Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Michigan/Psychology of Social Change (Winter)

This course will focus on two aspects of social change through the lenses of gender and global feminisms. First we will consider how individuals generally, and feminists in particular, are shaped by changing political and economic conditions, especially during times of upheaval and rapid social transformation. We will, of course, also examine how this is different for individuals who are not raised to adulthood in such times. Second, we will examine how and why some individuals become engaged in creating social change (and others do not). For both parts of the course, we will draw on theoretical literature in feminist theory and in social science, and on studies of the impact of social events on individuals and the role of individuals in creating social change. We will also draw upon the Global Feminisms Project, an online archive of oral histories with feminist activists in six countries (Poland, China, India, U.S., Nicaragua and Brazil) as a source of material in thinking about both issues. Finally, we will examine Wikipedia as a resource for understanding women’s activism worldwide, and will participate in improving it with the assistance of digital experts from the UM Library.

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.

This page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps, or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started on Wikipedia.

Your course has also been assigned a Wikipedia 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! These trainings are required for your course.
 * When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate's Talk page.

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 6
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 course to read and evaluate. 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 — Knalyssa (talk) 15:44, 5 March 2018 (UTC).

What's a content gap?

Now that you're thinking about what makes a &quot;good&quot; Wikipedia article, consider some additional questions.


 * Wikipedians often talk about &quot;content gaps.&quot; What do you think a content gap is, and what are some possible ways to identify them?
 * What are some reasons a content gap might arise? What are some ways to remedy them?
 * Does it matter who writes Wikipedia?
 * What does it mean to be &quot;unbiased&quot; on Wikipedia? How is that different, or similar, to your own definition of &quot;bias&quot;?

It's time to choose an article and assign it to yourself.


 * Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
 * Find an article from the list of &quot;Available Articles&quot; on the Articles tab on this course page. When you find the one you want to work on, click Select to assign it to yourself.
 * In your sandbox, write a few sentences about what you plan to contribute to the selected article.
 * Think back to when you did an article critique. What can you add? Post some of your ideas to the article's talk page.
 * Compile a list of relevant, reliable books, journal articles, or other sources. 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.


 * Biographies
 * History
 * Political Science
 * Psychology
 * Sociology
 * Women's Studies

Week 9
Edit-a-thon in class today!

Familiarize yourself with editing Wikipedia by adding a citation to an article. There are two ways you can do this:


 * Add 1-2 sentences to a course-related article, and cite that statement to a reliable source, as you learned in the online training.
 * The Citation Hunt tool 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.

Choose an article. Read through it, thinking about ways to improve the language, such as fixing grammatical mistakes. Then, make the appropriate changes. You don’t need to contribute new information to the article.

You've picked a topic and found your sources. Now it's time to start writing.

'''

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.

'''Improving an existing article?

'''


 * Identify what's missing from the current form of the article. Think back to the skills you learned while critiquing an article. Make notes for improvement in your sandbox.

Week 10

 * First, take the &quot;Peer Review&quot; online training.
 * Select a classmate’s article that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the article that you want to review. Then in the &quot;My Articles&quot; section of the Home tab, assign it to yourself to review.
 * Peer review your classmate's draft. Leave suggestions on the Talk page of the article, or sandbox, that your fellow student is working on. Other editors may be reviewing your work, so look for their comments! Be sure to acknowledge feedback from other Wikipedians.
 * As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic?

You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. It's time to work with that feedback to improve your article!


 * Read Editing Wikipedia pages 12 and 14.
 * Return to your draft or article and think about the suggestions. Decide which ones to start implementing. Reach out to your instructor or your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.

Week 11
Reflection on Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon

For this paper I would like you to reflect on your experience with the Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon, particularly focusing on both what you learned about Wikipedia, and how attempting to contribute it might influence your future writing and research using Wikipedia. Organize your essay to cover these points:

1.     Describe the role Wikipedia has played in your academic activities and your life outside of class. What kind of information do you use it for in different contexts (home vs. classroom)? What kinds of questions is it good at helping you answer? When do you seek out other sources?

2.     Now that you have learned a bit about how articles are created and maintained on Wikipedia, and you’ve done some research using it for this class, describe what you think its strengths and weaknesses are, what kinds of topics might not be covered well, whose voices might not represented, or how larger social and cultural phenomena might influence what you find there.

3.     Writing for Wikipedia is very different from writing many of the papers you have written in the past. Rather than interpreting material on your own, you must write in a neutral style and use only secondary sources. What did you find challenging about this kind of writing experience? What was appealing?

4.     How has the experience of editing and creating content changed your view of Wikipedia; how you might use it differently in the future, both in your academic work and in your life outside of class?

Due 3/23, 5 pm