Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Georgetown University/WRIT 015-21 -- Writing and Culture (Summer 2020, second session)
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- Course name
- WRIT 015-21 -- Writing and Culture
- Institution
- Georgetown University
- Instructor
- Lisbeth Fuisz
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Writing
- Course dates
- 2020-07-07 00:00:00 UTC – 2020-08-10 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 15
This course is intended to equip students with resources to help navigate writing situations they may encounter during their academic careers and beyond. Students will explore four key ideas about writing: it is an iterative process of planning, drafting, and revising; a social practice of responding, engaging, informing, and persuading; a rhetorical strategy for analyzing, designing, and communicating; and a reflective method for exploring, inquiring, and learning. These four ideas about writing, once internalized, help writers to become more effective, as well as capable of understanding how and why writing works (and sometimes does not). To put many of these rhetorical practices into action, students will write for a public audience, editing existing content in - and making new contributions to - Wikipedia. Wikipedia will become both our object of study and our medium for writing. Students will learn the conventions of Wikipedia as a discourse community and explore issues about information access and privilege, the production and consumption of knowledge, and their role as literacy sponsors in sharing research with a wider audience through their contributions to Wikipedia. Working with Wikipedia will allow us to consider both philosophical and practical questions about writing. Questions include: What does it mean to have information privilege, as we do here at the university, and what obligations, if any, do we have as a community to share this access with others through a medium like Wikipedia? What counts as knowledge on Wikipedia? For example, how do normative understandings of race, gender, and sexuality impact what topics get covered in Wikipedia? What are the differences between writing to persuade (when, for example, you make an argument for or against something) and writing to inform (what Wikipedia requires of us as contributors)? How do the various audiences for our writing impact what we create?
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 7 July 2020 | Wednesday, 8 July 2020 | Thursday, 9 July 2020
- 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.
Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.
Resources:
- 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. Each training is worth 10 points towards Wikipedia Project, Phase One.
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
Week 2
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 13 July 2020 | Tuesday, 14 July 2020 | Wednesday, 15 July 2020 | Thursday, 16 July 2020
- Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia
The trainings are worth 10 points each and the evaluation activity is worth 20 points towards the Wikipedia Project, Phase One grade.
- Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area
- In class - Discussion
- In class - Discussion
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 20 July 2020 | Tuesday, 21 July 2020 | Wednesday, 22 July 2020 | Thursday, 23 July 2020
- Assignment - Choose possible topics
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6
Please complete this training and this exercise by Monday, July 20 at 11:59 PM ET. The training is worth 10 points and the exercise is worth 50 points towards your Wikipedia Project, Phase One grade. On Tuesday, July 21, we will have individual conferences to confirm the selection of the article you will be editing for your final project.
- Assignment - Add to an article
Please complete this training and this exercise by Wednesday, July 22 at 12:45 PM ET. The training is worth 10 points and the exercise is worth 15 points towards your Wikipedia Project, Phase One grade.
Week 4
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 27 July 2020 | Tuesday, 28 July 2020 | Wednesday, 29 July 2020 | Thursday, 30 July 2020
- Assignment - Exercise
Please complete in class on Wednesday, July 29.
- 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
Please complete these two trainings for class on Wednesday, July 29. Each is worth 10 points towards Wikipedia Project, Phase One.
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
Week 5
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 3 August 2020 | Tuesday, 4 August 2020 | Wednesday, 5 August 2020 | Thursday, 6 August 2020
- Assignment - Peer review two articles
- 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.
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
- Assignment - 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.
Please complete this training and exercise for class on August 5. Each are worth 10 points towards Wikipedia Project, Phase One.
- Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia
The training is worth 10 points towards Phase One of the Wikipedia Assignment.
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 - 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!
- 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!
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.
Week 6
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 10 August 2020