Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Truman State University/History of Science II (Spring 2016)

Welcome to HIST 394, the second of a two-semester introductory survey of the history of science in the Western world from the ancient Greeks to the twentieth century. The first semester covers science from ancient Greece to the death of Isaac Newton in 1727, while the second semester covers &quot;modern science,&quot; the period from Newton to the present day.

For the writing enhanced portion of this course, your assignment is to create a new Wikipedia page, or to substantially modify a page or a section of a page. Details are given on the Timline portion of this website, and will be given in class.

Week 1

 * Overview of course project.
 * Wikipedia's guiding philosophy.
 * Understanding the expectations of articles and participation etiquette among Wikipedians.
 * Moving around the landscape of Wikipedia.
 * Examples of good and poor articles.

Handout: [http://wikiedu.org/editingwikipedia Editing Wikipedia ]

Follow the links below to review Wikipedia's philosophy and editing basics.

Week 2

 * Create an account and join this course page.
 * Complete the introductory training modules. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
 * Create a User page.
 * Basics of editing
 * Anatomy of Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how to distinguish between good and bad articles
 * Collaborating and engaging with the Wiki editing community.
 * To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to another student on their user talk page.
 * Reply to another students message on your talk page.
 * Explore topics related to the course (see below) that are in need of improvement to get a feel for what article you would like to work on. As you explore, make a list of articles (add them to your watch list) that seem like good candidates.
 * You should choose the topic/article for your project by February 5.

Handouts: , Evaluating Wikipedia

Wikipedia article rating system Some HOS articles rated Articles in need of expansion. Pages needing attention in history of science (keep to post-1700). Some are better than others.

Some possible pages (also skim the textbooks for other ideas):

Albrecht von Haller (talk | History) Alexander von Humboldt (talk | History) Auguste Laurent (talk | History) Augustin-Jean Fresnel (talk | History) Caloric theory (talk | History) Carl Wilhelm Scheele (talk | History) Charles Frédéric Gerhardt (talk | History) Chemical revolution (talk | History) Claude Louis Berthollet (talk | History) Corpuscular theory of light (talk | History) Eduard Suess (talk | History) Georg Ernst Stahl (talk | History) Goethean science (talk | History) Hans Christian Ørsted (talk | History) Harry Hammond Hess (talk | History) James Dwight Dana (talk | History) Jean-Baptiste Élie de Beaumont (talk | History) Johann Wilhelm Ritter (talk | History) John Dalton (talk | History) John Tuzo Wilson (talk | History) Joseph Black (talk | History) Kosmos (Humboldt) (talk | History) Light (talk | History) Linus Pauling (talk | History) Louis Agassiz (talk | History) Louis Pasteur (talk | History) Marie François Xavier Bichat (talk | History) Martin Heinrich Klaproth (talk | History) Paul Forman (talk | History) Phlogiston theory (talk | History) Pierre-Simon Laplace (talk | History) Richard Owen (talk | History) Romanticism in science (talk | History) Superseded scientific theories (talk | History) Thomas Young (scientist) (talk | History) Vitalism (talk | History) Werner Heisenberg (talk | History) Wilhelm Ostwald (talk | History) Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (talk | History)

All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.

Week 3

 * Be prepared to discuss some of your observations about Wikipedia articles in your topic area that are missing or could use improvement.

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Handouts:

Week 4
Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia. Handouts:  and [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avoiding_plagiarism.pdf Avoiding Plagiarism ]Supplementary training: Sources and Citations

Week 6
Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the course. If you have not completed this yet, do it in class today.

In class today, you should create a short description of your project in your sandbox. Copy in the original article, or portion of your article to the sandbox. Put in at least one citation.


 * Discuss the topics students will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them.

Supplementary training: Sandboxes and Mainspace

You should now begin to compile a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post them to your sandbox and the talk page of the article you are working on. Begin reading the sources. Make sure to check in on the talk page (or watchlist) to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography


 * 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 your sandbox. 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. 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. If you are improving an existing article, draft a new lead section reflecting your proposed changes, and post this along with a brief description of your plans on the article’s talk page. Make sure to check that page often to gather any feedback the community might provide.
 * Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your lead section and fix any major issues.
 * Continue research in preparation for writing the body of the article.

You should have a working bibliography by this week.

Week 7

 * Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
 * Q&amp;A session with instructor about interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.

All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.

Week 8

 * Move your sandbox articles into main space.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 9

 * Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
 * Share experiences and discuss problems.

Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and [http://wikiedu.org/evaluatingwikipedia Evaluating Wikipedia ]

Week 10

 * Expand your article into a complete first draft.


 * As a group, offer suggestions for improving one or two other students' articles, based on your ideas of what makes a solid encyclopedia article.

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Supplementary training: Peer Review

Week 11

 * Select three classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the table at the bottom of this course page, add your username next to the articles you will peer review. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet.)


 * Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.


 * Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
 * Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.

Week 12
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.


 * Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.


 * Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for each article for next week.


 * Return to your classmates' articles you previously reviewed, and provide more suggestions for further improvement. If there is a disagreement, suggest a compromise.
 * 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.


 * Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.

Week 14

 * Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.

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Handout:


 * Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.

Week 15

 * Write a reflective essay (3–5 pages) on your Wikipedia contributions.

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