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Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Rice University/Poverty, Justice, and Human Capabilities (Fall 2017)

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Course name
Poverty, Justice, and Human Capabilities
Institution
Rice University
Instructor
Dr. Diana Strassmann
Wikipedia Expert
Sage (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Economics, Public policy
Course dates
2017-08-22 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-12-30 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
22


This course provides an introduction to the study of poverty, justice, and capabilities. The course considers theory and economic policy oriented towards improving human well-being in the US and internationally. Readings address material deprivations and inequalities, including links to racial and ethnic disparities, gender, sexual orientation, health status, education, human rights, and political freedoms. Students will revise or create Wikipedia articles related to the course content.

Student Assigned Reviewing
Marycneal Suicide among Native Americans in the United States Refugee children, Mental health of refugee children, Women's health in China
Kylaj Prison-industrial complex Honduras, Gentrification of Chicago
Arcendeight Human trafficking in Mexico Female genital mutilation in the United States, Gender inequality in Mexico
Sshah11 Domestic violence in Kenya Food security in Mexico, Child labour in Nepal
RiceStudent Censorship in China, Human rights in China Hukou system, Education in Nigeria, Education in Uganda
Sravi12 Healthcare in India Health in Mozambique, HIV/AIDS in Lesotho
Owlettes Gender inequality in Mexico Female genital mutilation in the United States, Human trafficking in Mexico
Dnelson 14 Education in Nigeria, Education in Uganda Hukou system, Censorship in China, Human rights in China
GHumphrey97 Honduras Gentrification of Chicago, Prison-industrial complex
Mhvla Mental health in South Korea Refugee children, Mental health of refugee children, Suicide among Native Americans in the United States
6ibberish Hukou system Censorship in China, Human rights in China, Education in Nigeria, Education in Uganda
Jk956 Food security in Mexico Domestic violence in Kenya, Child labour in Nepal
Mlk10 Health in Mozambique Healthcare in India, HIV/AIDS in Lesotho
Cox Marguerite Female genital mutilation in the United States Gender inequality in Mexico, Human trafficking in Mexico
Cbadillo29 Gentrification of Chicago Honduras, Prison-industrial complex
Dmazero Islamophobia in the United States
STohme HIV/AIDS in Lesotho Health in Mozambique, Healthcare in India
Lramkelawan97 Child labour in Nepal Food security in Mexico, Domestic violence in Kenya
Aleong809 Mental health of refugee children, Refugee children Mental health in South Korea, Women's health in China
Yilin7456 Women's health in China Mental health in South Korea, Suicide among Native Americans in the United States

Timeline

Week 3

Course meetings
Tuesday, 5 September 2017   |   Thursday, 7 September 2017
Wikipedia Assignment Overview

Welcome to the Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for this course, and will break down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps. These steps include online trainings to help you get started on Wikipedia. 


 This 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. 


 To get started, please review the following handouts: 


Week 4

Course meetings
Tuesday, 12 September 2017   |   Thursday, 14 September 2017
In class - Topic Ideas



  • Suggestions for finding the best articles to work on for class assignments
  • Discussion of parent and child articles
  • Anatomy of Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how to distinguish among good and bad articles
  • Collaborating and engaging with the Wiki editing community



Assignment - Create a Wikipedia Account & User Page

Due  9 pm Tuesday, Sep 12.

To complete:

  1. Join the course page
  2. Create a user page
  3. Complete basic training

1. Create an account and join the course page using the course enrollment link

  • You will be prompted to register for Wikipedia by creating a user account.  (If you already have a Wikipedia account, just log in). 
    • Click "okay" to authorize the dashboard.wikiedu.org.
    • You will then be redirected to the course page

2. Create a user page:

  • Go to En.Wikipedia.org, and make sure that you are logged in. If so, your newly created account name will be in the upper right hand corner. 
  • Click on your userid, and you will then be directed to your user page, which should have a header that reads "User:".
  • Click on the link towards the upper right hand corner of the Wikipedia interface that says "Create." After clicking on the “Create” link, you will be redirected to a page with a header that reads "Editing User:" with a large text box.
  • In the text box compose some sentences about yourself. You may for example, highlight your interests and some areas of Wikipedia to which you wish to contribute.  You may wish to look at the user pages of some former students to see some examples. In the Wikipedia search bar, type one of the following: User: Leejohnson898; User: Weatherby551; User: BSchilling.  For the future:  be sure to continue to develop your Wikipedia user page over the course of the semester, and update it later as your life circumstances change.

3. Complete Basic Training Modules
It's time to dive into Wikipedia.  Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline in upcoming weeks.  Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.

  • To get credit, be sure you are logged into Wikipedia and have already added your user name to the course page.
  • To go to your Sandbox, click the link on the upper right hand side of the page titled “Sandbox.” This will lead you to a user page called Special:MyPage/sandbox.  You can practice Wikipedia editing in your sandbox until you are ready to begin editing in the Wikipedia mainspace. 
Milestones

Everyone has a WIkipedia account and is listed on the course page.

Assignment - Introduce Yourself to a Classmate & Critique an Article

Due 9 pm Thursday, Sep 14

To complete:

  1. Introduce yourself on a classmate's page.
  2. Evaluate an existing article and leave suggestions.



  1. Introduce yourself on a classmate's page.

To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself on the user talk page of one of your classmates.  Make sure you are logged into Wikipedia before making any postings! Add your introduction to the bottom of the Talk page and be sure to include a header for your introduction. Be sure to sign your comments with`Samantha (Wiki Ed) (talk) 18:56, 17 August 2018 (UTC)`.[reply]

2. Evaluate an existing article and leave suggestions. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page.

  • Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
  • Review pages 4-7 of Evaluating Wikipedia and Contributing to Wikipedia: Overall Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria. These resources will give you a good, brief overview of what to look for in other articles, and what other people will look for in your own.
  • Explore topics related to the course to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a mental note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement. 
  • Choose an article relevant to the course, and compose some suggestions for improving the article.
  • A few questions to consider when evaluating:
    1. Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
    2. Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
    3. Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily slanted toward a particular position?
    4. Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
    5. Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
    6. Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
    7. Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
  • Leave your suggestions on the article's Talk page at the **bottom** of the page. Be sure to incude a heading above your comments and sign your feedback with four tildes — Samantha (Wiki Ed) (talk) 18:56, 17 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Week 5

Course meetings
Tuesday, 19 September 2017   |   Thursday, 21 September 2017
Assignment - Proposed topics

Due 9pm Tuesday September 19.

To complete:

  1. Choose at least two articles to consider working on. 
  2. Submit a brief description of your proposed topics.
    • Submit to Canvas 
    • Print submitted materials and bring to the following class.
  3. List the topics you are considering on your user page.
  4. Post a comment on the talk pages of the articles you have listed.

Choosing your topic is the earliest decision you need to make for this project. Careful selection of a workable topic will help you complete this assignment efficiently and make a valuable contribution.

1. Considering possible topics:

  • Carefully review the document Contributing to Wikipedia: Overall Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria and page 6 of Editing Wikipedia
  • Browse through Wikipedia and review examples of good or featured articles on topics related to the course
  • Review Choosing an article***Note, however, that the "Don't" bullet, discouraging students from reworking entire articles does not apply to this course, as many articles related to our subject matter are of such low quality that reworking is needed.***
  • Think carefully about possible topics that might interest you. You have the option of revising an existing entry, creating a new one, or some combination that may involve adding to one or more articles and creating a new entry. New articles are discouraged unless a clear parent article already exists that has been well developed. (You may also add a section (or sections) on a similar theme to a series of articles.)
  • Research two topics or articles that you will consider working on as your main project. Review  the talk pages of any existing topics for a sense of other contributors who are working on these topics and what they are doing.
  • If you are considering a new article, confirm that the article already has a well-constructed "parent" article.  If not, pick a different topic or consider developing the parent article.
  • Topic titles should not sound like research papers or contain an argument. Since Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, all articles should reflect points of view and facts that have already been published. Additionally, article titles with two topics connected with the word “and” are generally discouraged in Wikipedia.
  • Check out the WikiProjects affiliated with articles that interest you and read what other contributors have suggested for new and revised entries. You can find the affiliated WikiProjects on the Talk page of an article. Consider posting a query on a WikiProject talk page, particularly if you are interested in starting a new article.
  • Note: If a topic you might consider working on is controversial (for example, the article on Microcredit/Microfinance or Female Genital Mutilation), Wikipedia may restrict changes to the site or others may quickly reverse your changes. Highly trafficked pages may be changed by other users frequently, leaving it difficult for you to make a unique contribution. Additionally, if someone is actively curating the page, possibly preparing it for submission as a good or featured article, he or she may not welcome someone jumping in and making wholesale revisions. Please avoid such topics. Also avoid very broad topics, since these are difficult to research and cover comprehensively.

2. Submit a very brief description of your proposed topics to the relevant assignment tab on Canvas.

For full credit, the file you submit must also contain the following features: a. File name: [LastName] WikiTopics.docx
b. Document must include:
    i.   Your name on the first page of the document
   ii.   Page numbers
  iii.   Be doubled-spaced
  iv.   Careful proofreading
   v.   Preferred font - Baskerville, size 14
c. For each proposed topic:
    i.   Supply a few sentences to explain your interest and possible revisions. (Note you will  
         later be submitting a full proposal -- this assignment is simply to help you identify a
         viable topic, so be concise);
    ii.  Note whether you would like to rewrite/add to an existing article or articles, expand an
         existing stub, or create an entirely new entry;
   iii.  If you are proposing a new article, describe the parent article and its quality; and
    iv. For your top two choices, list at least ten new references to scholarly sources you   
         would add in revising/creating the article.  You may consider doing the same for a
         possible third alternative topic.
References:  You may include references to newspaper, magazine, website, and blog sources, but these will not count toward the required number of scholarly references. All references need to be presented as formal full citations (do not simply provide links). Rank your proposed topics in your order of interest. If approved, one of these topics will become your final topic. You will lose points if your sources are not properly listed as formal citations.

d. Submit to Canvas by 9pm Tuesday September 19

e. ***Bring a printed copy of the above items to class on Thu Sep 21 or deliver earlier to Humanities 108***. Make sure your name is on the printed document.  


3. List the topics you are considering plus the references on your user page

  • Make sure you are logged into Wikipedia before making any postings!
  • Include the references for your top two choices, along with your sentences expressing interest, etc.

4. Post a comment on the talk pages of the articles 

  • Post a comment that contains a brief description of your plans and a reference to your comments on your user page on the Talk pages of any articles you might consider revising.  If you are considering creating a new article, post on the Talk page of a parent article. 
  • For instructions on posting to Talk pages, see Using Talk Pages.


In class - Discussion
Thinking about sources and plagiarism



  • Blog posts and press releases are considered poor sources of reliable information. Why?
  • What are some reasons you might not want to use a company's or a nonprofit's website as the main source of information about that organization's activities?
  • What is the difference between a copyright violation and plagiarism?
  • What are some good techniques to avoid close paraphrasing and plagiarism?

Block description…

Week 6

Course meetings
Tuesday, 26 September 2017   |   Thursday, 28 September 2017
Assignment - Copyedit and add to an Article

Due 9 pm Tuesday September 26.

To complete:

  1. Take the training modules listed below on Sources and Citations and Plagiarism
  2. Copyedit a Wikipedia article related to the class
  3. Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source.  (Note: This does not need to be on your chosen article.)

______________________________________________


  1. Take the training modules listed below on Sources and Citations and Plagiarism
  2. Copyedit a Wikipedia article related to the class. 
  • Choose an article relevant to the course.  Read through it, thinking about ways to improve the language, such as fixing grammatical mistakes and other wording issues.  Then, make the appropriate changes.  Make at least 10 wording changes.  Be sure that you are logged in before making the changes.
  • Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source.  
  • When you make a small claim, clearly state the fact in your own words, and then cite the source where you found the information.  A best practice is to reference the author of the study in text, mentioning (if relevant) the context and sample over which the study refers to (or was conducted over).



  • 3. Add 1–2 sentences of new information to the article, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source.
Milestones
  • All students have received feedback on topics. One-on-one meetings are available for all students.
Milestones

All students have written on one or more Wikipedia Talk Pages,   have added content to an article in the Wikipedia mainspace, and have copyedited an article.


Assignment - Proposal

Due in class Thursday Sep 28. (Extensions available to Mon 2 Oct upon written request if received by Wed Sep 27; such proposals will receive later feedback )


To complete:

  1. Upload your completed proposal to the relevant assignment tab on Canvas in advance of class. For full credit, the file you submit must also contain the following features:
    • File name: [LastName] WikiProposal.docx
    • Document must include:
    • your name on the first page
    • page numbers
    • be doubled-spaced
    • be carefully proofed
    • preferred font - Baskerville, size 14
    • labelled with correct filename
  2. Bring a printed and stapled copy of your completed proposal to class. Be sure to set preferences for track changes so that "balloons" is unchecked before printing -- otherwise the document will shrink the text and make it too small.

________________________________

Overview

Things to consider before writing:

You will have the option of revising an existing article, creating a new one, or some combination that may involve adding to one or more articles and creating a new article. New articles are generally discouraged unless a clear and well developed parent article already exists.


Issues to consider if you are considering creating a new article: 

  •  If your proposed topic does not have a clear parent topic that has been developed beyond a stub or start class article, you should instead develop or revise/expand the parent topic instead.
  •  Post a query to one or more relevant project groups informing them of your plans.
  •  Find one or more active Wikipedians who have contributed to a related article or to the relevant project group, and seek out their advice.
  •  Prepare to be flexible in response to the feedback you receive. 

Issues to consider in planning a revision to an existing article: 

  •  Are all parts of the existing entry clearly relevant to the topic?
  •  Does the entry present any unsubstantiated opinion as though backed by legitimate research? Can you identify any parts of the entry that should either be removed or require further support through citations?
  • Does the existing article present all of the legitimate, research-backed approaches to a particular issue?
  •  Are there important subtopics that are not discussed?
  •  Rather than planning to provide missing citations, first consider whether your research would suggest emphasizing different points or an alternative structure, possibly deleting some of the unsupported claims.
  •  Does the existing article appropriately link to other Wikipedia sites? Are there any links that you could add?

Issues to consider for both new and revised articles: 

  •  Identify the relevant subtopics for your proposed contribution and all of the legitimate, research-backed approaches to the topic.
  • Narrow the number of subtopics that you will create. (If some important subtopics are beyond the scope of what you can realistically include, you can note additional subtopics meriting further development on the Talk page.)
  • Your proposal should acknowledge and adhere to the standards required by Wikipedia for creating and updating articles. 



Instructions:


The proposal should be a typed plan (a minimum of 500-700 words, not including references, describing the work you propose to do. The proposal should not be a draft of your proposed new or revised article and should not contain paragraphs intended for your article.

The purpose of the proposal is to persuade readers of the merits of your planned contributions and it should demonstrate how your article will differ from or improve upon any existing or related articles. To receive full credit for your Wikipedia contribution,s you will need to create a substantial amount of new material. The proposal should clearly indicate the work you plan to contribute. You will need to do enough research to clearly explain the motivation behind your planned changes. Be sure to include all the required proposal components described below.


All proposals should cover the concepts necessary to a critical understanding of the issues; related theoretical and policy debates, and a detailed analytical plan for the material you plan to add.


Carefully read the comments you received on your topic assignment, including suggestions of references, reconceptualizations of your topic, title, etc. If you’ve been told that your topic is too broad (or too narrow), alter your plan as suggested. Overly broad topics are discouraged since these are difficult to research and cover comprehensively.



Writing your proposal

  •   Your proposal should include each of the following items and use proper grammar, style, and organization: 
    1. Identify your topic (or topics). What is the name of the article (or articles) that you plan to revise or create? [Note: avoid topics that do not have a clear parent article or which have titles that sound like arguments or research paper titles.]
    2. Explain why your topic needs to be revised, expanded, or added to Wikipedia. This explanation should be about the existing representation of the topic (or lack thereof) on Wikipedia and should not include paragraphs that would more appropriately go in the Wikipedia article. Include an argument for the relevance (“notability”) of this effort. Why should we care about this subject? What makes it interesting or important?
    3. Compare the current article or your planned contribution(s) with one or more specific Wikipedia articles you identify that have been assessed as B class, Good, or Featured and explain what would need to be done to bring your article to an improved status. (Take into account that some article statuses may be outdated, if they've been improved but not reassessed.)
    4.  If you are planning to propose a new article, please provide substantial justification for why this would be better rather than expanding/revising an existing article, given that new sections added to existing articles tend to receive far more traffic than completely new entries. You will need to show that the relevant parent article is well developed.
    5. Provide a detailed outline using the track changes feature of Word to show the sections you will be revising and creating. If you are creating a new article, your outline will comprise all the sections of the proposed article. If you are contributing to an existing article or articles, include an outline that shows existing sections to be kept or deleted and proposed new sections, clearly distinguishing among the two. An example of a sample outline is available under resources in Canvas.
    6. In a separate section of your proposal, describe the planned work, and include detailed explanations of what you will include in each of the sections  you will be adding or revising. Note also if the lead to the article will need revising or expanding.  (If you plan to contribute to more than one article, be sure to explain what you will be contributing to each.) Include a substantive list of scholarly references expected to support each proposed section that you will be contributing to. The references should be organized by parts of the previously listed outline, with references listed for each major topic. Provide a minimum of two (and preferably more) scholarly references for each section you plan to add. References from news sources are permitted, but these are not a substitute for the minimum number of scholarly references required per section. 
      • Note: References should include material from outside the syllabus as well as relevant course readings. These will need to be listed following an appropriate documentation format such as Chicago style (including author, year, and page number). You may also use the APA style or the citation style preferred by the main umbrella Project Group for your contribution. MLA and other styles that do not emphasize the use of inline citations with publication dates should not be used. Note that once you start adding to specific articles, you should adhere to the referencing style preferred by a main related Wiki Project Group associated with the article.
    7. Describe (i) the links to other articles that you plan to add, and (ii) links you will add from those pages to yours. To what existing Wikipedia pages will you add information about your page to increase traffic?
    8. Describe any potential difficulties you anticipate.
    9. Submit your completed proposal to the relevant assignment tab on Canvas. For full credit, the file you submit must also contain the following features:
      • File name: [LastName] WikiProposal.docx
      • Document must include:
      • Your name
      • Page numbers
      • Be doubled-spaced
      • Be carefully proofed
      • Preferred font - Baskerville, size 14
      • Labelled with correct filename
      • Bring a printed copy of the above items to class.***


Examples:


  • Examples of successful proposals from previous classes will be made available in Canvas.

Week 7

Course meetings
Tuesday, 3 October 2017   |   Thursday, 5 October 2017
Assignment - Update your User page and Article Talk pages

Due 9 pm Tuesday Oct 3.

To complete:

  1. Take the Training Module on Sandboxes & Mainspace
  2. Update your user page and post key elements of your proposal to your sandbox
  3. Update the talk pages of the article(s) you propose to contribute to (or  -- if contributing a new article -- to the talk pages of any relevant parent articles) directing people to the information in your sandbox. Provide sufficient detail on the talk pages for watchers to get a clear idea of your proposed plans.
  4. Add all of the relevant articles and the talk pages you have commented on to your Watch List.
  5. Required for those creating new articles (strongly encouraged for everyone else):   Post a comment to one or more relevant project groups. 

________________________________

Overview


  • Take the Training Module on Sandboxes & Mainspace
  • While you are waiting to hear back on your proposal, begin updating your user page and the talk pages of the article(s) you propose to contribute to. If you are planning to create a new article, also post a comment to one or more relevant project groups informing them of your plans.  These comments should include a more detailed description and rationale for community feedback on the Talk page of the article. Make sure you have logged into Wikipedia before making any postings. Check back on the talk pages often and engage with any responses.
  • Be sure to remove any info from your user page about articles you no longer are considering working on, unless you plan to work on them at some future date.
  • Copy key elements of your proposal to your sandbox (see below).
  • Key Proposal Elements:  A description of your planned work plus an annotated bibliography of the relevant, reliable books, journal articles, and other sources with a brief description of each source and its relevance to your topic. 
  • Add the Talk and Article pages to your watch list, and check regularly to see if anyone offers advice on your previous postings
  • Engage with any feedback you receive.
  • Check out the WikiProjects affiliated with your topic and consider posting there as well. (Required if you are creating a new article.) You can find the affiliated WikiProjects on the Talk page of an article. 



Assignment - Illustrate an Article

Deadline Thu Oct 5.

Find or create an appropriate photo, illustration, or piece of video/audio to add to an article.

To complete:



  1. Review Illustrating Wikipedia or  Editing Wikipedia, pp. 10-11
  2. Take the Training Module on Contributing Images and Media Files
  3.  Add an image to an article.

________________________________

Overview


  •  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.
  • After uploading an image to Wikimedia Commons, add it to a Wikipedia article, following the instructions in the readings and training module.


In class - Discussion
Thinking about WIkipedia
  • What do you think of Wikipedia's definition of "neutrality"?
  • What are the impacts and limits of Wikipedia as a source of information?
  • On Wikipedia, all material must be attributable to reliable, published sources. What kinds of sources does this exclude? Can you think of any problems that might create?
  • If Wikipedia was written 100 years ago, how might its content (and contributors) be different? What about 100 years from now?

Week 8

Course meetings
Thursday, 12 October 2017
Milestones
  • All students have received feedback on proposals. 


Assignment - First Steps
initial writing

Due 9pm Thursday October 12.

To complete:



  1. Review Editing Wikipedia, pp. 7-9 and 12-14.
  2.  New article contributors: write a 3–4 paragraph summary version of your article with citations in your Wikipedia sandbox.  
  3.  Revised article contributors: begin making revisions.  New material can be drafted in your sandbox; revisions may be done directly on the mainspace.
  4. Communicate further on the relevant Talk pages and respond to any community feedback. Consider asking the course content expert and key Wikipedians for advice.
  5. Move your sandbox work into the main space.

Be sure you are logged in at all times!  Don't forget to sign all Talk page postings with four ~s.

________________________________

Overview


  • Read Editing Wikipedia pages 7-9 and 12-14.
  • If you are starting a new article, write a 3–4 paragraph summary version of your article—with citations—in your Wikipedia sandbox. Notify watchers of the Talk page of the parent article to about the draft in your sandbox. 
    • Respond to Wikipedia Community feedback (if any), polish your short starter article, and fix any major issues.
    • Continue research in preparation for expanding your article.
    • Move your sandbox work into the main space.
    • Do NOT copy and paste your text, or there will be no record of your work history. Follow the instructions in the "Moving out of your sandbox" handout.
  • If you are expanding an existing article or articles, copy your edits into the article or work directly in the mainspace. If you are making many small edits, save after each edit before you make the next one. Do not paste over the entire existing article, or over large sections of the existing article.  (Exceptions may be made in the case of articles that have not been changed over a substantial period of time.)
  • Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.
  • Double check that your Wikipedia settings are set so that you are able to watch and be notified of any comments or changes to Article, Talk, or User pages.
  • If you'd like a Wikipedia Content Expert to review your work, now is the time! Click the "Get Help" button to request a response.
  • Don't panic if your work is overwritten or disappears. 
    • Check to see if there is an explanation of the edit on the article's talk page. If not, (politely) ask why it was removed.
    • Let me know, and also consider contacting the course Content Expert.

Week 9

Course meetings
Tuesday, 17 October 2017   |   Thursday, 19 October 2017

Week 10

Course meetings
Tuesday, 24 October 2017   |   Thursday, 26 October 2017
Assignment - Complete initial Contribution

Due in class Tuesday October 24 (See ** below.)

To complete:  Submit the following documents to Canvas by the deadline and email them to those in your peer review group.   Bring a stapled, printed copy to class or to the PJHC office by noon on Tuesday.

    • Any students who would like PJHC office assistance in printing their docs or to use the PJHC printer may contact Hayley Green <hg16@rice.edu> to arrange a time to print their docs. She is available Monday during normal work hours or on Tuesday prior to 2 pm.  Prior to the meeting, all docs should be correctly formatted with correct font size and settings and correctly uploaded to Canvas. Students who miss class that day must turn in copies by 9:25 am Tuesday. **



  1. Initial Contribution of at least 700 words (see printing instructions below): (filename:  <LastName>Initial Contribution.docx or pdf) 
  2.  A description of the contributions you have made ( [Label the file: <LastName>InitialContributionDescription.pdf (or .doc/.docx)]
  3. An outline of your article, showing with track changes the sections you have edited, deleted, or added.  [Label the file: <LastName>InitialContributionOutline.docx]. Be sure that balloons have been turned off in word before printing.
  4. A list of all new references in proper format that you have added, separated by "Scholarly" and "NonScholarly"  (filenname: <LastName>InitialReferences.docx]. There should be a minimum of ten new scholarly references).



______________________________________________________

Your initial contribution should be a minimum of 700 words, not including references. 

  • Review advice 
    • First, carefully consider the suggestions you have been given, both to your proposal when it was reviewed and graded, and any responses by Wikipedia editors to your contributions to the Project, Talk or your User page. As you write, be sure to continually check the article’s Talk page and any WikiProject Talk pages you have contributed to for user feedback and suggestions.
    • Reread Editing Wikipedia 12-14.  Read Editing Wikipedia p.15.
    • If you'd like a Wikipedia Content Expert to review your work, now is the time! Click the "Get Help" button in your sandbox or email the course content expert.
  • Review information 
    • Review the various informational documents and links you have been given, particularly those relating to citations and avoiding plagiarism.
  • Continue writing! 
    • Make sure you are logged in before you write.
    • Consider saving after every sentence, so if an editor doesn’t like one of your points, only that sentence will be reverted.
    • Be sure that every assertion in your article is supported with a citation (and carefully review the information on citations referenced above). In-text citations that include the name of the scholar making the claim and information about any studies are superior to simple footnotes. 
    • A good practice is to include a reference after every sentence.  This is especially important for health-related articles.
    • To easily create citations, click on the word “Cite” at the top of the editing box. It will give you a drop-down menu of citation templates for books, journals, websites, and news. You can select a template and it will give you a form with all of the needed fields, and will then format the information for you. If you name the references where the template says “Ref name,” you can re-use them later by clicking on “Named references” and selecting whichever one you want. You put
under references for Wikipedia to auto-generate your reference list, and if you add a number like
, it will split the references up into that many columns. 
    • Do NOT paste over the entire existing article, or large sections of the existing article. After completing a change, press the “Save page” button. (Be sure to provide a brief explanation of each change in the space provided.) Overwriting entire articles or large sections is more acceptable for articles that are not actively being edited by other Wikipedians (no substantive new edits in several months). If you plan substantial deletions and overwriting to an existing page, make sure that you have provided advance explanations on the article's Talk page of the problems with the current page, and that you have described your planned revisions and given other Wikipedians time to respond. 



  • New article tips 
    • The easiest way to post a new article on the Wikipedia Mainspace is to log into your account and then type the name of your topic into the search box on the upper right-hand side of the page. If no article exists, you will be prompted to create one. Be sure to search for similar topics as well as articles about broader ideas that may already cover the topic you want to write about. 
    • Do not simply copy and paste your text from your sandbox to the article or there will be no record of your work history. Follow these instructions for how to move your work.
    • When changes are complete, press the “Save page” button.
    • Be sure to include your citations and references when you create your article or it may be deleted swiftly. 
    • If your contribution disappears, don’t panic and also don’t try to force your contribution back on.
    • Check to see if there is an explanation of the edit on the article's talk page. If not, (politely) ask why it was removed.
    • Click the Get Help button or email the course content expert.



  • General tips 
    • Your article should include a number of short sections (many of which you may have included in your proposal). Headings allow a reader to jump around and find the information they want easily. (When you include a heading, a table of contents will be automatically generated when you post to Wikipedia.) Wikipedia allows the creation of article headings with relative ease. 
    • Add links **from** your article to other articles and **to** your article from other relevant articles. The linking infrastructure is what helps users navigate to and discover new information and will prevent your article from being orphaned and therefore unread. To add a link, double-bracket the word. Also, add links from your article to other articles. For example, Capabilities Approach would link to the capabilities approach page. A link to a page that doesn’t exist will appear red. (Some of these instructions may be different with the  visual editor.)  
    • Good Wikipedia articles contain illustrations that help explain the topic visually. Review the Training Module on Contributing Images and Media Files.
    • Click the “watch” button for both the article and talk page for each article you contributed to. As before, be sure to continually check the article’s Talk page and any WikiProject Talk pages for user feedback and suggestions.



  • Submission Instructions 

Submit the following documents to Canvas by the deadline and email them to those in your peer review group.   Bring a stapled, printed copy to class. 



  1.  Your contributions to Wikipedia of at least 700 words  -- see instructions below for turning these into a doc (filename:  <LastName>Initial Contribution.docx or pdf) 
  2.  A description of the contributions you have made ( filename: <LastName>InitialContributionDescription.pdf (or .doc/.docx)]
  3. An outline of your article, showing with track changes the sections you have edited, deleted, or added.  [filenname: <LastName>InitialContributionOutline.docx]. Be sure that balloons have been turned off in word before printing.
  4. A list of all new references in proper format that you have added, separated by "Scholarly" and "NonScholarly"  (filenname: <LastName>InitialReferences.docx]. There should be a minimum of ten new scholarly references).



  • All posted documents must include: 
    • your name on the document itself plus be labelled with the correct filename
    • page numbers
    • be double-spaced (except the outline, which may be single-spaced)        *Baskerville font, size 14
    • reflect careful proofreading



      • Bring a printed copy of the above items to class following the printing instructions below.***


File and printing Instructions for Wikipedia Contributions:

Please prepare your  contributions to WIkipedia (including contributions to your main article and any made to other related articles, including links and references), following the instructions below.  


  •  If you created or rewrote an entire article, you can submit two documents: one with your final article and one of the original article.  If  you are the only person who has edited your article, take a screenshot or make a PDF (instructions below) of the entire article to submit. Please indicate in your Contribution Description that this is the case so it is clear that all the work you’re submitting is your own.
  • If you have only changed or added to part of the article, do not create a PDF that includes large amounts of text you have not contributed to.  In such cases, take screen shots of the parts you have contributed to or revised and compile those together in a word document or PDF.  
  • Please highlight in YELLOW the parts of the article that you added or changed.
  • Font size The font size must be large enough for me to easily read it when the PDF is printed (the equivalent of size 14). 
      • How to create legible PDF's and screenshots of a Wikipedia article***   You can create a PDF of a Wikipedia article by going to the Print/ Export area on the left-hand side of the Wikipedia page.  You will see three options; pick the one that says “Printable Version.” Click print to open the print dialogue box and then hit pdf to open print preview.  You can then take screen shots of the larger sized text that this window affords or save the entire article as a PDF.  You can read a brief description of how to do this at http://www.ehow(.)com/how6813102save-print-preview-pdf.html
  • Alternatively, you can take larger sized screen shots by zooming-in on the screen in Firefox and Google Chrome by  pressing “Control” or “Ctrl” and scrolling up. Then you can take your screenshot and the font will be larger.


      • Highlighting***   The highlighting can be done in three ways: highlighting in Word; taking a screenshot of your article on Wikipedia and highlighting; or making a PDF of your article and highlighting.  


Highlighting Changes on PDFs on MACs 

  1. Open the PDF in preview.
  2. Click tools, then annotate, then highlight text.
  3. In the toolbar, you will see a color square. Select the correct color for the assignment.        YELLOW
  4. You can now highlight all sentence level changes you made. This will permit you to easily show which changes are yours and which are not. 
      • More detail re screenshots***   On a MAC For a selected screenshot, hold “command” and “shift” and then press 4. Use your cursor to then select the area to screenshot.

For a full screenshot, hold “command” and “shift” and then press 3.
The screenshots save to your desktop and can be renamed to .jpg or .pdf (they default as .png files).
On a PC Please follow the steps provided at this link: http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Screenshot-in-Microsoft-Windows

Milestones

All students have created their initial contributions and have  submitted their contribution descriptions and track changed outlines to Owlspace and have sent them to their peer group members.

Assignment - Optional
Submitting a Did You Know hook to Wikipedia.

Deadline: Friday Oct 27 (deadline variable depending on timing of article creation or 5-fold expansion). 

This optional assignment can help draw traffic to your page and increase the “hits” it receives. Only new articles or articles that have greatly increased the word count of a previously existing article are eligible. “Did you know” hooks must be submitted within 7 days of the creation of a new article or a fivefold expansion (usually from a stub) of an existing article. Submitting a DYK hook requires that you engage with other Wikipedia editors in a discussion that will likely result in requests for improvement to the article. 


  • To nominate your article, follow the instructions in Did You Know process
  • Or you may read the full guide to Did You Know nominations at: WP:DYK
  • You may also review a quick guide at User:Rjanag/Quick DYK 2 for step-by-step on screen instructions. 
    • Search Template talk:Did you know on Wikipedia. Click on “How to post a new nomination.”
    • Follow the on screen instructions in the yellow and orange form.
    • Create a nomination subpage.
  • Write the nomination using the DYK template Template:NewDYKnomination
    • You will need to write a good hook -- the “Did you know” fact for your article (see below for details). To write a good hook: 
      • Remember to begin the hook with "... that", to end it with a question mark, and to link the article title within the hook and make it bold.
      • The hook should be fewer than 200 characters.
      • The hook should refer to established facts.
      • The hook should be neutral.
      • The "Did you know?" fact must be mentioned in the article and cited with an inline citation since inline citations are used to support specific statements in an article. Many submissions fail to meet one or both of these criteria.
    • List the nomination page at "Template talk:Did you know" by finding the appropriate date and adding This is not the proper page to nominate your DYK article. If you have arrived here by accident, please return to T:TDYK and create your DYK nomination page by replacing the text "YOUR ARTICLE TITLE" in the form, with the title of the article you intend to nominate. under the date of the article's creation or expansion.
    • Screen shot your completed nomination and submit to Canvas when completed with the file name [LastName]PagePromtion.doc/.jpeg/.pdf/etc                    
    •  ***Bring a printed copy of the above items to class.***

Block description…

Assignment - Peer review

Due 9 pm Friday Oct 27.


  1. Take the Peer Review online training.
  2. Review "Evaluating Wikipedia"  and pages 7-15 of Editing Wikipedia before reading the contributions of your peers.
  3. Complete one copy of the Peer Review Rubric for each of the articles created by the students whose work you are reviewing. (Peer Review Rubric Forms are available on Canvas.)
  4. Please type your comments for each article you are reviewing onto a copy of the form available in Canvas. Be sure to note on the form the name of the person whose work you are reviewing, the reviewed article’s title, plus your name as the peer reviewer. Provide thoughtful and detailed comments that will help your peer group members improve their articles. Detailed constructive suggestions will help your classmates. [Examples from past years are available on Canvas.]  
  5. Add a summary of your comments on the Talk page of each article you are reviewing. Attach the summaries to the Peer Review Forms for each Article you review, and provide the link where your talk page comments may be found on the form).                                    
  6. *Label each file with your name and that of the person whose work you are reviewing as follows: [YourLastName]ReviewOf[AuthorLastName].docx, e.g. SmithReviewofJones.docx*
  7. Email the relevant, filled-out forms to each person whose work you have reviewed by the deadline. ***Bring two printed and stapled copies of each of your Peer Review forms to the class workshop, one for the person being reviewed and one for your instructor***

Note:  Any students who would like PJHC office assistance in printing their docs or who would like to use the PJHC printer may contact Hayley Green <hg16@rice.edu> to arrange a time during normal work hours on the DAY BEFORE the workshop to print their docs.   






Week 11

Course meetings
Tuesday, 31 October 2017   |   Thursday, 2 November 2017
Group Workshops

Workshop: Students will meet in class on Tuesday October 31 with their peer review groups to discuss their feedback on each others articles.  This class is required.


Week 12

Course meetings
Tuesday, 7 November 2017   |   Thursday, 9 November 2017
Assignment - Optional
Good Article Status submission

Deadline: Mon Nov 13

At this stage, you may consider nominating your article for Good Article Status. If you opt to seek Good Article status you must remove the nomination at the end of the semester if your article is unreviewed; or alternatively, you must commit to following up on the review after the end of the semester. (Not responding to reviews provided by Wikipedia editors to Good Article review nominations is disrespectful of the time the editors put into their reviews and suggestions.) 


  • Good Articles are articles that meet a high quality standard and have been approved by members of the Wikipedia community. If you choose this route, you will self-nominate your article for Good Article review and a Wikipedia editor may eventually provide your article with a review and feedback. The independent Wikipedia review process may take weeks or months and therefore achieving Good Article status is not required for the course.
  • First, peruse the Good Article Criteria found here. Then go to the Good Article Nominations page and follow the on-screen instructions for “How to Nominate an Article.” Your efforts in nominating your article (if appropriate) will be taken into account in your final project grade.

Week 13

Course meetings
Tuesday, 14 November 2017   |   Thursday, 16 November 2017
Assignment - Final Contribution

Due in class Thursday Nov 16 (See ** below.)

To complete:  Submit the following documents to Canvas by the deadline.   Bring a stapled, printed copy to class or to the PJHC office by noon on Thursday.

    • Any students who would like PJHC office assistance in printing their docs or to use the PJHC printer may contact Hayley Green <hg16@rice.edu> to arrange a time to print their docs. She is available Monday during normal work hours or on Tuesday prior to 12 pm.  Prior to the meeting, all docs should be correctly formatted with correct font size and settings and correctly uploaded to Canvas. Students who miss class that day must turn in copies by 9:25 am Thursday morning. **



  1. Final Contribution of at least 1500 words (see printing instructions below): [Filename:  <LastName>Final Contribution.docx or pdf)]
  2.  A revised description of the contributions you have made (including those made earlier) [Filename: <LastName>FinalContributionDescription.pdf (or .doc/.docx)]
  3. An outline of your article, showing with track changes all of the sections you have edited, deleted, or added for the complete assignment. Please include partial outlines for any subsidiary or additional articles you have edited. [Filename: <LastName>FinalContributionOutline.docx]. Be sure that balloons have been turned off in word before printing.]
  4. A list of all references in proper format that you have added to the article, separated by "Scholarly" and "NonScholarly."  [Filenname: <LastName>InitialReferences.docx]. There should be a minimum of fifteen new scholarly references.

For full credit, the files you submit must also contain the following features: 

  1. Correct filenames (see above)
  2. Documents must include: 
    • your name
    • page numbers
    • be doubled-spaced
    • be carefully proofed
    • preferred font - Baskerville, size 14 (or in a comparable size when printed)

______________________________________________________

Expand and revise your Wikipedia contributions in response to your peer review feedback and any comments posted to your User and Talk pages by other Wikipedia editors. For additional advice, read the handout provided below on Polishing your Article

Be proactive in seeking advice from editors in the Wikipedia community. Your expanded contribution should be a minimum of 1500 words, not including references. Additionally, you should have added to content to other pages as well to provide links and short summaries of the material on your page. By this stage, you should have added at least fifteen new references from scholarly sources. Additional references may come from non-scholarly sources, such as from news reports or governmental or NGO websites, but these do not count towards the required fifteen scholarly sources. 


  1. Double check that all assertions are appropriately supported and referenced 
    • As noted in various materials and in class, make sure you attribute claims to specific authors and studies in the text using in line citations where appropriate rather than just supporting specific assertions with footnotes. Review the brochures on citations, references, and on how to avoid plagiarism. Make sure your article does not copy the structure of any articles or books you are referencing or use inappropriate close paraphrasing.
  2. Add links and images 
    • The best Wikipedia articles have illustrations and images, link to other pages, and have other pages linking to them. Review the Training Module on Contributing Images and Media Files and the brochures Polishing your article and Illustrating Wikipedia for good advice on adding images and additional links.
  3.  Check permissions 
    • Check to make sure you have the requisite permissions for any images or illustrations.
  4.  Questions? 
    • If you have questions, seek out help from the course content expert, push the Get Help button, and access live tutorials, available at Tips and Resources.

See printing instructions below and note the submissions instructions at the top.


Handouts:



File and printing Instructions for Final Contribution:

Please prepare your final contributions to WIkipedia (including contributions to your main article and any made to other related articles, including links and references), following the instructions below.  


  •  If you created or rewrote an entire article, you can submit two documents: one with your final article and one of the original article.  If  you are the only person who has edited your article, take a screenshot or make a PDF (instructions below) of the entire article to submit. Please indicate in your Contribution Description that this is the case so it is clear that all the work you’re submitting is your own.
  • If you have only changed or added to part of the article, do not create a PDF that includes large amounts of text you have not contributed to.  In such cases, take screen shots of the parts you have contributed to or revised and compile those together in a word document or PDF.  
  • Please highlight the newest material you have added in a light color (e.g. Aqua or pale pink) so that the writing is readable when printed, while highlighting the previous edits in Yellow.  Overly bright highlights obscure words so be sure that all highlighting is pale when printed.  As noted, highlight your older contributions in Yellow.
  • Font size The font size must be large enough for me to easily read it when the PDF is printed (the equivalent of size 14). 
      • How to create legible PDF's and screenshots of a Wikipedia article***   You can create a PDF of a Wikipedia article by going to the Print/ Export area on the left-hand side of the Wikipedia page.  You will see three options; pick the one that says “Printable Version.” Click print to open the print dialogue box and then hit pdf to open print preview.  You can then take screen shots of the larger sized text that this window affords or save the entire article as a PDF.  You can read a brief description of how to do this at http://www.ehow(.)com/how6813102save-print-preview-pdf.html
  • Alternatively, you can take larger sized screen shots by zooming-in on the screen in Firefox and Google Chrome by  pressing “Control” or “Ctrl” and scrolling up. Then you can take your screenshot and the font will be larger.


      • Highlighting***   The highlighting can be done in three ways: highlighting in Word; taking a screenshot of your article on Wikipedia and highlighting; or making a PDF of your article and highlighting.  


Highlighting Changes on PDFs on MACs 

  1. Open the PDF in preview.
  2. Click tools, then annotate, then highlight text.
  3. In the toolbar, you will see a color square. Select the correct color for the assignment.        YELLOW for your previous contributions; AQUA or pale PINK for the most recent.
  4. You can now highlight all sentence level changes you made. This will permit you to easily show which changes are yours and which are not. 
      • More detail re screenshots***   On a MAC For a selected screenshot, hold “command” and “shift” and then press 4. Use your cursor to then select the area to screenshot.

For a full screenshot, hold “command” and “shift” and then press 3.
The screenshots save to your desktop and can be renamed to .jpg or .pdf (they default as .png files).
On a PC Please follow the steps provided at this link: http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Screenshot-in-Microsoft-Windows

Week 14

Course meetings
Tuesday, 21 November 2017   |   Thursday, 23 November 2017
Assignment - Reflective Essay

Due Tuesday Nov 21 by 2 pm

To complete:  Submit the following documents to Canvas by the deadline.   Bring a stapled, printed copy to the PJHC office by 2 pm on Tuesday.

    • Any students who would like PJHC office assistance in printing their docs or to use the PJHC printer may contact Hayley Green <hg16@rice.edu> to arrange a time to print their docs. She is available Monday during normal work hours or on Tuesday prior to 12 pm.  Prior to the meeting, all docs should be correctly formatted with correct font size and settings and correctly uploaded to Canvas. **


Reflective Essay of at least 800 words (see printing instructions below): [Filename:  <LastName>Reflection.docx or pdf)]


______________________________________________________



Write a reflective essay (3-5 pages) on your Wikipedia experience.  Although this essay will naturally reference some details from your Contribution Description, it should take an essay format and should be deeply reflective about your Wikipedia experience.  


For full credit, the file you submit must also contain the following features:


  1.  Correct filename: [Label the file: LastName]Reflection.docx]
  2. Document must include: 
    • your name
    • page numbers
    • be doubled-spaced
    • be carefully proofed
    • preferred font - Baskerville, size 14
  3. In addition to submitting to Canvas, bring a printed copy to class on the due date.