Wikipedia talk:Education program archive/Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Timeline

Week 1: Understanding Climate Change - and Wikipedia
Welcome to Week 1!

This week we will discuss the quality of Wikipedia's page on climate change, reasons for it, and learn how to change (edit) Wikipedia pages. Expand the following box to read more about Week 1 activities:

On the MOOC page, click 단원 1 – 기후변화와 and watch the following video 1, 2, and 3. (each video is about 20 min). Then come back here.

Back already? Excellent.

All right. Our first Assignment 1, Week 1. Expand the following box to read it:

Assignment 1, Week 1 is to read and compare the following articles: Our class topic is "Climate Change and Sustainability". Let's start by understanding those concepts.
 * 기후 변화
 * Climate change

The English Wikipedia article on climate change is read each day by about 20,000 people. Each year, more than 5 million. A lot of people are learning about climate change from Wikipedia. Are they getting good information? Is one better than the other? Why do you think this is the case? What are they missing? Did you learn something interesting about the subject matter (climate change) when reading them? How would you recommend that the volunteers maintaining those pages can make it better? Write down your ideas in a text editor of your choice, and keep them handy, you will be sharing them on Wikipedia with the rest of the students, and in fact with the entire world soon enough!

You may find the Handout 1 of interest: "Evaluating Wikipedia article quality"

Obviously, learning how to edit Wikipedia is essential for being able to complete assignments in the Wikipedia segment of our course. Editing Wikipedia resembles using a text editor like Microsoft Word and does not require installation of any software - it is done directly from any browser. Editing Wikipedia can be done in two ways:

1) through the new VisualEditor tool or 2) through the classical editing window. The new VisualEditor tool is recommended as it is easier, but the classical editing window gives you access to the code. If you have background in computer sciences, consider yourself a computer geek, can code, or at least know your way around html, you may want to try both. If you prefer the easy way, just focus on VisualEditor. Keep in mind that the VisualEditor is a very new Wikipedia feature (still in beta, and most of the information on the site, including most how-to guides, will refer to the old way of editing. Either way, don't worry, learning how to edit Wikipedia is easy: tens of millions of people worldwide, from elementary students to retired people have done so, and most of it described the experience as "fun"! Oh, and here is Handout 2: "Welcome to Wikipedia!" brochure.

This takes us to Assignment 2, Week 1. Expand the following box to read it:

Complete the online Wikipedia orientation for new editors. During this training, you will create an account (how-to-video), make edits in a sandbox (how-to-video), create a user page, and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.

To take the online Wikipedia student orientation, chose one of the following pages (or maybe you'll want to try all of them?). Please note that they focus on the editing through the classical editing window:
 * in the form of a game: The_Wikipedia_Adventure
 * in the form of a more classical training activity: Training/For_students
 * in the form of a more classical training activity: in Korean: 위키백과:길라잡이

The following page in turn explains how to use the Visual Editor:
 * VisualEditor/User_guide

Here's a helpful Handout 3: "Wikimarkup cheatsheet" (based on Cheetsheet page)

All right, now you are a Wikipedia editor! If you haven't done so yet, you can enroll in our course by clicking the big green "Enroll" button in the top left. Then come back here.

Do you have your notes about 기후 변화 / Climate change handy? It's time to post them to Wikipedia in our Assignment 3, Week 1.

Go to Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Week 1 page. Click on a new section link, and post your notes there. Don't forget to add a subject and to sign it. If you need help, read the Help:Using talk pages page, the "Using talk pages" handout and/or watch this video. Then read your fellow students comments and start talking with them on that page!

Optional assignments:
 * To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to the Wikipedia instructor, User:Piotrus, any other Wikipedians helping your class (such as a Wikipedia Ambassador), and leave messages for classmates whose article comments you found helpful on their user talk page. You can read the Handout 4 [:File:Classroom_handout_-_How_to_get_help.pdf|"How to get help"]] and ask a question about anything that is not clear in one of the Wikipedia help forums, too.


 * Milestone:
 * All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.
 * Students have started reading Wikipedia articles and commenting on them

Week 2: Sustainability
Welcome to Week 2!

This week we will discuss the quality of Wikipedia's page on sustainability, and start thinking about how we can help with climate change by improving the world's awareness about this topic.

Expand the following box to read more about Week 2 activities:

Let's start with Assignment 1, Week 2.

Our second major topic in this class is sustainability. Wikipedia article on this topic has been assessed as of high quality - on it's talk page it is described as a Good Article, meaning it was formally reviewed by a volunteer who checked that it corresponds to the Good Article criteria. Read and compare the following articles: The English article is read each day by about 3,000 people. Take notes just like last week, and then post them to the Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Week 2 page.
 * 지속 가능성
 * Sustainability

Also, please comment on whether this article is better than the climate change one (go to Talk:Climate change and compare the quality assessment ratings).

Now you have read two major Wikipedia articles related to climate change, read by millions each year. They are not bad... but could be better. And we can do it. In our class, we can improve or create content that will be read by millions. Does it sound fun? Read on!

So far we have been editing only our course talk pages. Nobody but us will read them. Time to start making a world-wide impact with Assignment 2, Week 2.

Critically evaluate the article on Sustainability and leave suggestions for improving it on the article’s talk page at Talk:Sustainability. Try to use the Good Article criteria in your review and check out Handout 5 on “Evaluating Wikipedia article quality”. Once you have done so, leave a note about which article you reviewed, linking back to its talk page (like this: Talk:Sustainability, for example, from our Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Week 2 page (where you would say, for example, "I reviewed the article on sustainability and my review is at Talk:Sustainability".

Do you want to know when somebody replies to you? If you are lucky, they will echo you, and you'll get a notification near your log in. But to make sure you get replies, you may want to watchlist that page.

Excellent. Feel like you are making an impact on the world? Let's make sure you do. Time to make first edits in Wikipedia article space. It's time for Assignment 3, Week 2.

First, try to find a sentence that sounds wrong, and see if you can improve the quality of the prose of an article. Next, add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the class. Edits to regular articles are instantly visible to the world, so make sure you use the preview option first.

How to find an article to fix? Look at the list of 2486 articles related to the environment that are marked as having some problems. You can surely find something in there!

Or perhaps you want your edit to be seen by as many people as possible? Then chose something from the top of the list of most popular environment-related articles on Wikiepdia!

Now, you are an experienced Wikipedian. Time to start prepare to the final stage of our class project: which article will you want to significantly improve (or perhaps, create)? Read more about it at Assignment 4, Week 2

Research and list 3–5 articles on your Wikipedia user page that you will consider working on as your main project. As part of the main project you will be expected to either create a new article, or improve an existing one. Improvement can take the form of translating content from English Wikipedia to Korean, or the other way. Chose one or more articles you'd like to work on, list them in a new section at Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Week 2, and ask your instructor for comment by leaving a message at their userpage.

How to chose the article for your major, capstone project? If you feel ambitious, you can chose a popular article. Or perhaps you want to improve a topic of more regional importance, such as about environment/climate change in your region. See if the topic exists on Wikipedia. If not, you are probably good to go! Your instructor will review your poject soon after you propose it on his talk page, and will let you know if this is something Wikipedia will accept (remember: Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, so it is not a place to host essays, proposals, calls to action or original research).

You may find Handout 6 of use: Advice for choosing articles

Milestones:
 * Students have started to interact with regular Wikipedia volunteers and leaving constructive suggestions on how to improve articles read by millions worldwide
 * Students have started to make their first edits to articles

Week 3: Human impact on the environment
Welcome to Week 3!

This week we will discuss the quality of Wikipedia's page on human impact on the environment. This article provides a very helpful overview of all topics related to man-made climate change.

Expand the following box to read more about Week 3 activities:

First, we will read and review this week's article in Assignment 1, Week 3

Read the following articles The English article is read each day by about 1,000 people.
 * human impact on the environment
 * no Korean version exists yet

As last week, post comments about the quality of the article at the talk page of that article and report on it at Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Week 3.

In Assignment 4, Week 2 you chose one or more articles to consider expanding, writing or translating. The instructor should have left you a comment about which of those articles - check Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Week 2. Time to start working! If you are going to add content to existing article, or translate it, go to Assignment 3a, Week 3. If you are going to write a new article, go to Assignment 3b Week 3. But first, please take a look at the following handouts: Handout 7:: *Handouts: Citing sources on Wikipedia, Handout 8: Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia and the Wikipedia help page on Referencing for beginners (includes video tutorials)

If you want to expand or translate an existing article, we have to start by reviewing it. Please post a review of that article's quality on it's talk page, using the Good Article criteria. Next, post a description of your plans to improve the article on article’s talk page. Link it from Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Week 3.

If you want to create a new article, start looking for sources you can use it in. Create a short entry, few sentence long, describing your topic in the form of a introductory section, and post a list of sources (books, articles, webpages) you intend to use at Draft:Your new article name. Link it from Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Week 3.

The following video shows creation process for a Wikipedia article done using the classical editing window: watch it here


 * Assignments (due week 4):
 * Compile a bibliography of relevant research and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on. Begin reading the sources.

Milestones:
 * students have begun reviewing articles they will create or expand, or compiling sources for the articles they will create

Week 4: Global warming
Welcome to Week 4!

This week we will discuss the quality of Wikipedia's page on global warming, and s

Expand the following box to read more about Week 4 activities:

Global warming is a very popular topic in debates about climate change. This week, we will familiarize ourselves with how it is discussed on Wikipedia.

Read the following articles:
 * 지구 온난화
 * global warming

The English Wikipedia article on global warming is read by about 20,000 people each day. It is also classified as a Featured Article, meaning that the Wikipedia community has recognized it as one of the small group of several thousand best Wikipedia articles. As before, please review the article at its talk page, and link your review at Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Week 4. Is it better than the articles you've read before.

Done with reading? Great, it's time to start improving Wikipedia by editing our chosen articles. Let's open Assignment 2, Week 4

It's simple, really. Start improving the articles you are working on. Add content, rewrite... create.

Let's not forget Wikipedia is a collaborative space, and so is our course.

How is the process of editing Wikipedia going? Are you running into difficulties? What's easy, what's difficult, what's fun, what's tedious? Post at Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Week 4


 * Milestones
 * All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.
 * Share experiences and discuss problems.

Week 5: Environmentalism
Welcome to Week 5!

This week we will discuss the quality of Wikipedia's page on environmentalism.

Expand the following box to read more about Week 5 activities:

As usual, first, let's review this week's article.

Read and compare the following articles: As usual, post a review to the article's talk page at Talk:Environmentalism and link it from Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Week 5.
 * Environmentalism
 * 생태주의

All right. Now, let's take a look at Assignment 2, Week 5

The instruct have posted a list of articles that students in our class are creating or improving at Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014). From our list at, select two classmates’ articles that you will review and copy-edit. Review two of your classmates' articles, leaving suggestions on the article talk pages. Don't hesitate to edit the article's themselves if you can fix some grammar/tone/spelling issues. Post at Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Week 5 noting which two articles you reviewed.

Expand your article into an initial draft of a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

Are you wondering how to upload images to Wikipedia? Check out Handout 9 “Uploading images”.

If you were creating a new article, check out Handout 10: Moving out of your sandbox. Ask your instructor for help at User_tall:Piotrus, and he will try to have your article featured on Wikipedia's front page in the Did You know section.


 * Milestones
 * All articles have been reviewed by others. All students have reviewed articles by their classmates.
 * Draft articles articles are moved into main space.

Week 6: Service learning and Wikipedia
Welcome to Week 6!

This week we will be finishing our capstone project of creating or significantly improving a Wikipedia article related to our course. This completes our assignment in the spirit of service learning: helping out the global community by creating content that millions can use for free, while at the same time improving our own skills and knowledge.

Expand the following box to read more about Week 6 activities:

First, let's make sure the hard work of your colleagues who reviewed your articles is not wasted. Open the Assignment 1, Week 5:

Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience. Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.

If you liked your colleagues comments, please thank them by using the Thanks feature!

Finally, you are almost done. In our final Assignment 2, Week 5 tell your colleagues, the instructors and other Wikipedians what did you think about this course. Was editing Wikipedia rewarding? Fun? Difficult?

Write a reflective essay (2-5 pages) on your Wikipedia contributions. Post it at Education Program talk:Kyung Hee University/Climate Change and Sustainability (2014)/Week 6 in a new section.

Congratulations! You have finished the course!

Of course, it's a wiki-themed MOOC. You can always come back and do it again at your own pace... feel free to ask the instructor User:Piotrus for help anytime, even months or years after this course is over.


 * Milestones
 * Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading, and have submitted reflective essays.

([ Click to return to your main course page and continue.])