Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Utah State University/Forest Vegetation Disturbance Ecology and Management (Fall 2022)

Disturbances such as wildfire, insect outbreaks, wind, landslides, and drought are important processes that shape ecosystems in both subtle and dramatic ways. This course covers key disturbances that impact the western U.S. and ecosystems worldwide. Course topics will include disturbance mechanisms, immediate and lagged effects on ecosystems, variability in disturbance regimes over time and space, and vegetation responses and succession. The course will also cover management actions designed to build resilience to disturbance, respond to disturbance, and mimic disturbance.

A Wikipedia assignment would complement this course very well; it looks like there are plenty of low-quality, high-priority articles in WikiProject Beetles, WikiProject Insects and WikiProject Wildfires, for example.

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.)

Begin a blog about your experiences. You can use discussion questions to frame your entries, or reflect on the research and writing process. Create at least one blog entry each week during the Wikipedia assignment.

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 4
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

Week 6
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

Ecology

Environmental Sciences

Species

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 7
Guiding framework

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

Week 8
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 9
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 12
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 13
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.