Sample Syllabus for Wikipedia Assignment

7/28/2019 Sample Syllabus for Wikipedia Assignment

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Wikimedia Foundation

TheSyllabus:

A12-week

assignmenttowriteaWikipedia

article


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Instructor Basics: How to use Wikipedia as a teaching tool

This brochure covers key Wikipedia policies and structure youll

need to understand, best practices on article selection and

working with the community, and sample grading structures.

http://education.wikimedia.org/instructorbasics

Case Studies: How professors are teaching with Wikipedia

Fiteen proessors rom six countries are eatured in this brochure,

as each explains how he or she used Wikipedia in the classroom

or how he or she graded the assignment. The web version o the

brochure includes links to syllabi and assignment handouts.

http://education.wikimedia.org/casestudies

Online Orientation: Wikipedia as a Teaching Tool

All instructors are highly encouraged to complete the online

orientation or educators beore planning a syllabus. It will

introduce you to the culture and rules o Wikipedia, demonstrate

the basics o editing, and walk you through a typical Wikipedia

assignment like this one.

http://enwp.org/WP:EDUCATOR

Useul resources


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Using this syllabus

Before you begin

This sample syllabus document is thethird in a series o brochures about howto use Wikipedia as a teaching tool.Beore you delve into the specics o

syllabus construction, you may wantto consult the Instructor Basics andCase Studies brochures to get a betteridea o best practices, what learningobjectives the assignments can achieve,and how you might want to grade a

Wikipedia assignment. You are alsohighly encouraged to go through theonline orientation or educators.

This document provides a ull-termsample syllabus or a major Wikipediawriting assignment, incorporating many

o the best practices or such projects.You can use it as a starting point oryour own Wikipedia assignments, ortake bits and pieces to adapt to yourcourse.

This sample syllabus is or a 12-weekassignment to write Wikipedia articles.For syllabi using other Wikipediaassignments, see the Case Studiesbrochure.

Understanding icons we use

Handouts

Throughout this brochure, well reerence handouts you

should pass out to your students. All o these handouts are

linked rom the web version o this brochure:

http://education.wikimedia.org/syllabus

MilestonesExperienced instructors say it is crucial or students who

are going to be editing Wikipedia to become comortable

not only with the markup, but also the community.

Requiring milestones throughout the term will acclimate

students to the site and head o procrastination.

Instructors who do not set up these milestones throughout

the term usually have bad experiences with their

assignments.

WP:EDUCATORS

ShortcutsShortcuts to important pages on Wikipedia are listed

throughout this syllabus as |shortcut WP:EDUCATORS

To use one, simply type the shortcut into the search bar

on Wikipedia and press enter.


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12-week syllabus timeline

Wikipedia assignments work best whenyou introduce them early in the term,since the students need to acquaintthemselves with the technology.Knowing what they are preparing

themselves or makes learning the insand outs o Wikipedia relevant.

Try to integrate your Wikipediaassignment with the course themes.Engage your students with questionso media fuency and knowledgeconstruction throughout your course

Online student training

http://enwp.org/WP:STUDENT

The online training or students introduces the Wikipedia

community and how it works, demonstrates the basics o

editing and walks students through their rst edits, gives

advice or selecting articles and drating revisions, and

covers some o the ways they can nd help as they get

started. It takes about an hour and ends with a certication

step that you can use to veriy that students completed the

training.|shortcut WP:STUDENT


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Editing basicsIt is important to get students editing Wikipedia r ight away

so that they become amiliar with the MediaWiki markup

("wikisyntax", "wikimarkup", or "wikicode"). As the instructor,

you have several options to teach them this technical material.

You can teach it yoursel, invite Wikipedia's Campus

Ambassadors and/or local Wikipedians to do so, or contact a

teaching and technology center on your campus and ask or theirassistance. You can also assign students to complete a standard

online training. We suggest that, however you choose to do this,

you have the students learn the basics o editing, the anatomy o

an article, and ways to select ar ticles suitable or the assignment.

Wikipedia essentialsWhen youre introducing your class and going over the

syllabus, be sure to let students know theyll be working on

Wikipedia this term. This can be a good time to talk about

their preconceived notions o Wikipedia and see i any

students have edited in the past.

Week 1 Week 2

Overview o the course

Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course

Handout: Welcome to Wikipedia brochure (availableonline or in print rom the Wikimedia Foundation)

In class

In class

Assignment (due Week 2)


Your Wikipedia course pageBeore your class begins, you'll need to create a course

page on Wikipedia. Course pages are typically used

to explainto both students and the Wikipedia

communitythe details o your Wikipedia assignments,

to keep track o which students are in the class and

which articles they are working on, and to ask questions

and discuss problems. For details on how to set up

a course page, see the Welcome to the Wikipedia

Education Program brochure or go to the pageWikipedia:Course pages.|shortcut WP:COURSE

Start the online student orientation. During this training, youwill create an account, make edits in asandbox, and learn the

basic rules o Wikipedia. |shortcut WP:STUDENT

Basics o editing

Anatomy o Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how todistinguish between good and bad articles

Tips on nding the best articles to work on or class assignments

Handouts: Using talk pages handout, EvaluatingWikipedia article quality brochure, and Wikimarkup

cheatsheet (included in Welcome to Wikipedia

brochure)

Complete the online training or students.

Create a user page, and sign up on the list o students on the

course page.

To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduceyoursel to any Wikipedians helping your class (such as a

Wikipedia Ambassador), and leave a message or a classmate on

their user talk page.

Milestone

All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listedon the course page.


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Exploring the topic areaIt is critical or students to begin researching their Wikipedia

topics early in the term. Finding topics with the right balance

between lack o prior good Wikipedia coverage and available

literature rom which to build new Wikipedia coverage can

be tricky. As an alternative to assigning students to propose

Wikipedia topics to write about, you may wish to prepare a

list o appropriate non-existent or underdeveloped articlesahead o time. This requires more preparation but gets

students to the point o researching and writing their articles

sooner.

Using sourcesAs they start using sources to improve Wikipedia articles, it is

especially important or students to understand Wikipedias

policies on plagiarism and copyright violation. Student generally

know that copying whole paragraphs or sentences rom sources

constitutes plagiarism. But many don't know aboutor think

they can get away withsubtler orms o plagiarism, such as

using shorter phrases without attribution or beginning rom acopied text and simply rewording it while leaving the structure

and meaning intact (i.e., close paraphrasing). Any orm o

plagiarism or copyright violation is likely to result in students'

work being removed rom Wikipedia.

Youre the expert

Applying your own expertise to Wikipedias coverage

o your eld will be key to a successul assignment.

You understand the broader intellectual context where

individual topics t in, you can recognize where Wikipedia

alls short, you knowor know how to ndthe relevant

literature, and you know what topics your students should

be able to handle. So your guidance on article choice and

sourcing is crit ical or both your students success and theimprovement o Wikipedia.

Week 3 Week 4

In class

In class



For next week

Handouts: Advice or choosing articles and How toget help

Critically evaluate an existing Wikipedia article related to theclass, and leave suggestions or improving it on the articles talk

page.

Research and list 35 articles on your Wikipedia user page thatyou will consider working on as your main project. Ask your

instructor or comment.

Handouts: Reerencing on Wikipedia and Understanding

Wikipedias copyright policy

Add 12 sentences o new inormation, backed up with a citationto an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the

class.

Instructor evaluates students article selections, by week 5.

Getting help

When things go wrongstudents articles are challenged,

students get into arguments with other editors, or youor the students are simply unsure about how to solve a

problemyou should seek out help immediately. I there

are experienced Wikipedians working with your class

(such as Online Ambassadors), try asking them rst.

You can post problems and questions to the Education

noticeboard |shortcut WP:ENB For guidance getting

started or either you or your students, try the Teahouse

|shortcut WP:TH a riendly space or new editors. The

online orientation highlights other places you can go orhelp.


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Choosing articlesBy this week, ideally, you have evaluated the students' article

choices and given them eedback, helping them to choose

articles that are appropriate or the assignment. Because

students oten wait until the last minute to do their research

or choose sources unsuited or Wikipedia, we strongly

suggest that the students put together a bibliography o

materials they want to use in editing the article which canthen be assessed by you and other Wikipedians.

Drafting starter articlesOnce students have gotten somewhat o a grip on their topics

and the sources they wil l use to write about them, its time to

start writing on Wikipedia. You can assign them to jump right

in and edit live or start in their own sandboxes. There are pros

and cons to each approach.

Pros and cons to sandboxes: Sandboxes make students eel saebecause they can edit without the pressure o the whole world

reading their drats or other Wikipedians altering their writing.

However, sandbox editing limits many o the unique aspects o

using Wikipedia as a teaching tool, such as collaborative writing

and incremental drating. Spending more than a week or two in

sandboxes is strongly discouraged.

Pros and cons to editing live: Editing live is exciting or the

students because they can see their changes to the articlesimmediately and experience the collaborative editing process

throughout the assignment. However, because new editors oten

unintentionally break Wikipedia rules, sometimes students

additions are questioned or removed.

Week 5 Week 6

In class

In class



Discuss the range o topics students will be working on andstrategies or researching and writing about them.

Select an article to work on, removing the rest rom your userpage. Add your article to the classs course page.

Compile a bibliography o relevant reliable sources and post itto the talk page o the article you are working on. Begin reading

the sources.

Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit

the concept o sandboxes and how to use them.

Q&A session with instructor and/or Wikipedia Ambassadors aboutinteracting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.

I you are starting a new article, write a 34 paragraph summaryversion o your articlewith citationsin your Wikipedia sandbox.

I you are improving an existing article, write a summary version

refecting the content the article will have ater it's been improved,

and post this along with a brie description o your plans on the

articles talk page.

Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish yourshort starter article and x any major issues.

Continue research in preparation or expanding your article.

Milestone

All students have started editing articles or drats onWikipedia.


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Moving articles to the main spaceWhether students are starting new art icles or expanding

existing art icles, its critical to get them working live on

Wikipedia as soon as possible. Short summary versions

or new articles (and short existing articles that have been

expanded ve-old) are great starting points or working live

in main space.

Wikipedia processes

Advanced students articles may qualiy or submission

to Did You Know, a section on Wikipedias main

page eaturing new content. Submitting articles toDYK will probably be your classs rst major contact

with Wikipedias behind-the-scenes article processes.

We strongly recommend either try ing this yoursel

beorehand, or working closely with one or more

experienced Wikipedians to help your students navigate

the process smoothly. I your students are working on a

related set o articles, it may be good to combine multiple

article nominations into a single hook; this helps keep

your students work rom swamping the process orantagonizing the editors who maintain it.

Week 7 Week 8

In class


Handout: Moving out o your sandbox

Move sandbox articles into main space.

Optional: For new articles or qualiying expansions o stubs,compose a one-sentence hook, nominate it or Did you

know, and monitor the nomination or any issues identied

by other editors.

Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatmento the topic.

Workshop in class or outside of class


Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.

Share experiences and discuss problems.

Handouts: Uploading images and Evaluating Wikipediaarticle quality (handed out originally in week 2)

Expand your article into an initial drat o a comprehensivetreatment o the topic.

Select two classmates articles that you will peer review andcopy-edit. (You dont need to start reviewing yet.)

Building articlesAt this point, many students will have gotten it, and have a

clear understanding o how to move orward. From there, the

most important thing is giv ing eedback, both on the work

theyre doingwhat is missing, what sources could be used to

improve it, whether the balance is appropriateand on how

to keep within Wikipedias guidelines, particularly Neutral

Point o View |shortcut WP:NPOV and No Original Research.|shortcut WP:NOR

Other students may have stumbled with some element o

getting their initial work live on Wikipedia. This is the key

point to identiy where students are having troublewhether

rom negative reactions rom other editors, technical hang-ups,

problems nding good sources and using them appropriately,

plagiarism, or something else. This is a good time to do a quick

scan (at least) o what each student has contributed so ar.


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Getting and giving feedbackCollaboration is a critical element o contributing to

Wikipedia. For some students, this wil l happen

spontaneously; their choice o topics will attract interested

Wikipedians who will pitch in with ideas, copy-edits, or even

substantial contributions to the students articles. Online

Ambassadors who take a strong interest in the topics students

are working on can make great collaborators. In many cases,however, there will be l ittle spontaneous editing o students

articles beore the end o the term. Fortunately, a class ull

o ellow learners is a great pool o peer reviewers. You can

make the most o this by assigning students to review each

others articles soon ater ull-length drats are posted, to give

students plenty o time to act on the advice o their peers.

Rating Wikipedia articles

The initiative to improve the quality o all ar ticles has led

Wikipedians to introduce a rating system (summarized

below) that describes the progression rom Stub to

Featured Article. Encourage your students to amiliarize

themselves with this rating system and use it when doing

peer reviews o each others articles. Students should keep

in mind that B-class and C-class art icles on Wikipedia

are not equivalent to a t raditional B or C class work

in academia. Good Article and Featured Article are only

attainable through a challenging peer-review process on

Wikipedia, and only the most advanced students should

contemplate submitting their work to these processes.

Week 9

In class


As a group, have the students oer suggestions or improvingone or two o the students articles, setting the example or

what is expected rom a solid encyclopedia article.

Peer review two o your classmates articles. Leave suggestionson the article talk pages.

Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.

Milestone

All articles have been reviewed by others. All studentshave reviewed articles by their classmates.

FA

The article meets the featured article criteria |shortcut

WP:FACR and has gone through the FA candidates process

|shortcut WP:FAC Achieving FA status is rare, althoughnot unprecedented, or Wikipedia class projects.

GA

The article meets the good article criteria |shortcut

WP:GACR and has gone though a successulgood

article nomination |shortcut WP:GAN Good articles

are challenging, but possible, or classes that engage with

Wikipedia throughout the term. Leave more time or review

and revision o GAs are your goal, since it t ypically takes

several weeks beore a nominated article receives a review.

B

The article is mostly complete and without major issues, butrequires some urther work to reach good article standards.

This level o quality is realistic or good students who work

hard on their Wikipedia assignments and work on ar ticles

that are not too broad.

C

The article is substantial, but is still missing important

content or contains a lot o irrelevant material. Your students

can do better than this, but it will take eort.

Start

An article is developing, but is still incomplete and may

require urther reliable sources. Without eedback andguidance rom the instructor, this is the typical level o

quality achieved by students. It 's also, approximately, the

typical level o quality o a random Wikipedia article longer

than a ew paragraphs.

Stub

The article contains only a very basic description o the topic,

rom a single sentence up to a ew paragraphs. (Articles

marked as stubs may actually have improved beyond stub

status.)


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Class presentationsHaving students explicitly refect on their experiences with

Wikipedia, through presentations and/or refective essays, can

help draw out and solidiy what theyve learned about Wikipedia

in particular and media literacy and research more generally.

Such assignments, when they include explicit summaries or

documentation o what students did or tried to do on Wikipedia,

can also serve as the lens or evaluating and grading studentsWikipedia work.

All assignments dueYou made it!

Responding to feedbackAt this point, students should have produced nearly complete

articles. Now is the chance to encourage them to wade a

little deeper into Wikipedia and its norms and criteria or

great content. Youll probably have discussed many o the

core principles o Wikipediaand related issues you want

to ocus onbut now that theyve experienced rst-hand

how Wikipedia works, this is a good time to return to topicslike neutrality, media fuency, and the impact and limits o

Wikipedia. Consider bringing in a guest speaker, having

a panel discussion, or simply having an open discussion

amongst the class about what the students have done so ar

and why (or whether) it matters.

Week 10 Week 11

Week 12

In class

In class

Open discussion o the concepts o neutrality, media literacy,and the impact and limits o Wikipedia.

Make edits to your article based on peers eedback. Prepareor an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing

experience.



Students give in-class presentations about their experiencesediting Wikipedia.

Add nal touches to your Wikipedia article.

Write a refective essay (25 pages) on your Wikipediacontributions.

Milestone

Students have nished all their work on Wikipediathat will be considered or grading, and havesubmitted refective essays.


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Sample Grading StructureIn grading a research and write an article type o assignment, the ollowing grading

rubric has been successul:

This is a basic grading schemeappropriate or a Wikipedia assignmentsimilar to this one. For more ideas onhow to grade Wikipedia assignments,see the grading rubrics section o the

Instructor Basics brochure.

Participation grade or early Wikipedia exercises

Participation in class blog or class discussions

Peer reviews and collaboration with classmates

Quality o your main Wikipedia contributions

Refective essay

5% each (x3)

10%

10%

50%

15%

student grade

Grading


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Ready to join the Wikipedia Education Program?Education programs already exist in manycountries, and Wikimedia volunteers arecreating new programs every term. In countrieswhere the Wikipedia Education Program is inoperation, volunteer Wikipedia Ambassadorsmay be available to oer you and your studentsassistance in learning the best ways to contributeto Wikipedia or class.

Join us! For more inormation, visithttp://education.wikimedia.org

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Commons are under a CC-BY-SA

or public domain license unless

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contained within is available

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Wikipedia:CC-BY-SA) or any later

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Sample Syllabus for Wikipedia Assignment

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