Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of San Diego/LIBR 103 Information Literacy (Summer 2016)

This course will teach the skills needed to effectively gather information to support educational and research needs in diverse formats. Topics include formulating research questions, the evaluation and presentation of information, ethical uses of information, effective search methods, citation practices, exploration of multiple literacies, and relevant readings and writings with discussions prompted by current social justice issues.

Rather than focus on knowledge acquisition, students identify and engage with significant problems in the world. By developing critical consciousness, students learn to take control of their lives and own learning to become active agents, asking and answering questions that matter to them and the world around them (Freire, 1970, p. 193)

Social justice is an essential component of the cultural, economic, and political factors that affect the information cycle. Students should be prepared to interrogate information sources to determine why they were created, the benefits of their use, and whose voices are represented or excluded, among other questions.

Week 1

 * Overview of the course
 * Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
 * Understanding Wikipedia as a community, we'll discuss its expectations and etiquette.

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Handout: Editing Wikipedia


 * Begin the training modules assigned for your course. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
 * Make sure you are enrolled in this course page!
 * Contact your content expert for help selecting your article.

Week 3

 * Review pages 4-7 of the Evaluating Wikipedia brochure. This will give you a good, brief overview of what to look for in other articles, and what other people will look for in your own.
 * Evaluate an existing Wikipedia article related to the class, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's talk page.
 * A few questions to consider (don't feel limited to these):
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
 * 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?
 * Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

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Resources: Evaluating Wikipedia,

Week 4

 * Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to the Wikipedia article you critiqued last week.
 * Pick 2 of the 3 below trainings and complete.