Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Massachusetts Lowell/Sociology of Mass Media (Summer)

Examines ownership and control patterns of electronic and print media and their impact on media content and censorship.

Week 1
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 * Read: Editing Wikipedia
 * Read: Editing  Wikipedia Articles on Sociology[http://wikiedu.org/editingwikipedia

Read:, [http://wikiedu.org/evaluatingwikipedia 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.

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

Week 2

 * Read: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
 * Supplementary training: Sources and Citations
 * Practice citations on Wikipedia, add one (cited) sentence to an article.  Do not rely too heavily on a single source.


 * Your instructor has created a list of potential topics for your main project. Choose the one you will work on.  Each topic can only have one person working on it.
 * Begin compiling 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 3

 * 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.

Week 4
All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.

Week 5

 * Handout: Moving out of your Sandbox
 * Move your sandbox articles into main space.
 * If you are expanding an existing article, copy your edit into 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.
 * If you are creating a new article, do NOT copy and paste your text, or there will be no record of your work history. Follow the instructions in the &quot;Moving out of your sandbox&quot; handout.
 * Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Week 6
Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and [http://wikiedu.org/evaluatingwikipedia 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 7

 * Choose two of your classmates articles and leave substantive suggestions on the article talk pages.  Please ALSO copy-edit the two reviewed articles.
 * Once an article has received two suggestions it is closed out and you must choose another article.  Everyone should get two reviews.
 * Supplementary training: Peer Review

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


 * 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.
 * Do this at your leisure.

Week 8

 * Continue thinking about how your article can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for for your article.
 * 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 9
Put together your Wikipedia portfolio Handout: [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Polishing_your_articles.pdf Polishing your article ]

Week 10
Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia and submit their Wikipedia Portfolio.