Wikipedia talk:Education program archive/University of Southern Indiana/Introduction to Mass Communications (Fall 2014)/Course description

Comm 192: Introduction to Mass Communication: Presentation, lectures, and assignments designed to introduce students to the basic concepts of mass communication; to foster an understanding of the roles and functions of communication media in our society; to present concepts and principles of journalism; and to prepare students to be intelligent users of media.

Assignment
Adopt a journalist who has been killed while reporting or for journalism. Make sure this has been verified through one of the world press freedom organizations. Through your research, make sure the journalist is notable, the subject of "significant coverage" (as defined by Wikipedia policy) in media, as well as enough information in reliable sources for verifiability.

Shortly after you create an account and establish your User page, a member of the Wikipedia Welcome Committee will greet you and offer you some helpful information about getting started in Wikipedia. This includes membership in the Tea House, which is a space for new Wikipedians to get oriented and an activity I highly recommend!

You will learn more about Wikipedia and our project in class. Use the resources page to learn all things Wikipedia! (Thanks to Cindamuse for the compilation!) A more specific guide for our purposes was written by Laura Hale, "Editing Journalists Biographies on Wikipedia," which is available through Wikimedia Commons.

We want to aim for quality work here on Wikipedia! The encyclopedia uses its own assessment guidelines and your articles will be judged by editors based on that system.

The course template contains a basic outline for the content of our articles. You will work on the article in your own User space. After you have drafted the article, received feedback, and made revisions, you will then submit the article to your instructor for assessment and it will be added ONLY with your instructor's permission (required as part of the course agreement).

Use the tips & tricks page to learn more about specific topics. I will be adding to this page as students have more questions.

Use the course rubric and list of tips to review your own article as well as your peers. Write a note on their user "talk" pages and then sign it by typing four tildes (~) afterward. Tell them what you liked about their articles and make suggestions for improvement. When you make suggestions be specific and personalize it for their entry. Treat everybody like you would like to be treated!

Follow the Key Wikipedia policies and guidelines in the template below.

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