Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Massachusetts Amherst/N603-Theoretical Comparisons in Nursing Science (Summer 2017)

Students will examine and evaluate the components and functions of theory by exploring the role of different types of theory in a practice discipline.

Week 1
Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project 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.

To get started, please review the following handouts:


 * Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
 * Evaluating Wikipedia


 * Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (To avoid hitting Wikipedia's account creation limits, this is best done outside of class. Only 6 new accounts may be created per day from the same IP address.)
 * It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.
 * When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.

Week 2
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article related to the course and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page.


 * Complete the &quot;Evaluating Articles and Sources&quot; training (linked below).
 * Create a section in your sandbox titled &quot;Article evaluation&quot; where you'll leave notes about your observations and learnings.
 * Choose an article on Wikipedia related to your paper topic to read and evaluate. You can search for keywords related to your subject on en.wikipedia.org.
 * As you read, consider the following questions (but don't feel limited to these):
 * 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?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
 * Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * Optional: Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Iya Ayo (talk) 07:00, 1 July 2017 (UTC).

Week 3
Familiarize yourself with editing Wikipedia by adding a citation to an article.

First, complete the training module below.

Then, use the Citation Hunt tool, which shows unreferenced statements from articles. 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 it or correct the statement.

Week 4
Now that you are familiar with Wikipedia, take the information you gathered to write your paper and improve the quality of a related article.

Before you begin, please take both trainings below.

In week 2 you selected a topic to evaluate that was related to your research paper. Now, you're going to make a small improvement to that article!


 * To start, on the Students tab, assign your chosen topic to yourself.
 * Try to add 2-4 new sentences to your article, and cite those statements to reliable sources, as you learned in the online training.
 * If no appropriate page exists yet, consider starting a draft in your sandbox that includes the outline/summary of what the new page could look like.

Week 5
If you'd like to continue working on this project, please complete both of the following OPTIONAL assignments.

First, think back to when you did your article critique &amp; your &quot;add to an article&quot; project. What more can you add to your topic's coverage on Wikipedia?

Second, compile a list of 3-5 relevant, reliable books, journal articles, or other sources that you can use to support your work. Post that bibliography to the talk page of the article you'll be working on, and in your sandbox. Make sure to check in on the Talk page to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.

In your sandbox, write about what you plan to contribute to your selected article. This should be a paragraph or two of content with citations.


 * Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9

Tips for creating a new article


 * Write an outline of that topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia article's &quot;lead section.&quot; Write it in your sandbox.
 * A &quot;lead&quot; section is not a traditional introduction. It should summarize, very briefly, what the rest of the article will say in detail. The first paragraph should include important, broad facts about the subject. A good example is Ada Lovelace. See Editing Wikipedia page 9 for more ideas.

Once you're ready to move your more substantial draft from your sandbox live remember:

Editing an existing article?


 * NEVER copy and paste your draft of an article over the entire article. Instead, edit small sections at a time.
 * Copy your edits into the article. Make many small edits, saving each time, and leaving an edit summary. Never replace more than one to two sentences without saving!
 * Be sure to copy text from your sandbox while the sandbox page is in 'Edit' or 'Edit source' mode. This ensures that the formatting is transferred correctly.

Creating a new article?


 * Read Editing Wikipedia page 13, and follow those steps to move your article from your Sandbox to Mainspace.
 * You can also review the Sandboxes and Mainspace online training.

Once your draft has been moved live, continue improving the article:


 * Read Editing Wikipedia page 12 to see how to create links from your article to others, and from other articles to your own. Try to link to 3–5 articles, and link to your article from 2–3 other articles.
 * Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.

If you'd like to add an image to your article:


 * Before you start, review the Illustrating Wikipedia handbook, or see Editing Wikipedia pages 10–11.
 * When you've reviewed those pages, take the training linked below.
 * See if there is already an image available to help illustrate the topic you've chosen. When you're ready to start finding images, remember: Never grab images you find through an image search, or those found on Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit, Imgur, or even so-called &quot;Free image&quot; or &quot;free stock photo&quot; websites. Instead, you'll want to find images with clear proof that the creator has given permission to use their work. Many of these images can be found on search.creativecommons.org or commons.wikimedia.org.
 * If you want to upload or add your own image to an article, remember: don't just upload an image to Wikipedia. Instead, upload it to Wikipedia's sister site for images, Wikimedia Commons. For instructions, read through the Illustrating Wikipedia handbook.