Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Utah/COMM 7260 (Spring 2019)

WIKIPEDIA ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION:

In this assignment, you will create or edit a Wikipedia article on a concept in science and/or risk communication.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This graduate seminar examines science and risk as central concepts in the communication process. These concepts are intrinsically interdisciplinary. Therefore, the course will rely on literature from a range of disciplines and perspectives, such as communication, psychology, sociology, and political science. Case studies will be drawn from various issues and cultural contexts, including controversial scientific, environmental, technological, or health topics.

There are two main goals for this course. First, it will provide an overview of all aspects of strategic communication in the context of science and risk and examine questions such as: how do people form opinions about risky or controversial scientific topics and make decisions about them? How do mass media cover science and risk, and what impact does coverage have on public perceptions?

The second goal is to stimulate ideas for original research in the fields of science and risk communication. At the end of the semester, each student will be expected to be sufficiently familiar with the field to propose an original study of their own choosing.

Week 1
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.

Exercise
Evaluate an article

Thinking about sources and plagiarism

Exercise
Choose a topic

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

What's a content gap?

Exercise
Add a citation

Copyedit an article

Finalize your topic / Find your sources

Week 5
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

Science Communication

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 6
Guiding framework

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

Week 7
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.

Week 8
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

Nominating your article for Did You Know

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.

Week 10
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 11
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!

Week 12
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.