Wikipedia:School and university projects/GDS Global Studies

Georgetown Day High School Global Studies Wikipedia Project

Objectives

- become more familiar with the debate surrounding the concept of New Imperialism.
- be able to make a real-world (so to speak) contribution to scholarly discussion.
- understand the importance of reliable sources, verification and how to use Wikipedia wisely.

Resources

Before you begin, familiarize yourself with the Wikipedia protocol:
- Wikipedia:Tutorial will help you get started with some basic rules and markup language when editing.
- Wikipedia: The Perfect Article will help you think about ways to improve the article.
- the GDS Library's New Imperialism LibGuide has some pointers for where to look for your reliable sources.

Assignment and Due Dates

Read through the New Imperialism wiki and its talk pages.

You may also refer to related pages. Take notes on and provide specifics to these questions:
- what information had you learned from your textbook that was also on the New Imperialism page?
- what information had you learned from your textbook that was NOT on the New Imperialism page?
- what did you think about the sources?
- what ideas do you have for improving the article?
Due Date: November 8, 2010

Draft one potential change to the Wikipedia article on New Imperialism.

These could range from:
- adding a new fact with appropriate citation.
- adding a new image with appropriate citation
- correcting an image and adding appropriate citation
- correcting a current sentence and adding appropriate citation
- verifying a current sentence and adding appropriate citation
- verifying and improving a current citation/reference
- other additions possible, just check with me first.
Create a written draft of your potential insertion and bring it in to class on your due date. We will add it to Wikipedia later. Due Date: November 15, 2010

Evaluate your experience.

Type up your responses to these questions:
- What did you insert into Wikipedia? Please be detailed.
- What did you learn about Wikipedia during this assignment?
- What did you learn about new imperialism and the idea of scholarly debate from this assignment?
- How did you feel about this project overall and what suggestions do you have for further improvement?
Due Date: November 15, 2010

Final Wikipedia Insertion:

- Describe what you inserted into Wikipedia based on Option 2 (3 Major Changes). Write down how your ideas might have changed or any additional discussion you had with your groupmates. I want a typed response from EACH person. You will be evaluated based on how specific and detailed your description of your insertion is, as well as the analysis and description of your discussion.
- If you hadn't already done so, please also answer the last 3 questions from the Evaluation above.
Due Date: November 18, 2010