Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Alaska Anchorage/The Nature of Language (Spring 2017)

A beginning course in the study of language. Introduction to systematic analysis of human language and description of its grammatical structure, distribution, diversity, and historical development.

Week 1
Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia-related assignments for your course. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if there are other pages you should be following as well.

Your course 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.

Week 3
In order to complete the wiki assignments for this course, you need to have an account, have it associated with the course, and understand the basics of reviewing and editing Wikipedia content. This assignment is designed simply to make sure all the basics are in place so that you can complete the later ones.

To receive credit for this assignment, do the following:


 * Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link available on the Blackboard site for the class.
 * Complete the set of online trainings linked to this assignment outline.
 * When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.

Week 6
With this assignment, it’s time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page. To get credit for this assignment, do the following:


 * Optional, but strongly recommended: Complete the “Evaluating Articles and Sources” training (linked below).
 * Choose an article that is in some way directly related to linguistics. You may find it easier to complete this assignment if you look for topics that involve topics we’ve dealt with in class to this point, but that isn’t a requirement.
 * Read through the article, and consider the following questions (though you shouldn’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?
 * Is there anything in the article that is simply false? (You should be prepared to back up such a claim, of course.)
 * Now, the crucial part: Choose at least 2 questions relevant to the article you're evaluating. Leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes (Liudq159 (talk) 00:06, 24 March 2017 (UTC)).

Week 9
This assignment is nearly identical to the preceding wiki assignment. (This is done on purpose—I want you to gain practice in thinking critically about information you’re presented with.) Therefore, once again, you'll evaluate a Wikipedia article and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page. To get credit for this assignment, do the following:


 * Optional, but recommended: Review the “Evaluating Articles and Sources” training (linked below).
 * Choose an article that is in some way directly related to linguistics. Please choose a different article than the one you chose for wiki assignment #2.
 * Read through the article, and consider the following questions (though you shouldn’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?
 * Is there anything in the article that is simply false? (You should be prepared to back up such a claim, of course.)
 * Now, the crucial part: Choose at least 2 questions relevant to the article you're evaluating. Leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes (Liudq159 (talk) 00:06, 24 March 2017 (UTC)).

Week 13
In this assignment, you will use the research you have conducted for the class (in particular, what you’ve done for the research paper) to improve Wikipedia by adding a citation on linguistics-related content to an article. (That is, the article itself need not be focused on linguistics, but your assignment requires you to improve content that deals with linguistics.) It is strongly recommended, but not required, that you review the linked training modules before you actually complete this assignment.

For this assignment, you should feel free to work with one of the articles you critiqued for wiki assignment #2 or #3, or a completely different one.

There are two ways you can earn credit for this assignment; you need only choose one:


 * Add 1–2 sentences to a linguistics-related article (or to linguistics-related content in any article), and cite that statement to a reliable source, using the methods described in the linked training module.
 * The Citation Hunt tool shows unreferenced statements from articles. Use it to find a linguistics-related statement that needs a citation. First, evaluate whether the statement in question is true! (An uncited statement could just be lacking a reference or it could be inaccurate or misleading.) Reliable sources on the subject will help you choose whether to add a citation or correct the statement; if you correct the statement in a way that does not add a citation to the article’s content, add an explanation of your edit on the article’s talk page that references your source as the reason for your change.