Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Southern California/AMST 140 Borderlands in a Global Context (Spring 2019)
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- Course name
- AMST 140 Borderlands in a Global Context
- Institution
- University of Southern California
- Instructor
- Jorge Leal
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Borderlands in a Global Context
- Course dates
- 2019-01-07 00:00:00 UTC – 2019-05-10 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 48
The semester project for the course will consist of a series of online trainings, activities, and assignments that culminate in the researching, drafting, editing, and publishing of a Wikipedia article relating to a topic, event, or person of interest associated with the content covered in course readings, lectures, and discussions about the borderlands. Students will be assigned to collaborate in groups of 3-4 persons towards the completion of the final project. Group assignments will be made during the first discussion section meeting (week two). Students will be allocated time regularly to work on assignments in their groups. Based on how well students manage in-class group work, additional group meetings may be necessary outside of class. In addition to the creating and posting of the Wikipedia article, there are two other elements that are part of this assignment: an in-class oral presentation and a reflective essay (3-4 double-spaced pages).
Timeline
Week 2
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 14 January 2019 | Wednesday, 16 January 2019 | Friday, 18 January 2019
- In class - 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.
This page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps, or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started on Wikipedia.
Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.
To get started, please review the following handouts:
- Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia
- 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.)
- Once you have your account, it's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.
- When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
Week 3
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 23 January 2019 | Friday, 25 January 2019
- In class - Evaluating articles and sources
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article related to the course and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page.
- Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
- Create a section in your sandbox titled "Article evaluation" where you'll leave notes about your observations and learnings.
- Choose an article on Wikipedia related to your course to read and evaluate. As you read, consider the following questions (but don't feel limited to these):
- Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
- Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
- Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
- Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
- Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
- Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
- Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
- How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
- How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
- Optional: Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — ~~~~.
- In class - Discussion
- What's a content gap?
Now that you're thinking about what makes a "good" Wikipedia article, consider some additional questions.
- Wikipedians often talk about "content gaps." What do you think a content gap is, and what are some possible ways to identify them?
- What are some reasons a content gap might arise? What are some ways to remedy them?
- Does it matter who writes Wikipedia?
- What does it mean to be "unbiased" on Wikipedia? How is that different, or similar, to your own definition of "bias"?
Week 4
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 28 January 2019 | Wednesday, 30 January 2019 | Friday, 1 February 2019
- In class - Discussion
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 4 February 2019 | Wednesday, 6 February 2019 | Friday, 8 February 2019
- In class - Discussion
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 11 February 2019 | Wednesday, 13 February 2019 | Friday, 15 February 2019
- Assignment - Exercise
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 20 February 2019 | Friday, 22 February 2019
- Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area
- Assignment - Start drafting your contributions
Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have questions using the Get Help button at the top of this page.
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 25 February 2019 | Wednesday, 27 February 2019 | Friday, 1 March 2019
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 4 March 2019 | Wednesday, 6 March 2019 | Friday, 8 March 2019
- Assignment - Guidelines for Annotated Bibliography for Wikipedia
Objective: This is an opportunity to begin significant research on your Wikipedia interventions by finding those sources and material that will help you build the citations that will provide the documentation for your article.
Annotated Bibliography: In preparation for their Wikipedia contributions, students will submit an annotated bibliography that includes at least 10 verifiable sources (15 for groups of 3) related to their topic. In your document, you will first state your proposed Wikipedia article to develop or topic/theme/article to contribute/expand. This will be followed by the annotated bibliography.
These sources can include journal articles, book chapters, newspaper accounts, and documentaries. Your annotations should include both broad general texts that provide the historical, geographic, or contextual framing for your Wiki article and more specific articles that focus directly on your topic. Each entry in the Annotated Bibliography should be about 2-3 sentences long and include a description of the source and about how you are going to use it in Wiki articles. In your annotated bibliography you can already begin paraphrasing those points that you want to make using this source. The assignment will be graded based on the range and quality of the sources cited, the strength and clarity of the writing, and the creativity and resourcefulness used to track down pertinent citations. Each topic will be different, but here are some things to consider:
Quality of Sources: The better your sources, the more credible your Wikipedia article. The highest quality sources are those that come from academic books and academic journals—academic books are published by University Presses, and academic articles are peer-reviewed. The next level would be popular books, magazines, and newspapers, and finally, the least reliable are web pages and blogs. Even here there are differences—the Human Rights Watch is a much better source for Human Rights than a random page by an unknown author. Always aim to use the highest quality of sources you can find.
Context: In considering what sort of things to include, think about the larger historical, cultural, or geographic context of your topic, these might not specifically mention your subject but can help provide the background to establish their significance or importance. For general context, academic books and academic journal articles are best to establish the grounding and significance of your topic. Sources will generally come from databases like J-Stor, Project MUSE, LexisNexis (for Law), and google scholar. But you will also need to seek out sources that directly speak about your topic, and for these, you may need to look harder, including in local newspapers, independent films, and other more obscure sources.
Grading Criteria for Annotated Bibliography
Things I will look for in sources:
· A wide range of appropriate sources: a mix of books, articles, newspapers
· The scholarly value of the sources used
· Sources that suggest that you have considered several aspects of the topic
· Extra consideration will be given to sources that are particularly unusual, creative, or difficult to find.
Things I will look for in annotations:
· How focused are they relative to your project?
· How well are you able to describe the relevance of the source to your project?
· How insightful is your understanding of the ideas presented?
· How effectively are the annotations written in terms of style and grammar?
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 18 March 2019 | Wednesday, 20 March 2019 | Friday, 22 March 2019
- Assignment - Peer review an article
- In class - Discussion
Week 11
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 25 March 2019 | Wednesday, 27 March 2019 | Friday, 29 March 2019
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
- Assignment - Respond to your peer review
You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. Consider their suggestions, decide whether it makes your work more accurate and complete, and edit your draft to make those changes.
Resources:
- Editing Wikipedia, pages 12 and 14
- Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.
Week 12
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 1 April 2019 | Wednesday, 3 April 2019 | Friday, 5 April 2019
- Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia
Now that you've improved your draft based on others' feedback, it's time to move your work live - to the "mainspace."
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13
- Assignment - Exercise
Week 13
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 8 April 2019 | Wednesday, 10 April 2019
- Assignment - Continue improving your article
Exercise
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.
Week 14
- Course meetings
-
- Wednesday, 17 April 2019 | Friday, 19 April 2019
- Assignment - Polish your work
Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!
Week 15
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 22 April 2019 | Wednesday, 24 April 2019 | Friday, 26 April 2019
- Assignment - Final article
It's the final week to develop your article.
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
- Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Wikipedia Expert at any time!
- In class - In-class presentation
Week 16
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 29 April 2019 | Wednesday, 1 May 2019 | Friday, 3 May 2019
- Assignment - Reflective essay
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.