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- Course name
- E100 - Spring 2022
- Institution
- UW-Madison
- Instructor
- Caroline McCraw
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- English
- Course dates
- 2022-01-25 00:00:00 UTC – 2022-05-31 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 38
Intro to composition course with an emphasis on multimedia approaches to communication and media literacy. Students will be creating/editing Wikipedia pages in lieu of a final research paper.
Timeline
Week 13
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 25 April 2022 | Wednesday, 27 April 2022
- Assignment - Phase 1
- Introduction to the Wikipedia Assignment
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. Ultimately, the goal of this assignment is for you to choose one Wikipedia page to edit and/or expand as an opportunity to practice finding+citing sources and thinking critically about digital information.
Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.
Your primary resources are the "Editing Wikipedia" PDF and the "Resources" tab on your dashboard.
For this phase, you should:
(1) Read: Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
(2) Check out the "Resources" tab in the top right for ideas about ways to contribute to a page, guidelines for finding and citing sources, and troubleshooting technical Wikipedia issues.
(3) Read: "The Traditional Research Paper Is Best" (Alexandria Lockett)
(4) Write: Short Freewrite #1 (250 words). This response is open-ended, but some possible things to consider are:
- Responding to "The Traditional Research Paper Is Best"; what resonated with you? What questions did it raise for you?
- What are your general impressions of Wikipedia? How do you use it in your personal and academic life
- How have you been taught about Wikipedia? Discuss attitudes toward the platform you've heard from past instructors and fellow students.
- What are your questions/concerns/interest in editing Wikipedia as a research assignment?
**Note that you should keep all of your 4 freewrite responses together in your own document that you will submit via Canvas at the end of WP #4. **
- Assignment - Phase 2
- Get started on Wikipedia
(1) 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.)
(2) Review the training modules in this phase, and feel free to return to this information throughout the assignment!
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
- Assignment - Phase 3
- Evaluate Wikipedia
(1) Complete the "Evaluate Wikipedia" exercise above.
(2) Write: Short Freewrite #2 (250 words). This response is open-ended, but some possible things to consider are:
**Note that you should keep all of your 4 freewrite responses together in your own document that you will submit via Canvas at the end of WP #4. **
- As you begin to learn the inner workings of Wikipedia, has anything surprised you?
- What does it mean to edit Wikipedia, especially for someone who represents your cultural demographic? For example, how does your nationality, local geography (e.g., hometown), gender, race, or linguistic background affect the kinds of knowledge you pursue and are willing to share on Wikipedia?
- Discuss the overall significance of Wikipedia to you and society at large.
- Assignment - Phase 4
- Choose your article
You will choose one Wikipedia article to focus on improving or creating. For this phase, you should:
(1) Complete the "Finding Your Article" training module above.
(2) a. If you want to choose an article from a pre-selected list, complete the "Choose your article from a list" exercise above.
or
b. If you would like to find your own article, complete the "Find potential articles" exercise; note that you should try to find an article with class level marked as "S."
//
If you need a refresher, here are the details about adding your article to your dashboard from the "Keeping track of your work on the Dashboard" training!
- Milestones
Week 14
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 2 May 2022 | Wednesday, 4 May 2022
- Assignment - Phase 5
- Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area
If applicable, skim over the topic guide(s) most relevant to the page you have chosen to edit:
- Assignment - Phase 6
- Finding Sources
Complete the trainings and exercise above, and start finding reliable sources to use for your article
- Assignment - Phase 7
- Start drafting your contributions
For this phase, you should:
(1) Read: Editing Wikipedia, pages 6–9
(Note that there's a "Wiki Markup Cheatsheet" on page 16 of Editing Wikipedia!)
(2) Complete: "Drafting in the sandbox" training module
(3) Complete: "Adding citations" training
(4) Complete: "Add to an article" exercise
Optional: If you are interested in translating part of a page, review the respective training above.
(5) Complete: Short Freewrite #3 (250 words). This response is open-ended to what you've been working on so far, but some possible things to consider are:
- What do you find most challenging about contributing to Wikipedia?
- What do you find rewarding about contributing to Wikipedia?
**Note that you should keep all of your 4 freewrite responses together in your own document that you will submit via Canvas at the end of WP #4. **
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
Week 15
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 9 May 2022 | Wednesday, 11 May 2022
- Assignment - Phase 8
- Begin moving your work to Wikipedia
For this phase, you should:
(1) Read: Editing Wikipedia, page 13
(2) Complete: "Moving work out of the sandbox" training module above
- Assignment - Phase 9
- Continue improving your article
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.
For this phase, you should:
(1) Read: "Editing Wikipedia" page 14
(2) Complete: "Continue improving your article" exercise above
(2) Read: Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
(3) Write: Short Freewrite #4 (250 words). You are welcome to reflect on anything based on your work on this project, but some things you might consider are:
- What did editing Wikipedia teach you about its educational, social, and political value?
- What is your current attitude toward Wikipedia? How has editing Wikipedia affected your initial views about Wikipedia?
- Do you feel compelled to contribute to Wikipedia in the future? If so, discuss the capacities in which you will participate
**Note that you should keep all of your 4 freewrite responses together in your own document that you will submit via Canvas at the end of WP #4. **
Optional: Complete "Contributing images and media files" training module if you're adding images and/or media.
** Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Wikipedia Expert at any time! **
- Milestones
Do you have research that didn't make it into the final article? Use your remaining hours to add your research notes to your article's "Talk" page! This will ensure your work doesn't go to waste!
Still have hours to fill?
Rinse/repeat phases 6-9; find more sources, add more images, revise the wording of the preexisting text in the article, contribute to the "Talk" page, and/or polish your freewrite responses.
When you have reached the end of your required hours:
Be sure to submit your "Writing Project #4" assignment (which includes compiling your 4 freewrite responses) on Canvas.
Congrats! You did it!