Wikipedia:School and university projects/Piotrus course intro boilerplate: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:28, 5 May 2011

Revision as of 22:21, 5 May 2011

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<'''replace all dates with dates for your course, I am leaving the dates below to give you an idea of a time ranges I used for a course in which students had slightly over a month to work on this assignment. Also, keep in mind that this list of deadlines is very specific with regards to particular sub-assignments, and contains some grading elements'''>

* On Monday, May 10, we will have a segment introducing this assignment. Students who by that time have created a Wikipedia account and made at least one constructive edit to Wikipedia will receive an {{fontcolor|green|extra credit}} point (1P) (please share this edit with the class during the lecture, after I introduce the Wiki assignment)

* '''Start'''. Get familiar with Wikipedia. Make some trial edits, however minor. Demystify the process. Leave behind any sense of intimidation. As Wikipedia puts it, learn to '''[[Wikipedia:Be_bold|be bold]]'''. Learn [[Wikipedia:Cheatsheet|basic editing skllls]]. The three students who have made the highest amount of constructive edits to Wikipedia by next Monday (the 17th) (mainspace edits or constructive talk page comments count) will receive an extra two credit points (2P).

* By Monday, May 17, everyone should have [[Wikipedia:Why create an account?|created a Wikipedia account]], finished the [[WP:TUTORIAL|Wikipedia Tutorial]] (including making an edit in the Wikipeida Tutorial Sandbox) (1P), made at least one constructive edit to a Wikipedia article (outside the sandbox - subject doesn't matter) (1P), make a constructive comment to a Wikipedia's article discussion page (1P), [[#Editors in course|joined a group (that includes adding yourself to the linked section below)]] <'''you will want to replace the word course in the preceding link with your course name if you change the "Editors in course" section name below'''> (1P) and informed the course instructor <(Piotr Konieczny - [[User:Piotrus]] ([[User_talk:Piotrus]]) '''replace Piotrus with instructor username here'''> about your account name, which group you've joined and the edit(s) you made (1P). You should do so by leaving a message on the course instructor [[WP:TALKPAGE|talk page]]. '''Finishing this assignment on time is worth 5% of the course grade.''' If you successfully post a [[Help:Diff|diff of your edit]] to <[[User talk:Piotrus|the instructor's Wikipedia talk page]] '''replace Piotrus with instructor username here'''>you will earn one {{fontcolor|green|extra credit}} point (1P).

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* '''Research'''. This is vital. A wikipedia article is worth nothing unless it comprises verified research, appropriately referenced. This will entail going to the library, as well as surfing the internet!

* '''Assemble''' and '''copy-edit'''. As the referenced research is added to an article, we need to ensure that it does not become baggy and disorganized, though there will be moments when it is obviously in a transitional stage.

* As yet another {{fontcolor|green|extra credit}} 5P (!) activity, by Monday, May 31, you can nominate your article for [[Wikipedia:Did you know]]. All group members who were involved with significantly improving the article up to this point will receive 5P each IF the article is approved by the Did You Know reviewer. You are more then welcome to see me during the office hours to talk about how to get your article passed for the Did You Know. Getting an article to appear on the front page is ''cool'', and it has been done many times by [[Wikipedia:Ambassadors/Courses/Trophy case 2011|your peers]]. Why not give it a try? ([http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Classroom_handout_-_Submitting_an_article_to_the_Did_You_Know_process.pdf Here] is a link to a useful handout])

* '''Informal Reviews'''. By Saturday, June 5, each of your members should look at an article being developed by others, review it on that article's talk page, and write a summary for your own group (on your own article's talk page) saying whether anything that group has done is valuable for you. You should try to review different articles if possible. '''Finishing this assignment on time is worth 5% of the course grade.'''

* '''''[[Wikipedia:GAN|Good article nomination]]'''''. By Monday, June 7, at the latest as there's a backlog of articles to be reviewed, and because a nomination can easily be put on hold until the article is improved in line with a reviewer's suggestions.

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;Plagiarism and copyvio warning

Plagiarism is not only against university's and course policies, it is also against Wikipedia policies (see [[WP:PLAGIARISM]]). And attributing somebody doesn't mean [[cut and paste]] jobs are allowed ([[WP:COPYVIO]]). Violations of plagiarism/copyvio policies will result in lower grade and other sanctions (per university's policy). Please note that the course instructor is not the only person checking constantly for plagiarism and copyright violations; the Good Article reviewer will do so as well, and Wikipedia has a specialized group of volunteers specializing in checking new contributions for those very problems (you don't want your work to appear [[Wikipedia:Suspected copyright violations|here]] or [[Wikipedia:Copyright problems|here]]!). In particular, note that extensive quoting is not allowed, and changing just a few words is still a copyvio (it doesn't matter if you attribute the source). Bottom line, you are expected to read, digest information, and summarize it in your own words (but with a source). For more info see: [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/PlagiarismHandout.pdf this plagiarism handout], [[Wikipedia:Copy-paste]], [[Wikipedia:Quotations]], [[Wikipedia:Close paraphrasing]], [http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/01/ a guide from Purdue University].

;Getting extra help

You can always ask the course instructor for help. You should not hesitate to ask your fellow students from other groups for help, for example if you see they have mastered some editing trick you have yet to learn. We are here to collaborate, not compete. If you can lobby and get help/assistance/advice from other editors to improve your work (for example by using [[Wikipedia:New contributors' help page]], [[Wikipedia:Requests for feedback]], [[Wikipedia:Peer review]], [[Wikipedia:Help desk]] or [[Wikipedia:Reference desk]]), I am perfectly fine with it. Be bold and show initiative, it usually helps. See also [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Classroom_handout_-_How_to_get_help.pdf "how to get help" handout].

<'''your policies towards getting extra help may differ...'''>

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* remember its a collaborative assignments. Work with your colleagues from the first day on a single wiki-draft. Groups whose members work alone and try to combine their parts a day or so before the final submission don't do very well.

* don't focus solely on your own sections. Help your teammates by proofreading their section, see if they have trouble with things you've figured out.

* image questions? See [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/UploadingImagesHandout.pdf this image uploading handout], [[Wikipedia:Images]], and in particular, the [[Wikipedia:Finding images tutorial]] and the [[Wikipedia:Picture tutorial]]. Try to avoid looking for images on "the web", focus on the Wikipedia's sister project, [[Wikimedia Commons]], which has millions of images that can be used on Wikipedia without any restrictions.

* reference questions? See [[Wikipedia_talk:School_and_university_projects/User:Piotrus/Fall_2009#Using_templates_and_.3Cref_name.3D_.3E_makes_it_much_easier|here]] on how to add footnotes and proper references to your article