Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Alberta/Language Acquisition (Winter 2016)

This course will help you develop your understanding of how children acquire language. We use that knowledge as a means to develop a more thorough understanding of the human capacity for language. We cover research and theory concerning many different aspects of and approaches to child language. The course will focus on typical development in the infant and toddler years. This course is designated as a writing intensive course and counts toward the Writing Certificate.

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


 * 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
 * Tips on finding the best articles to work on for class assignments

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Handouts:, Evaluating Wikipedia


 * 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.
 * To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to another student on their user talk page.
 * Explore topics related to your topic area to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing?

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


 * 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 2

 * Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.

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Handouts: and

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Supplementary training: Sources and Citations

Review Wikipedia's rules for topics related to medicine, human health, and psychology.


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


 * We will be working on Baby sign language, Gesture (but a development slant), and Babbling. Sign up for the one you will work on on the course page.
 * Compile a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and bring it to class. Begin reading the sources.


 * We will discuss the target structure of the article and assign sections to students.

Supplementary training: Sandboxes and Mainspace

Week 3

 * 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.


 * Post outline of proposed changes and sources to be used on talk page.
 * Begin to make changes in mainspace.


 * We'll discuss making changes to main article space.
 * A general reminder: Don't panic if your contribution disappears, and don't try to force it back in.
 * Check to see if there is an explanation of the edit on the article's talk page. If not, (politely) ask why it was removed.
 * Contact your instructor or Wikipedia Content Expert and let them know.


 * Begin by copy editing your section of 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.
 * Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 4

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

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Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia


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


 * Expand your article into a complete first draft.

Week 5

 * 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


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

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


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


 * 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.

Week 6

 * Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.

Handout: [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Polishing_your_articles.pdf Polishing your article ]


 * Write a reflective essay (2–5 pages) on your Wikipedia contributions.
 * An effective reflection reviews learning experience in depth to reveal significantly changed perspectives, which provide foundation for expanded knowledge, growth, and maturity over time. [AAC&amp;U Value Rubric]

Week 7
Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.