Wikipedia talk:School and university projects/Archive 2

Drexel University ethics course.
Here is my response to emails sent to the helpdesk mailing list. I'm only summarizing messages I received since I don't have publication permission. I'm including my responses in full, but changing links from full URLs to wikilinks:


 * [Article on information ethics posted day before, how long until put into system?]


 * New articles are usually immediately available. I couldn't find anything on "information ethics" or "infoethicscourse", please email me the title of your article, or if you've created an account the account name, so I can investigate further.
 * Please see WP:WELCOME for a general introduction, WP:SUP for teachers and students. -- User:Jeandré


 * [New field of Information Ethics.]


 * Two policies are very important in this case: No original research, see WP:NOR, instead citing already published sources, see WP:CITE.
 * Any information published on Wikipedia will need to be released under the GNU Free Documentation License, please see WP:Copyrights.


 * [Definition put in the Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Ethics. Developed working def and intro for Wikipedia. Would like to contribute it to Wikipedia and keep it up to date.]


 * We would very much welcome this.


 * [Created User:Drexelethicscourse.]


 * I think it would make it easier to see who did what, and make communication much easier if all participants create accounts, see Why_create_an_account%3F and Username.
 * Accounts are however not required - edits without an account will be credited to the user's IP address.


 * [How to create Information Ethics area on Wikipedia so they can work on it?]


 * A good start for anyone who will edit Wikipedia is the Tutorial at WP:T. We can eventually create an information ethics portal if it works out WP:P.
 * Our old helpdesk email address helpdesk-l@wikimedia.org is being replaced by info-en@wikimedia.org and emails to helpdesk is being sent there. I don't have access to info-en@wikimedia.org yet, so other volunteers will answer questions sent only there - please include required background info for them to catch up.
 * You can reach me by editing my talk page at User_talk:Jeandr%C3%A9 or by emailing me at [address removed].
 * I'm copying my email responses to the talk page of Wikipedia's School and university projects page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:SUP and linking to User:Drexelethicscourse with the hope that other Wikipedians will note anything important I may have missed. -- Jeandré, 2006-02-18t12:44z

About school and university projects on Wikipedia
Whenever I see a school or university project being carried out on Wikipedia, I take a certain level of satisfaction in being part of the "big, scary outside world" that reads and judges the project. Am I just weird or are there others like me? J I P | Talk 18:38, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

Utrecht University
A course at this university entitled Method Engineering has been using Wikipedia to post a bunch of materials. They tend to be dense, difficult to read, and often look more like original research than an encyclopedic synthesis of existing research. Currently there is a debate about whether this project belongs on Wikipedia at all, see Centralized discussion/Method Engineering Encyclopedia. In addition, there are serious concerns about the possibility that substantial amounts may infringe on copyrights of other parties. --Michael Snow 04:33, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Syllabus boilerplate
I updated my old project to be more generic. Any comments about School and university projects/Piotrus educational boilerplate would be appreciated. The goal is to create a tool - page - that can be quickly and easily adapted by any teacher who want to use Wikipedia as a teaching tool.--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 17:18, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

From Wikipedia to the classroom
A very interesting article:. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 21:46, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

An unannounced project at USC
Cory Doctorow plans to use us as the core of a course -


 * It's an undergrad course offered as a COMM499 class, but it's open to any student on campus. I'll be podcasting it if I can figure out a good recording setup, too. The main class assignment is to work through Wikipedia entries on subjects we cover in the class, in groups, identifying weak areas in the Wikipedia sections and improving them, then defending those improvements in the message-boards for the Wikipedia entries.


 * The emphasis seems to be on making our existing material better, not on using us as some kind of blank canvas to post assignments, but it might be worth looking into and contacting him about it so we can have some warning of, say, what pages are likely to be hit by sudden flurries of traffic. Shimgray | talk | 19:34, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

lost page
Hi, I have seen once a school project page that was on a user page or sub-page, that had a table of its student users names, and link to their contribution special page. I can't find it anymore, would you know where it is ? It seems to be a good idea. Astirmays 23:09, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Found, here : User:GumbyProf. Astirmays 23:21, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

NYT mentions WP:SUP
A History Department Bans Citing Wikipedia as a Research Source February 21, 2007. Interesting quote:--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 05:30, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

''In December 2005, a Columbia professor, Henry Smith, had the graduate students in his seminar create a Japanese bibliography project, posted on Wikipedia, to describe and analyze resources like libraries, reference books and newspapers. With 16 contributors, including the professor, the project comprises dozens of articles, including 13 on different Japanese dictionaries and encyclopedias.''

In evaluations after the class, the students said that creating an encyclopedia taught them discipline in writing and put them in contact with experts who improved their work and whom, in some cases, they were later able to interview.

''“Most were positive about the experience, especially the training in writing encyclopedia articles, which all of them came to realize is not an easy matter,” Professor Smith wrote in an e-mail message. “Many also retained their initial ambivalence about Wikipedia itself.” ''

Proposed WikiProject
A proposal would expand upon this page to create a related WikiProject. Editors can express interest at WikiProject_Council/Proposals. Durova Charge! 19:11, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Help desk
Suggesting students answer questions at the Help desk seems like a rather misguided idea to me. For one thing, it's not a very interesting or educational activity, and for another, as newbies they wouldn't be competent to answer the questions. Of course, students asking questions at the help desk should be encouraged.--Pharos 20:18, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Talk page notice?
Should we create a notice to be placed on a talk page when we know that an article is the focus of an educational project? For instance, this university has an assignment to edit this article, so should we place a notice on that article's talk page pointing back to this page informing normal editors it is the focus of an assignment? I may throw something together in my userspace in anticipation of more feedback.↔NMajdan &bull;talk 16:37, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Ok, I made this real quick.↔NMajdan &bull;talk 16:48, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I like it. I would vote in favor of adding that to talk pages. Remember 20:18, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Ok, great. I'll await some more feedback, otherwise I'll add it to templatespace tomorrow morning.↔NMajdan &bull;talk 20:20, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Looks good. I'd suggest changing the homework link to WP:SUP - note that many projects are college levels, and the term 'homework' doesn't really ring true. I'd have a basic variant with SUP link, and the more detailed one with link to specific section on SUP or subpage in userpace if the project is described somewhere in detail.--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 20:57, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Ok, made some changes. Is that what you were saying?↔NMajdan &bull;talk 21:08, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, good job! --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 21:38, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Ok, moved to template space: EducationalAssignment. Feel free to create a shorter redirect!↔NMajdan &bull;talk 21:48, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Original Research or Being Bold
I've added an article on the project page (titled Chilwell School) about using wikipedia to support students who cannot speak the language of the class. Is this what this project is about? I worry as this seems like "original research", but then "be bold" so I have just added it to the project. I'd be interested in some feedback - even if only to say its been deleted/moved/slated. Victuallers 14:12, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
 * That certainly fits the SUP scope. Is this project ongoing? You may want to take a look at the new WikiProject Classroom coordination.--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 16:54, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Project was used and worked. The teaching materials have been downloaded ~300 times but I have had little feedback. I've heard lots of teachers complaining that computer translators doesn't work, but Wikipedia offers a much better solution. I believe we could create generic resources so that Wikipedia could be used to teach most technical subjects across a major language (eg EAL) barrier - is there some interest? Thanks for the link Victuallers 12:53, 5 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Try raising this question at the mentioned above project. For my own, I'll add that I use Wikipedia as my dictionary often, and in my (forthcoming...) article on Teaching with Wikipedia, I suggest translating articles as one of the possible excercises :) --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 17:00, 5 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I moved this project from Current Projects to Past Projects on the Project Page. Thelmadatter 16:48, 20 August 2007 (UTC)Thelmadatter

Trying to update project list
I have sent emails or other messages to the interested parties of the projects listed under Planned Projects. I was thinking that if I dont get a response, should I simply delete the entry entirely, assuming that said planned project never occured? Maybe give the people about 2 weeks to respond. Fair enough? Thelmadatter 16:27, 20 August 2007 (UTC)Thelmadatter
 * Working on contacting those associated with the current project list (except myself of course!) Thelmadatter 16:30, 20 August 2007 (UTC)Thelmadatter

Updated Planned and Current Projects

 * I updated the Planned and Current Projects sections but I have to wonder.... how long do we want to keep past projects for on this page? I personlly think 2 years is more than sufficient. Thelmadatter 22:30, 7 September 2007 (UTC)Thelmadatter
 * I think they ought to be kept forever. Reading about past projects helps give instructors ideas for trying to integrate wikipedia into their classroom.  --best, kevin [kzollman][talk] 22:40, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
 * We should probably move the older ones somewhere else, though; it's getting to be too big of a page. The easy (lazy) version would be to archive them by year.  If someone is more ambitious, it might be more useful to divide up the old ones by general subject area (sciences; humanities; social sciences)--ragesoss 22:46, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Wikiversity
The open task list at WikiProject Classroom coordination mentions cooperation with Wikiversity. The mission of Wikiversity is to:
 * Create and host a range of free-content, multilingual learning materials/resources, for all age groups in all languages
 * Host scholarly/learning projects and communities that support these materials
 * Complement and develop existing Wikimedia projects (eg. a project devoted to finding good sources for Wikipedia articles)

For projects that might be outside the scope of Wikipedia you could refer an educator to v:Wikiversity:School and university projects to start a learning project. The editors at Wikiversity would also be interested in discussing other collaboration ideas. Feel free to contact me or leave a message at v:Wikiversity:Colloquium. --mikeu (talk) 16:01, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Recruiting EFL Teachers
Im an English-as-a-foreign-language teacher in Mexico and I have had my students write and improve articles on the country as part of the advanced courses I teach. I currently working on ways for lower-level students to contribute as well. On Jimmy's talk page User_talk:Jimbo_Wales there is some discussion about how to rectify some of the imbalance in coverage on the site. My idea is to recruit English teachers around the world to get their students to write about their home countries... since these students would have access to a lot more information than the average native English speaker, not to mention the perspective to decide what is important and not. I posted a message in an active forum for EFL teachers to see if there is interest. If there is, maybe we can set something up on this page?Thelmadatter (talk) 18:55, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Reflections on a university project
I am still in the middle of one of the projects detailed here, but have written up a short essay reflecting on my experience. I'd be pleased for any feedback, or if it proved of use or interest to anybody else. --jbmurray (talk|contribs) 16:31, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

New project: virtue epistemology
See here. Skomorokh 02:14, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

American Indian civil rights
Could I get some assistance at this page. A group of students are setting up to build this page from scratch, and it has already been marked for speedy deletion once. It's no more than a placholder currently, but I really don't want to step all over the students. OTOH, it really cannot stay as the current placeholder for very long. I also wonder if there might not already be articles on their subject, which they would be duplicating. Could someone better suited to assisting in such things maybe give these students a few nudges in the right direction? - TexasAndroid (talk) 21:13, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Deletion and school projects
I see I posted this at the wrong wikiproject Deletion of teacher assigned projects Kopachuk Middle School...there has been a reply to whit that the student in order to meet his teacher's pre-requisite had to use user space rather than article space. Why invite teachers and students to learn and write articles on wikipedia if they are deleted? It seems moot. SriMesh | talk  16:51, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Here is another school project where the teacher has asked the kids to write about local Edmonton bands which got speedy deleted, and the kids are giving up and asking why bother with the teacher's assignment if they won't stay on wikipedia. band article deletion The articles created at this Unannounced class project for the most part survived AFD, and they received help from various wikipedians about manual of style to help them through the AFD nominations. SriMesh | talk  23:05, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I'd like to remind everyone that if a teacher assigns a project that is outside the scope of wikipedia, the teacher could be referred to which encourages students to work on a wide variety of learning projects.  Just post a note to v:Wikiversity:Colloquium to ask for help, or feel free to leave a note on my talk page.  --mikeu talk 01:34, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Wikiproject membership - Admins - coordinators
Can this Wikipedia talk:School and university projects page have membership and admins -perhaps through wikiproject Education  or its child projects, WikiProject Education in Australia, WikiProject Education in Canada, WikiProject Universities, WikiProject Schools, WikiProject School Years, WikiProject Alternative education, WikiProject Homeschooling... to help find articles which come onto wikipedia as is above and get deleted before it is discovered they are part of a class project, so that the teacher/students can be contacted about templates etc. This message also posted at the other wikiprojects as well. Kind Regards SriMesh |  talk  23:19, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Found it ....Wikiproject Classroom coordination with coordinators, and instructions for students with contacts. Tis already made.  SriMesh |  talk  23:44, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

Editor assistance needed cleaning up after a disruptive school project
Please read Village pump (miscellaneous). Uncle G (talk) 12:58, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

University course on Wikipedia
I am currently developing a Swedish university course on Wikipedia as a phenomenon, and on the usage of wikis. I wonder what similar courses and course material that exists. I intend to develop quizzes/multiple choice questions, Wikipedia edit assignments, a MediaWiki administration lab assignment, video seminars, video conference discussion assignments, text forum discussion assignments, essay assignments, etc, but I first want to check if I there are som already existing material that I can share. A majority of my course material will be open source.

The name of the course is "Informatics A, Wikipedia - Authoring, Reliability and Technology". It will be offered as a distance course, first time during fall 2009. The extent is 7.5 ECTS credits, i.e. 20 weeks part-time studies, corresponding to 5 weeks full-time studies. The language of instruction is Swedish.

Suggestion for content:
 * How to edit and administrate a wiki.
 * How students, teachers, librarians, journalists, etc, can use and relate to Wikipedia and wiki technology.
 * Discussion about to what extent it is considered acceptable to use Wikipedia as a source in an academic essay.
 * The major criticism against Wikipedia.
 * How to measure and improve the quality of Wikipedia.
 * Example of research on Wikipedia.
 * Technology triends

Suggestion for course literature:
 * Lennart Guldbrandsson, Så fungerar Wikipedia, September 2008.
 * Reference literature: John Broughton, Wikipedia – the missing manual, 2008.

Any comments are welcome. Mange01 (talk) 21:47, 6 November 2008 (UTC)


 * See WP:ACST for a good coverage of academic papers on Wikipedia. I'd very much like to see your final syllabi and other materials for that course; you may consider using Wikiversity to develop it collaboratively with others (I'd be happy to help!). --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 00:38, 7 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks for encouraging response, and helpful links!
 * A first step would be to collect links to existing course material on Wikipedia and wikis. Where can we put that link list? I have not found any existing wiki page or wikiversity project with that aim.
 * I have an idea that this course one day could function as some kind of wikipedia/mediawiki "administrator certification course". Is that a realistic idea? So it would be helpful to agree on a list of wiki terminology that an administrator must have full understanding of. Then I can author quizzes that checks this understanding.
 * Next step might be to develop parts of the course material collaboratively. It would be an interesting new experience.
 * There is no Swedish wikiversity name space, so I intend to put my Swedish course material on a local wiki, and on a local Moodle server. But perhaps some of my course material can be written in English and placed at wikiversity. Mange01 (talk) 11:44, 8 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Starting a new course page on wikiversity would be a good first step. I n There is some interesting material here for early intro to wikis, there is also useful material on wikibooks - .I think a good idea is to take this tour and start a new course on Wikiversity, where we can work on the materials for the course you've planned. I do agree that a list of terms is a useful subproject, although I think some may already exist (and if it doesn't it makes a notable article to create on Wikipedia - like Glossary of blogging). I am not sure how to go about starting a Swedish wikiversity - and I couldn't help with it as I don't know the language - but I am sure it could be done. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 17:54, 8 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Thnx for great ideas! I have actually compiled a list of useful video seminars, slides, assignments, etc, at Wikipedia, and started to develop quiz questions. Feel free to improve it further. In case I see that others contribute, I will continue to develop a major part of the course there, otherwise it will be advantageous for me to keep most of my material to myself. Mange01 (talk) 17:53, 14 November 2008 (UTC)


 * I think that page needs to be restructured as a course, currently it reads like a giant list of see alsos. I will be happy to contribute, but it needs to be restructured (and perhaps, moved/renamed). --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 18:37, 14 November 2008 (UTC)

New WikiProject proposal.
Hi everyone. After some discussions here, I have proposed that we create WikiPedia Outreach as a WikiProject. The project would serve as an umbrella/parent project for all outreach/recruitment of new editors, including school and university projects. The discussion is located here. I'd appreciate everyone's input. // roux   07:16, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
 * WikiProject Classroom Coordination is barely active as it is; I am not sure we need another WikiProject here... --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 08:20, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

IT&S blocking of Wikipedia
Number 3 in the guidelines says that instructing students to vandalize will result in blocking, but it doesn't mention the fact that most ITS (information technology and services) departments rightfully disapprove of vandalism to Wikis such as Wikipedia, and that such assignments may result in students, or their instructor, getting banned from the internet, suspended from school, and/or expelled/fired for such behavior, and it may result in Wikipedia getting blocked/filtered by school ITS staff. This happened in Charlotte County Public Schools due to issues at Charlotte High School (Punta Gorda, Florida). PCHS-NJROTC (Messages) 16:27, 22 December 2008 (UTC)