Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of New Haven/Seminar in Academic Inquiry and Writing (Fall 2020)

The Seminar in Academic Inquiry introduces students to the conventions of academic writing and the habits of critical inquiry they will need in university courses and beyond. Students read and annotate texts on a topic (or topics) selected by the instructor, develop original avenues of inquiry through classroom discussion, and transform their questions into well-supported academic arguments. Assignment sequences incorporate opportunities for research, drafting, revision, editing, and reflection to help students find writing processes that can be replicated in future courses and workplace projects that require only polished work. Because different disciplines and career paths present different scenarios for critical thinking and writing, this course also teaches students how to adapt the conventions of academic inquiry to a variety of contexts.

Between each major writing assignment, students are introduced to Wikipedia by completing trainings through the dashboard and participating in short, in-class activities. The final assignment of the course asks each student to select an article in Wikipedia to improve, emphasising the difference between writing for an encyclopedia and writing an academic argument. We focus specifically on the role of argument in the creation of an encyclopedia article (particularly as it manifests in talk pages).

Week 1
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline. This page guides you through the steps you'll need to complete for your Wikipedia assignment, with links to training modules and your classmates' work spaces.

Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Resources:


 * Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
 * Evaluating Wikipedia

Exercise
Evaluate an article

Finalize your topic / Find your sources

Week 4
Thinking about Wikipedia

Exercise
Add a citation

Week 6
Art History

Biographies

Books

Environmental Sciences

Films

History

LGBT+ Studies

Psychology

Science Communication

Sociology

Women's Studies

Exercise
Choose a topic

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

Thinking about sources and plagiarism

What's a content gap?

Week 12
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

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

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Guiding framework

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

Week 13
You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. Consider their suggestions, decide whether it makes your work more accurate and complete, and edit your draft to make those changes.

Resources:


 * Editing Wikipedia, pages 12 and 14
 * Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.

Exercise
Add links to your article

Now's the time to revisit your text and refine your work. You may do more research and find missing information; rewrite the lead section to represent all major points; reorganize the text to communicate the information better; or add images and other media.

Now that you've improved your draft based on others' feedback, it's time to move your work live - to the &quot;mainspace.&quot;

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13

Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!

Week 14
It's the final week to develop your article.


 * Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
 * Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Wikipedia Expert at any time!

Guiding questions

Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.