Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Maryland/Approaches to College Composition (Spring 2023)

This graduate course focuses on key pedagogical theories and conversations in the field of writing studies to help graduate instructors to frame and reflect on their work as teachers of writing.

Week 1
Welcome to our Wikipedia editing timeline! If you are here, you've successfully created an account and joined this course page using the enrollment link that I (Dr. Kill) shared with you.

This timeline page will guide you through the work we'll do with Wikipedia this semester. Using the tabs in the menu across the top of this page, you can also get an overview of our collective efforts (Home), find your peers on Wikipedia (Students), view the articles we are editing (Articles), view files we've uploaded to Wikimedia Commons (Uploads), check recent activity (Activity), and find additional Wiki Ed resources and training modules (Resources).

Our class has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. Any time you have a question about Wikipedia, you can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.

We'll use the following guides this semester. Begin to get oriented by reading the opening pages of each:


 * Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
 * Evaluating Wikipedia, pages 1-4

Before we dive into policies and page types, I recommend spending a few minutes listening to Wikipedia. It is really quite a beautiful way to get a sense of how Wikipedia is made.

About: Listen to the sound of Wikipedia's recent changes feed. Bells indicate additions and string plucks indicate subtractions. Pitch changes according to the size of the edit; the larger the edit, the deeper the note. Green circles show edits from unregistered contributors, and purple circles mark edits performed by automated bots. You may see announcements for new users as they join the site, punctuated by a string swell. You can welcome them by clicking the blue banner and adding a note on their talk page.

Get started by working through the training modules above to learn about Wikipedia's core policies and the pages where editors draft, discuss, and keep tabs on articles.

This week everyone should have a Wikipedia account and a sense of the policies and software behind Wikipedia.

Week 2
Now you are ready to get started editing by making some small edits on one or more articles of your choice. Try looking for opportunities to fix punctuation, improve wording, add links to other articles, and so on. Leave an edit summary and publish changes after each small change.

Wondering where to start? You might take a look at WikiProject:Guild of Copy Editors and the open task list at WikiProject: Writing to get ideas about where to start. WikiProjects are spaces where editors interested in a particular topic or task organize their efforts. There is also a list of all articles tagged as needing copy editing.

Aim for at least 10 edits. When you are done, head back to ELMS to post a link to your user contributions page and share one new thing you learned by editing Wikipedia.

Resources:


 * ** Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.

This week everyone has evaluated and contributed to a Wikipedia article.

Week 3
For this exercise, everyone will evaluate Wikipedia's article on Writing. What would it take to get it ready to nominate for good article status? Keep our reading on threshold concepts, the good article criteria, and knowledge equity in mind as you work through the evaluation form.

When you are done, post links to your completed article evaluation in ELMS.

'''NOTE: If the evaluation form autogenerated through the link at the beginning of the exercise module interferes with a previous article evaluation, you'll need to create a new subpage and respond to each set of questions in the module (i.e., no need to copy the form text). Reach out to our Wikipedia expert if you have any questions.'''

Week 4
This week you'll start adding content and citations to Wikipedia entries related to the week's readings. Keep in mind what we've discussed about knowledge equity, the encyclopedia genre, and Wikipedia's good article criteria as you begin to improve and expand articles.

Publish no more than a sentence or two at a time and be sure to leave edit comments. Cite everything.

Use the talk page to coordinate with classmates and other editors working on the same entry.

When you are done, head back to ELMS to post a link to your user contributions page and a brief overview of what you've done.

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

We have all contributed something from our scholarly reading and research to a widely used public knowledge resource.

Week 5
Make incremental changes and be sure to leave edit comments. Cite everything.

Use the talk page to coordinate with classmates and other editors working on the same entry.

When you are done, head back to ELMS to post a link to your user contributions page and a brief overview of what you've done.

Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have questions using the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Week 6
Make incremental changes and be sure to leave edit comments. Cite everything.

Use the talk page to coordinate with classmates and other editors working on the same entry.

When you are done, head back to ELMS to post a link to your user contributions page and a brief overview of what you've done.

Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have questions using the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Week 7
Keep going.

Week 8
Keep going.

Week 9
Keep going.

Week 10
Keep going.

Week 11
Keep going.

Week 12
Keep going.

Week 13
This week we'll wrap up our Wikipedia work. I hope the habit of contributing to Wikipedia will carry forward as part of your study and research practices.