Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Southern Maine Community College/BIOM 255 Ecology (Spring 2016)
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- Course name
- BIOM 255 Ecology
- Institution
- Southern Maine Community College
- Instructor
- Megan McCuller
- Wikipedia Expert
- Ian (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- Ecology
- Course dates
- 2016-01-19 – 2016-05-14
- Approximate number of student editors
- 14
This one-semester course covers the basic principles of general ecology: the physical environment, populations, communities, ecosystems, and global issues. Fundamentals of the scientific method, the impact of limiting factors, biogeochemical cycles, and the significance of human activity will also be stressed. Sampling techniques are described and practiced during the laboratory. Where appropriate, marine examples are used to demonstrate these concepts.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 19 January 2016 | Thursday, 21 January 2016
Week 2
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 26 January 2016 | Thursday, 28 January 2016
- In class - Wikipedia essentials
- Overview of the course
- Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
- Understanding Wikipedia as a community, we'll discuss its expectations and etiquette.
Handout: Editing Wikipedia
- In class - Editing basics
- Basics of editing
- Anatomy of Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how to distinguish between good and bad articles
- Collaborating and engaging with the Wiki editing community
- Tips on finding the best articles to work on for class assignments
Handouts: Using Talk Pages, Evaluating Wikipedia
- In class - Exploring the topic area
- Be prepared to discuss some of your observations about Wikipedia articles in your topic area that are missing or could use improvement.
Handouts: Choosing an article
- Milestones
All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.
- Assignment - Practicing the basics
- Create an account and join this course page.
- Complete the introductory training modules. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
- Create a User page.
- To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to another student on their user talk page.
- Explore topics related to your topic area 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.
- Assignment - Choosing your article
- Your instructor has created a list of potential topics for your main project. Choose the one you will work on.
- Compile a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on. Begin reading the sources. Make sure to check in on the talk page (or watchlist) to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.
- Assignment - Add to an article
- Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the class.
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 2 February 2016 | Thursday, 4 February 2016
- In class - Using sources
- Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.
Handouts: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
Supplementary training: [[../../../training/students/sources|Sources and Citations]]
- In class - Discuss the article topics
- Discuss the topics students will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them.
Supplementary training: [[../../../training/students/sandboxes|Sandboxes and Mainspace]]
Week 4
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 9 February 2016 | Thursday, 11 February 2016
- Assignment - Drafting starter articles
- If you are starting a new article, write a 3–4 paragraph summary version of your article—with citations—in your Wikipedia sandbox. If you are improving an existing article, create a detailed outline reflecting your proposed changes, and post this for community feedback, along with a brief description of your plans, on the article’s talk page. Make sure to check back on the talk page often and engage with any responses.
- Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your short starter article and fix any major issues,
- Continue research in preparation for expanding your article.
Week 5
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 16 February 2016 | Thursday, 18 February 2016
- In class - Wikipedia culture and etiquette
- Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
- Q&A session with instructor about interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.
- In class - Moving articles to mainspace
- We'll discuss moving your article out of your sandboxes and into Wikipedia's main space.
- A general reminder: Don't panic if your contribution disappears, and don't try to force it back in.
- 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.
- Contact your instructor or Wikipedia Content Expert and let them know.
Handout: Moving out of your Sandbox
- Milestones
All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.
- Assignment - Moving articles to mainspace
- Move your sandbox articles into main space.
- If you are expanding an existing article, copy your edit into the article. 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 large sections of the existing article.
- If you are creating a new article, 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.
- Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.
Week 6
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 23 February 2016 | Thursday, 25 February 2016
- In class - Building articles
- Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
- Share experiences and discuss problems.
Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia
Week 7
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 1 March 2016 | Thursday, 3 March 2016
- Assignment - Choose articles to peer review
- Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the table at the bottom of this course page, add your username next to the articles you will peer review. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet.)
Week 8
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 8 March 2016 | Thursday, 10 March 2016
- Assignment - Complete first draft
- Expand your article into a complete first draft.
Week 9
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 15 March 2016 | Thursday, 17 March 2016
- In class - Group suggestions
- As a group, offer suggestions for improving one or two other students' articles, based on your ideas of what makes a solid encyclopedia article.
Supplementary training: [[../../../training/students/peer-review|Peer Review]]
- Assignment - Peer review and copyedit
- Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
- Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.
Week 10
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 29 March 2016 | Thursday, 31 March 2016
- In class - Media literacy discussion
- Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
- Assignment - Address peer review suggestions
- Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.
Week 11
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 5 April 2016 | Thursday, 7 April 2016
Week 12
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 12 April 2016 | Thursday, 14 April 2016
- In class - Discuss further article improvements
- Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for each article for next week.
- Assignment - Continue improving articles
- Return to your classmates' articles you previously reviewed, and provide more suggestions for further improvement. If there is a disagreement, suggest a compromise.
- Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on your classmates' suggestions and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.
Week 13
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 19 April 2016 | Thursday, 21 April 2016
- Assignment - Prepare for in-class presentation
- Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.
- Assignment - Final article
- Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.
Handout: Polishing your article
Week 14
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 26 April 2016 | Thursday, 28 April 2016
- In class - In-class presentation
- Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.
Week 15
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 3 May 2016 | Thursday, 5 May 2016
- Milestones
Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.
Week 16
- Course meetings
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- Tuesday, 10 May 2016 | Thursday, 12 May 2016