Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Pittsburgh/The Archaeologist Looks at Death (Fall 2020)

This is a 15-week class that will meet once a week via Zoom, as well as use online content.

This class is part of the College of General Studies, which serves non-traditional students and non-majors. It fulfills general social science and cultural requirements.

We will take an archaeological approach to studying the ways that people disposed of their dead, which will tell us an amazing amount about life in the past. We will look at the wide range of burial practices around the world, including the modern &quot;American way of death,&quot; and then concentrate on the physical remains themselves.

The research project for this course will be to create or expand on a Wikipedia article related to mortuary practices in archaeology. This could be an article about bog bodies, Egyptian or Mayan pyramids, skeletons, mummies, Otzi the Iceman, funerals, or other death practices. Students will focus on academic writing, editing, supporting their claims with citations and references, and peer review.

Week 2
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

Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (Because of Wikipedia's technical restraints, you may receive a message that you cannot create an account. To resolve this, please try again off campus or the next day.)

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 4
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

Week 6
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Week 7
Cultural Anthropology

History

Science Communication

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 8
Guiding framework

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

Week 9
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.

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

Week 10
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.

Week 11
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 13
It's the final 2 weeks 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!

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