Wikipedia talk:Education program archive/CUNY, Brooklyn College/THEA 7212X (Fall 2013)/Timeline

Wikipedia Project: Deadlines and Tasks

Work is due on the day it is listed.

September 16: Setting Up; Making a Small Dent

1. Complete the Wikipedia Tutorial for students (it will take approximately one hour).
2. If you don’t have a Wikipedia account: Create an account on Wikipedia.com and establish your user page (post a brief bio, etc.). For help, watch the video on creating an account and/or read the Account and user page creation handout.
3. Log into your account on Wikipedia and complete the following three tasks:
   1. Make at least one improvement to the Brooklyn College article, the article about your hometown, or an article about any other school you have attended. (These resources provide guidance on the code used to format content on Wikipedia: Wikimarkup cheatsheet and Video on basic editing.)
   2. Introduce yourself to me, our Online Ambassadors, and at least one of your classmates by leaving message on their Talk pages. (See the Talk pages tutorial video for guidance.)
   3. Officially "enroll" in this assignment on Wikipedia. You can find the instructions here. You will need the enrollment key from me; email or send me a text message if you don't remember what it is.

September 23: Evaluating and Choosing Articles; Learning How to Cite Sources

1. Watch the Verifiability and Neutral point of view video.
2. Read the Referencing handout, the Evaluating Wikipedia article quality brochure, and the Referencing: Wikicode handout.
3. Familiarize yourself with WikiProject Theatre, a community effort to improve all articles relating to theater, with the goal of making Wikipedia one of the best online resources on the subject.
4. Log into your account on Wikipedia and “claim” at least three (3) articles you want to assess and potentially edit this semester: go to the list of articles on this page (below) and add your user name in the box next to your chosen topics. You are only required to work on one article, but I want you to explore at least three possibilities before deciding/committing on Oct 7.

September 30: Preliminary Bibliography; Setting Up Your Sandbox

1. Log into your account and visit your “sandbox”—the experimental space you will use to draft content for the Wikipedia page you’re developing. You can access it by clicking the “sandbox” link at the top of the page, between “talk” and “preferences.” For help, visit About_the_Sandbox.
2. Go to your User page and add this text at the bottom: {{My sandbox|<your user name>}} Don’t forget the curly brackets! This will add a “button” to your User page that will allow me to access your sandbox.
3. In your sandbox, post a bibliography of at least ten (10) potentially useful secondary sources (books and journal articles) that you will consult during this project. You can use Wikipedia's referencing tool to automatically format your citations in APA style. (Note, however, that when you write your MA/MFA thesis, you will need to use MLA style.)
4. After you have posted your bibliography, go to my Talk page (amyehughes) and post a message for me indicating you have finished this task.

October 7: 1st Draft of Needs Assessment (NA) and Writing Plan (WP)

1. Prepare a needs assessment (NA) for the article you have chosen. It should include:
   1. A completed “Article Evaluation Form” (you can download this form by going to the Syllabus/Handouts area on Blackboard)
   2. A 250-500 word description of the article’s quality
   3. A checklist of what you think needs to be improved
2. Prepare a writing plan (WP). It should include:
   1. A 250-500 word description of your planned improvements (this should correspond to your NA’s checklist of improvement needs)
   2. Your working bibliography (at least 10 sources, formatted in MLA style)
   3. A timeline of your planned improvements
3. Print a copy of your NA, WP, and Wikipedia page and bring to class for peer review.

October 15 (TUESDAY): Final Draft of NA and WP; Adding the “Educational Assignment” Designation

1. Incorporate the feedback you received during the peer review of your NP and WP. Submit the final draft to me on Blackboard (in the Assignments area).
2. Go to the "Talk" page for your Wikipedia article and add this code at the top: {{course assignment | course = Education Program:CUNY, Brooklyn College/THEA 7212X (Fall 2013)}} This will add a banner indicating that it is the subject of an educational assignment.

October 21: Work on Article(s); First Substantial Addition (Moving Out of Your Sandbox)

1. Use your sandbox to develop text and experiment. By this date, you should transport at least one substantial addition to the “live” article.

October 28: Work on Article(s); Adding Visual Content

1. Read the Illustrating Wikipedia brochure.
2. Find at least one image (that is NOT under copyright protection) related to your topic and upload it, either to your Sandbox or to the Wikipedia article. You may also design your own graph, timeline, or other visual aid that you believe will enhance the article. To learn how to upload your own image to Wikimedia Commons, watch this video.

November 4: Work on Article(s) (nothing due)

• By now, you should have an initial draft of a comprehensive treatment of your topic.

November 11: Midterm Progress Report; Choosing Articles to Review

1. Officially “nominate” your article for peer review on Wikipedia, so that your classmates (and possibly others) can give you feedback on your work. Instructions for how to do this are here.
2. Select two classmates’ articles to peer review. “Claim” the articles by going to to the bottom of this course page and adding your username to the appropriate box in the list of articles. (You don’t have to review them yet.)
3. Click on your assigned article’s “View history” tab, select the last revision before you started working on the article and the current revision and then click “Compare selected revisions.” Print a copy of the resulting comparison.
4. Prepare a progress report that includes:
   1. A copy of your improvement needs checklist from 3/6, marked and annotated to indicate what you have done so far
   2. An honest self-assessment (200-500 words) of your progress on the WP you submitted on 10/15
   3. A new (200-500 word) evaluation of the article’s quality
   4. An updated WP for the remainder of the semester
5. Submit your progress report in the Assignments area on Blackboard.
6. Print one copy of each item and bring them to class for peer review and discussion.

November 18: Peer Review of Two Articles

1. Reread the “Article Evaluation Form” (in Syllabus/Handouts area on Blackboard).
2. Keeping the criteria in mind, evaluate the two articles you have chosen to peer review using Wikipedia’s peer review system.

November 25: Responding to Feedback (nothing due)

• Make edits to your article based on peers' feedback.

December 2: Responding to Feedback (nothing due)

• Continue making edits to your article based on peers' feedback.

December 9: Reflective Essay and Class Presentation; Finishing Up

1. Write a reflective essay (3-5 pages) summarizing your Wikipedia contributions, both as a writer/contributor and a reviewer/editor. Submit your essay in the Assignments area on Blackboard.
2. You will give a brief presentation (3-4 minutes) in class today about your Wikipedia editing experience.
3. This will be your last week to make final improvements to your article.

December 17: Submit Electronic Portfolio

1. Create an electronic portfolio documenting your work on this project. I will use this portfolio to evaluate your work and assign you a grade for the assignment. It should be in the form of a single PDF or Word (.doc or .docx) document. To include visual material, make scans or create screenshots, then insert them into the document. Your e-portfolio should include:
   1. Your reflective essay (submitted 12/9)
   2. A copy of the article as it originally appeared in September
   3. A copy of the article as it now appears
   4. Your midterm progress report (submitted 11/11)
   5. Your final progress report. This should include 1) your original checklist from 10/15, annotated to indicate what you ultimately accomplished; 2) a 200-500 word assessment of the article’s current quality; and 3) a short description of what, in your opinion, could be done to further improve the article.
2. Submit your electronic portfolio in the Assignments area on Blackboard.

(Click to return to your main course page and continue.)