Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Wiki Ed-APS/Summer Seminar in Psychology (2015)

In this seminar you will learn how to contribute high quality material to Wikipedia in your field of expertise. We will focus on the special requirements for editing articles in the field of psychology, and you will either create or expand an article in your area of study. You will learn how to engage with the Wikipedia editing community as well as have the chance to interact with fellow participants.

Week 1
Consider the following before our first meeting:


 * Understanding Wikipedia as a community, its expectations and etiquette.
 * Basics of editing
 * Special considerations for editing articles in the field of psychology.
 * Anatomy of Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how to distinguish between good and bad articles
 * Collaborating and engaging with the Wiki editing community
 * how to find the best articles to work on for class assignments

Resources: Online Training for Students

Be sure to complete the following before our first session: * Create an account and then complete the online training for students. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia. * Create a User page. * To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself on the user talk page of one of your classmates, who should also be enrolled in the table at the bottom of the page. * Explore topics related to your topic area to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a mental note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement. * Be prepared to discuss some of your observations about Wikipedia articles in your topic area that are missing or could use improvement. * Research and list 3–5 articles on your Wikipedia user page that you will consider working on as your main project. Look at the talk page for existing topics for a sense of who else is working on it and what they're doing. Describe your choices to your instructor for feedback. * Carefully read the brochure.

All participants have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page. All participants have completed the online training and begun to narrow down the articles they'd like to work on.

Week 2
 Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia. Discuss the topics participants will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them. == Discuss the sourcing requirements for psychology/medical articles - WP:MEDRS. ==

Handouts: and 


 * Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the class.
 * Select an article to work on, removing the rest from your user page. Add your topic on the course page.
 * Compile a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on. Begin reading the sources. Make sure to check in on the talk page (or watchlist) to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.

All participants have chosen an article to either create or expand.

Week 3

 * Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
 * Q&amp;A session with instructor and content expert about interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.
 * Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.

Handout: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia


 * If you are starting a new article, write an outline of the topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia lead section of 3–4 paragraphs in your sandbox. Wikipedia articles use &quot;summary style&quot;, in which the lead section provides a balanced summary of the entire body of the article, with the first sentence serving to define the topic and place it in context. The lead section should summarize, very briefly, each of the main aspects of the topic that will be covered in detail in the rest of the article. If you are improving an existing article, draft a new lead section reflecting your proposed changes, and post this along with a brief description of your plans on the article’s talk page. Make sure to check that page often to gather any feedback the community might provide.
 * Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your lead section and fix any major issues.
 * Continue research in preparation for writing the body of the article.


 * All participants have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.

Week 4

 * We'll discuss moving your article out of your sandboxes and into Wikipedia's main space.
 * A general reminder: Don't panic if your contribution disappears, and don't try to force it back in.
 * Check to see if there is an explanation of the edit on the article's talk page. If not, (politely) ask why it was removed.
 * Contact your instructor or Wikipedia Content Expert and let them know.
 * Share experiences and discuss problems.
 * As a group, offer suggestions for improving one or two other participants' articles, based on your ideas of what makes a solid encyclopedia article.
 * Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for each article for next week.

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Handout:


 * Move your sandbox articles into main space.
 * If you are expanding an existing article, copy your edit into the article. If you are making many small edits, save after each edit before you make the next one. Do NOT paste over the entire existing article, or large sections of the existing article.
 * If you are creating a new article, do NOT copy and paste your text, or there will be no record of your work history. Follow the instructions in the &quot;Moving out of your sandbox&quot; handout.
 * Select a classmates’ article that you will peer review and copyedit. On the table at the bottom of this course page, add your username next to the article you will peer review.
 * Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
 * Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.
 * Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on your classmates' suggestions and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.


 * All participants have moved out of their sandboxes, and all articles have been peer reviewed.

Week 5

 * We will discuss what participants learned from the seminar-what they found valuable and where we can improve.


 * Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.

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Handout:


 * Participants have finished all their work on Wikipedia.