Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/New York University/Research Process and Methodology FA1 (Fall)

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Course name
Research Process and Methodology FA1
Institution
New York University
Instructor
Jeffrey Keefer
Wikipedia Expert
Shalor (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Research
Course dates
2017-09-07 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-10-17 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
12


This is the extra credit assignment for the Research Process and Methodology #SPSRPM FA1 2017 course, one that will encourage students to take what they learn through their critical reading and analysis of the literature and share it in an open and accessible way with anybody else who is interested in their topical areas of interest.

Timeline

Week 1

Course meetings
Thursday, 7 September 2017
In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia Extra Credit Assignment

Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline for #SPSRPM! This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for our course. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if there are other pages you should be following as well. 

Your course has also been assigned a Wikipedia Content Expert. Check your Talk page for notes from them. You can also reach them through the "Get Help" button on this page.

While all things on Wikipedia are intended to be open and public, your name and contact information will not be available to anybody except the instructor and the Wikipedia Content Expert who is assigned to help if needed. In the world of Wikipedia editing, you will be known and respected by your contributions and edits, and not by your name, title, or other personally-identifiable information.

 To get started, please review the following handouts: 

Assignment - Create your Wikipedia account
  • Create a Wikipedia account using any user name you want and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. It is not easy to change your user name once created, so consider if you should use your real name or any other name you wish to use (consider FERPA and any potential work requirements). Your user name and your real name will be linked on the back-end of the system, and will NOT be made public unless you choose to do so.
  • To avoid hitting Wikipedia's account creation limits, this is best done outside of class. Only 6 new accounts may be created per day from the same IP address.
Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia
  • It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you will need to take (don't worry, they are short, easy, and do not have to be done all in a single sitting). New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones over the 6 weeks of our intensive course. Be sure to check back and complete them for the course extra credit, which will be based on completing the five weeks of this assignment. 
  •  When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page. 

Week 2

Course meetings
Tuesday, 12 September 2017   |   Thursday, 14 September 2017
Assignment - Evaluate a Wikipedia article

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. 

  1. Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" and "Sandboxes and Mainspace" trainings (linked below).
  2. Create a section in your sandbox titled "Article evaluation" where you'll leave notes about your observations and learnings. 
  3. Choose a course-related article on Wikipedia related to your course area of interest 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?
  4. Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. 

Week 3

Course meetings
Tuesday, 19 September 2017   |   Thursday, 21 September 2017
Assignment - Copyedit two articles

Choose a course-related article. Read through it, thinking about ways to improve the language, such as fixing grammatical mistakes. Then, make the appropriate changes. You don’t need to contribute new information to the article. 

Repeat with at least one additional article.

Week 4

Course meetings
Tuesday, 26 September 2017   |   Thursday, 28 September 2017
Assignment - Contribute to two articles

Familiarize yourself with editing Wikipedia by adding a citation to an article. 

  • Add 1-2 sentences to a course-related article, and cite the statement(s) to a reliable source, as you learned in the online training.

    [Want to see how this can work in practice? Check out the Citation Hunt tool, which shows unreferenced statements from articles. First, evaluate whether the statement in question is true! An uncited statement could just be lacking a reference or it could be inaccurate or misleading. Reliable sources on the subject will help you choose whether to add it or correct the statement. ]

 Repeat with at least one additional article. 

Week 5

Course meetings
Tuesday, 3 October 2017   |   Thursday, 5 October 2017
Assignment - Contribute to two more articles

Based on the literature you are reading for your course project, add 1-2 sentences to any  course-related articles on Wikipedia, and cite the statement(s) to a reliable source, as you learned in the online training.

Week 6

Course meetings
Tuesday, 10 October 2017   |   Thursday, 12 October 2017
Assignment - Illustrate an article

You'll want to find or create an appropriate photo, illustration, or piece of video/audio to add to an article.

  • Before you start, review the Illustrating Wikipedia handbook, or see Editing Wikipedia pages 10–11.
  • When you've reviewed those pages, take the training linked below.
  • When you're ready to start finding images, remember: Never grab images you find through an image search, or those found on Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit, Imgur, or even so-called "Free image" or "free stock photo" websites. Instead, you'll want to find images with clear proof that the creator has given permission to use their work. Many of these images can be found on search.creativecommons.org.
  • Don't just upload an image to Wikipedia. Instead, upload it to Wikipedia's sister site for images, Wikimedia Commons. For instructions, read through the Illustrating Wikipedia handbook.
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