Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/The University of Arizona/Anth 383 - Varieties of English (Spring 2017)

This extra credit project will be worth 2.5% or 25 extra credit points. This would be enough to take you from a B+ to an A- for example. The &quot;timeline&quot; breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of 5 steps, or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started and contribute content on Wikipedia. You can work through these five steps at a pace that is convenient for you throughout the second half of the term. However, you CANNOT complete all 5 steps on the same day. This course page will track the date and time stamps of your training completion and each of your edits on Wikipedia. Try to spread out your work over the course of 2-3 weeks.

Week 1
Welcome to our Wikipedia project timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia extra credit project for our course.

This extra credit project will be worth 2.5% or 25 extra credit points. This would be enough to take you from a B+ to an A- for example.

This page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of 5 steps, or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started and contribute content on Wikipedia. You can work through these five steps at a pace that is convenient for you throughout the second half of the term. However, you CANNOT complete all 5 steps on the same day. This course page will track the date and time stamps of your training completion and each of your edits on Wikipedia. Try to spread out your work over the course of 2-3 weeks.

Our project has also been assigned a Wikipedia Content Expert. Check your Talk page for notes from them. You can also reach them through the &quot;Get Help&quot; button on this page.

To get started, please review the following handouts:


 * Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
 * Evaluating Wikipedia

Week 2

 * Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you.
 * It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 3

 * Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
 * Review the &quot;List of dialects of the English Language&quot; page on Wikipedia.
 * Choose 2-3 potential topics from that list that you can tackle, and post links to them on your Wikipedia user page. For articles that already exist, check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians might be doing.

Week 4
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate your Wikipedia articles, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page.


 * Complete the &quot;Evaluating Articles and Sources&quot; training (linked below).
 * Read through the 2-3 articles you picked.
 * While you read, consider the following questions (but 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?
 * How does the topic and the way Wikipedia writes about the dialect compare to the way we've discussed these issues in class?
 * Create a section in your sandbox and leave your notes and critique there. You can use these notes to fill in your reflection at the end of the assignment.
 * Choose at least 1 questions relevant to each of the articles you're evaluating. Leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Rfilippone13 (talk) 19:03, 18 April 2017 (UTC).

Week 5
Familiarize yourself with editing Wikipedia by making a small change &quot;live&quot; to one of the the articles you selected.

First, head to the Students tab above and assign yourself your chosen article.

Second, take the new trainings linked below.

Third, think about what you learned in the article critique. What one or two small things could you change about the article to make it better? You can use your sandbox to write a few sentences about what you plan to contribute, and draft your contribution. Your contribution can include any of the following:


 * Copyedit the article: identify small ways to improve the language, such as fixing grammatical mistakes or clarifying confusing passages.
 * Re-write a portion that is hard to understand.
 * Update or remove old or dead links from the references section.
 * Add Wikipedia links: Read Editing Wikipedia page 12 to see how to create links from your article to others, and from other articles to your own. Try to link to 1–2 articles, and link to your article from 1–2 other articles.
 * Add 1-2 new sentences and cite that statement to a reliable source, as you learned in the online training.

Fourth, make the change! You can read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 8
Write a reflective essay (1-2 pages) on your Wikipedia contributions.

Consider the following questions as you reflect on your Wikipedia assignment:


 * Critiquing articles: What did you learn about Wikipedia during the article evaluation? How did you approach critiquing the article you selected for this assignment? How did you decide what to add to your chosen article?
 * Summarizing your contributions: include a summary of your edits and why you felt they were a valuable addition to the article. How does your article compare to earlier versions?
 * Feedback: Did you receive feedback from other Wikipedia editors, and if so, how did you respond to and handle that feedback?
 * Wikipedia generally: What did you learn from contributing to Wikipedia? How does a Wikipedia assignment compare to other assignments you've done in the past? How can Wikipedia be used to improve public understanding of our field/your topic? Why is this important?

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