Overview[edit]

The University of Houston–Clear Lake was the first university to offer a full degree in Futures Studies;[1] the program was later moved to the University of Houston.[2] Graduate students in that program complete the coursework for their degree with a Proseminar in Futures Studies in which they prepare for a transition to professional life by reviewing the field. In Spring 2012, students in that course will work with Dr. Peter Bishop, Director of the program, and the wider community of Wikipedians to review and suggest updates to Wikipedia on topics relevant to the field, such as future studies, strategic foresight, scenario planning and strategic planning. In addition to immersing the students in a hands-on foresight and futures public education and communication effort, this class exercise is intended to help spur the development of the WikiProject Futures Studies.

This Wikipedia page has been created in support of that class exercise.

What is this page for?[edit]

This page provides a basic description of the course and is also a safe space for students in the class to practice their Wikipedia skills.

Assignments for Feb 7[edit]

Readings

The PowerPoint that John and Zhan used in class on Feb 2.

The hand-out that they prepared.

The Project and Class pages

Zhan's and John's user talk pages.

These introductory articles from Wikipedia

Getting Started

The five pillars of Wikipedia • Tutorial • Your first article

How to: edit a page • upload an image

Getting Help

Frequently Asked Questions

New contributors' help page

Where to ask questions • make requests

Request administrator attention

Activities

Here's what I have done. You might do the same --

Create an account

Set up a user page

Put something on the user page, including the project box:

This user is a member of
WikiProject Futures studies.

Create a bookmark folder with the following bookmarks --

Wikipedia

The project page: Wikipedia:WikiProject Futures studies

The outline page: Outline of futures studies

The class page: Wikipedia:School and university projects/Foresight (this page)

Our sandbox: User:RealFuturist/sandbox

Your user page

Wikipedia:Help_desk

Copy the page you chose (following) into the Sandbox and practice editing the page with at least one addition, one deletion, and one amendment. Save the page and 'View History' to see how revisions are catalogued. Review the Outline page to see what we might do with that.

ASSIGNMENT PRACTICE PAGES[edit]

Here are some practice subpages where the class students can practice their editing and writing skills under the supervision of the professor and the class assistants. To practice on an existing article, go to the article's edit page, copy all in the edit window, and paste into the edit pages of the practice pages. You can easily create new practice pages in this section as needed by repeating the relevant code in this page's editing. Please keep practice pages to our School and University project section and away from the main WikiProject Futures Studies page (though that should be your main base for operations and starting point).

Note that these practice pages are still public, are not "owned" by the class, and are still subject to Wikipedia policies.