learning community, we will organize our activity around a common inquiry: What good is writing, research, and argument, especially in an Information Age? Thus, we will seek to identify some of the ways in which argumentation facilitates precise uses of language that contribute to linguistic innovation that can be utilized for the purposes of emotional, intellectual, and professional growth. This approach requires us to expand our understanding of writing beyond “rules of correctness,” and argument beyond its common representation as a debate between 'two sides' in fierce opposition, seeking to 'win' by converting one another. Specifically, we will examine the role of argument in various casual, professional, and academic communication contexts.

Throughout the course you will reflect on the assumptions, values, and beliefs that influence how you write, research, and argue. Moreover, you will rigorously practice the interdependent processes of writing, research, and argument by connecting these arts to the rhetorical canons—invention, memory, arrangement, style, and delivery--and new media platforms such as digital archives like curated collections, Wikipedia, and social media.

To begin, we will discover our classroom's shared interest in argument by discussing the questions:

“What is a problem?”

&quot;What are some of the most persuasive methods of expressing and resolving problems?&quot;

Week 1

 * Overview of the course
 * Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
 * Understanding Wikipedia as a community, we'll discuss its expectations and etiquette.

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Handout: Editing Wikipedia

Week 2

 * Complete the online training for students. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.

The Octavia Butler Conference will host an edit-a-thon on Saturday, February 27 at 3:30 p.m. in Cosby 330. Your fourth hour justification this week requires you to complete the Wikipedia Essentials and Editing Basics training in advance of the event (e.g. no later than Friday). You are not required to stay at the event the entire 3-4 hours, but you should attend for no less than an hour.

Week 3

 * 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.
 * Evaluate an existing Wikipedia article related to the class, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's talk page.
 * A few questions to consider (don't feel limited to these):
 * 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?

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Resources: Evaluating Wikipedia,

Week 4

 * Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the class.

Week 5

 * Choose one article, identify ways in which you can improve and correct its language and grammar, and make the appropriate changes. (You do not need to alter the article's content.)


 * Identify an article that would benefit from illustration, create or find an appropriate photo, illustration, or audio/video, and add it to the article.
 * 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.
 * To add a media file to an article, you must first upload it to Wikimedia Commons. For instructions on how to upload files to Commons, refer to Illustrating Wikipedia. This brochure will also provide you with detailed information about which files are acceptable to upload to Wikipedia and the value of contributing media to Wikipedia articles.