Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Maryland, College Park/Women in Medieval Culture and Society (Fall 2015)

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

Week 2

 * 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

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Handouts:, Evaluating Wikipedia

Week 3

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

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Handouts: and


 * Create an account and then complete the online training for students. 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 on the user talk page of one of your classmates, who should also be enrolled in the table at the bottom of the page.
 * Explore topics related to your topic area to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a mental note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement.

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Resources: Online Training for Students

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

Week 4
Using ELMS, choose a partner to work with on your Wikipedia project. Complete instructions are on ELMS.

Week 5

 * Your instructor has created a list of potential topics for your main project. Choose the one you will work on.
 * Compile a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post it to 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.

Week 6

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

Week 7

 * Share experiences and discuss problems.

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Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia


 * If you are starting a new article, write a 3–4 paragraph summary version of your article—with citations—in your Wikipedia sandbox. If you are improving an existing article, create a detailed outline reflecting your proposed changes, and post this for community feedback, along with a brief description of your plans, on the article’s talk page. Make sure to check back on the talk page often and engage with any responses.
 * Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your short starter article and fix any major issues.
 * Continue research in preparation for expanding your article.

All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.

Week 9

 * Expand your article into a complete first draft. Post the article to your Wikipedia article page.


 * 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.

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Handout:

Week 10

 * 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.)

Week 11

 * Peer review two of your classmates’ articles.
 * Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.

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

Week 12

 * 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.

Week 13

 * 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.


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

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.

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

Week 15

 * Students give in-class presentations about their experiences editing Wikipedia.