Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University/Technical and Professional Editing (Fall 2020)

This is an applied course meant to prepare students to function as an editor in technical and professional venues. It will focus on three related skill-sets: developing a careful eye for detail and precision while working with written and visual documents; practicing commenting and marking writing in a way that is clear and useful; and developing the ability to work in multiple, unfamiliar, and often difficult genres and media. It will practice the leadership and cooperation required for editorship as well as experience the challenges of working with technical subjects.

The Wikipedia-related assignment will be to find an article that needs improvement on Wikipedia and update it (i.e. the research and write content assignment the module stipulates). Students will work on this assignment in teams. I am basing my version of this assignment on Dr. Josh DiCaglio's, and he will be providing guidance for me on the Wikipedia project.

Week 4
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.)

Begin a blog about your experiences. You can use discussion questions to frame your entries, or reflect on the research and writing process. Create at least one blog entry each week during the Wikipedia assignment.

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 6
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

Week 7
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Science Communication

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 8
Guiding framework

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

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

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 10
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.