Jump to content

Education/Syllabi/zh

Add links
From Outreach Wiki
This page is a translated version of the page Education/Syllabi and the translation is 8% complete.
Other languages:


Before you delve into the specifics of syllabus construction, you may want to consult the “Instructor Basics” and “Case Studies” brochures to get a better idea of best practices, what learning objectives the assignments can achieve, and how you might want to grade a Wikipedia assignment. You are also highly encouraged to go through the online orientation for educators.

This page provides a full-term sample syllabus for a major Wikipedia writing assignment, incorporating many of the best practices for such projects. You can use it as a starting point for your own Wikipedia assignments, or take bits and pieces to adapt to your course.

This sample syllabus is for a 12-week assignment to write Wikipedia articles. For syllabi using other Wikipedia assignments, see the Case Studies brochure.

The Syllabus (12-week timeline)

Download the printable PDF version of this sample syllabus.

Wikipedia assignments work best when you introduce them early in the term, since the students need to acquaint themselves with the technology. Knowing what they are preparing themselves for makes learning the ins and outs of Wikipedia relevant.

Try to integrate your Wikipedia assignment with the course themes. Engage your students with questions of media fluency and knowledge construction throughout your course.

Before your class begins, you'll need to create a course page on Wikipedia. Course pages are typically used to explain—to both students and the Wikipedia community—the details of your Wikipedia assignments, to keep track of which students are in the class and which articles they are working on, and to ask questions and discuss problems. For details on how to set up a course page, see the “Welcome to the Wikipedia Education Program” brochure or go to the page Wikipedia Course pages on the English Wikipedia.

Week 1: Wikipedia essentials

When you’re introducing your class and going over the syllabus, be sure to let students know they’ll be working on Wikipedia this term. This can be a good time to talk about their preconceived notions of Wikipedia and see if any students have edited in the past.

课堂上
  • Overview of the course
  • Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
  • Handout: Editing Wikipedia (also available in print from the Wikimedia Foundation)
Assignment (due week 2)
  • Start the online student orientation. During this training, you will create an account, make edits in a sandbox, and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.

Week 2: Editing basics

It is important to get students editing Wikipedia right away so that they become familiar with the MediaWiki markup ("wikisyntax", "wikimarkup", or "wikicode"). As the instructor, you have several options to teach them this technical material. You can teach it yourself, invite Wikipedia's Campus Ambassadors and/or local Wikipedians to do so, or contact a teaching and technology center on your campus and ask for their assistance. You can also assign students to complete a standard online training. We suggest that, however you choose to do this, you have the students learn the basics of editing, the anatomy of an article, and ways to select articles suitable for the assignment.

课堂上
Assignments (due week 3)
  • Complete the online training for students.
  • Create a user page, and sign up on the list of students on the course page.
  • To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to any Wikipedians helping your class (such as a Wikipedia Ambassador), and leave a message for a classmate on their user talk page.
Milestone
  • All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.

Week 3: Exploring the topic area

It is critical for students to begin researching their Wikipedia topics early in the term. Finding topics with the right balance between lack of prior good Wikipedia coverage and available literature from which to build new Wikipedia coverage can be tricky. As an alternative to assigning students to propose Wikipedia topics to write about, you may wish to prepare a list of appropriate non-existent or underdeveloped articles ahead of time. This requires more preparation but gets students to the point of researching and writing their articles sooner.

课堂上
Assignments (due week 4)
  • Critically evaluate an existing Wikipedia article related to the class, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article’s talk page.
  • Research and list 3–5 articles on your Wikipedia user page that you will consider working on as your main project. Ask your instructor for comment.
Getting help

When things go wrong—students’ articles are challenged, students get into arguments with other editors, or you or the students are simply unsure about how to solve a problem—you should seek out help immediately.

If there are experienced Wikipedians working with your class (such as Online Ambassadors), try asking them first. You can post problems and questions to the “Education noticeboard”. For guidance getting started for either you or your students, try the Teahouse, a friendly space for new editors. The online orientation highlights other places you can go for help.

Week 4: Using sources

As they start using sources to improve Wikipedia articles, it is especially important for students to understand Wikipedia’s policies on plagiarism and copyright violation. Student generally know that copying whole paragraphs or sentences from sources constitutes plagiarism. But many don't know about—or think they can get away with—subtler forms of plagiarism, such as using shorter phrases without attribution or beginning from a copied text and simply rewording it while leaving the structure and meaning intact (i.e., close paraphrasing). Any form of plagiarism or copyright violation is likely to result in students' work being removed from Wikipedia.

课堂上
  • Handouts: “Referencing on Wikipedia” and “Understanding Wikipedia’s copyright policy”
Assignment (due week 5)
  • Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the class.
For next week
  • Instructor evaluates student's article selections, by week 5.
You're the expert

Applying your own expertise to Wikipedia’s coverage of your field will be key to a successful assignment. You understand the broader intellectual context where individual topics fit in, you can recognize where Wikipedia falls short, you know—or know how to find—the relevant literature, and you know what topics your students should be able to handle. So your guidance on article choice and sourcing is critical for both your students’ success and the improvement of Wikipedia.

Week 5: Choosing articles

By this week, ideally, you have evaluated the students' article choices and given them feedback, helping them to choose articles that are appropriate for the assignment. Because students often wait until the last minute to do their research or choose sources unsuited for Wikipedia, we strongly suggest that the students put together a bibliography of materials they want to use in editing the article which can then be assessed by you and other Wikipedians.

课堂上
  • Discuss the range of topics students will be working on and strategies for researching and writing about them.
Assignments (due week 6)
  • Select an article to work on, removing the rest from your user page. Add your article to the class’s course page.
  • Compile a bibliography of relevant research and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on. Begin reading the sources.

Week 6: Drafting starter articles

Once students have gotten somewhat of a grip on their topics and the sources they will use to write about them, it’s time to start writing on Wikipedia. You can assign them to jump right in and edit live or start in their own sandboxes. There are pros and cons to each approach.

Pros and cons to sandboxes: Sandboxes make students feel safe because they can edit without the pressure of the whole world reading their drafts or other Wikipedians altering their writing. However, sandbox editing limits many of the unique aspects of using Wikipedia as a teaching tool, such as collaborative writing and incremental drafting. Spending more than a week or two in sandboxes is strongly discouraged.

Pros and cons to editing live: Editing live is exciting for the students because they can see their changes to the articles immediately and experience the collaborative editing process throughout the assignment. However, because new editors often unintentionally break Wikipedia rules, sometimes students’ additions are questioned or removed.

课堂上
  • Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
  • Q&A session with instructor and/or Wikipedia Ambassadors about

interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.

Assignments (due week 7)
  • 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, write a summary version reflecting the content the article will have after it's been improved, and post this along with a brief description of your plans on the article’s talk page.
  • 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.
Milestone
  • All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.

Week 7: Moving articles to the main space

Whether students are starting new articles or expanding existing articles, it’s critical to get them working live on Wikipedia as soon as possible. Short summary versions for new articles (and short existing articles that have been expanded five-fold) are great starting points for working live in main space.

课堂上
Assignments (due week 8)
  • Move sandbox articles into main space.
  • Optional: For new articles or qualifying expansions of stubs, compose a one-sentence “hook,” nominate it for “Did you know,” and monitor the nomination for any issues identified by other editors.
  • Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.
Wikipedia processes

Advanced students’ articles may qualify for submission to Did You Know, a section on Wikipedia’s main page featuring new content. Submitting articles to DYK will probably be your class’s first major contact with Wikipedia’s behind-the-scenes article processes. We strongly recommend either trying this yourself beforehand, or working closely with one or more experienced Wikipedians to help your students navigate the process smoothly.

If your students are working on a related set of articles, it may be good to combine multiple article nominations into a single hook; this helps keep your students’ work from swamping the process or antagonizing the editors who maintain it.

Week 8: Building articles

At this point, many students will have ‘gotten it’, and have a clear understanding of how to move forward. From there, the most important thing is giving feedback, both on the work they’re doing—what is missing, what sources could be used to improve it, whether the balance is appropriate—and on how to keep within Wikipedia’s guidelines, particularly Neutral Point of View and No Original Research.

Other students may have stumbled with some element of getting their initial work live on Wikipedia. This is the key point to identify where students are having trouble—whether from negative reactions from other editors, technical hang-ups, problems finding good sources and using them appropriately, plagiarism, or something else. This is a good time to do a quick scan (at least) of what each student has contributed so far.

Workshop in class or outside of class
Assignments (due week 9)
  • Expand your article into an initial draft of a comprehensive treatment of the topic.
  • Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copy-edit. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet.)

Week 9: Getting and giving feedback

Collaboration is a critical element of contributing to Wikipedia. For some students, this will happen spontaneously; their choice of topics will attract interested Wikipedians who will pitch in with ideas, copy-edits, or even substantial contributions to the students’ articles. Online Ambassadors who take a strong interest in the topics students are working on can make great collaborators. In many cases, however, there will be little spontaneous editing of students’ articles before the end of the term. Fortunately, a class full of fellow learners is a great pool of peer reviewers. You can make the most of this by assigning students to review each others’ articles soon after full-length drafts are posted, to give students plenty of time to act on the advice of their peers.

课堂上
  • As a group, have the students offer suggestions for improving one or two of the students' articles, setting the example for what is expected from a solid encyclopedia article.
Assignments (due week 10)
  • Peer review two of your classmates' articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
  • Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.
Milestone
  • All articles have been reviewed by others. All students have reviewed articles by their classmates.

Week 10: Responding to feedback

At this point, students should have produced nearly complete articles. Now is the chance to encourage them to wade a little deeper into Wikipedia and its norms and criteria for great content. You’ll probably have discussed many of the core principles of Wikipedia—and related issues you want to focus on—but now that they’ve experienced first-hand how Wikipedia works, this is a good time to return to topics like neutrality, media fluency, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia. Consider bringing in a guest speaker, having a panel discussion, or simply having an open discussion amongst the class about what the students have done so far and why (or whether) it matters.

课堂上
  • Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy,

and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.

Assignments (due week 11)
  • Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.

Week 11: Class presentations

Having students explicitly reflect on their experiences with Wikipedia, through presentations and/or reflective essays, can help draw out and solidify what they’ve learned about Wikipedia in particular and media literacy and research more generally. Such assignments, when they include explicit summaries or documentation of what students did or tried to do on Wikipedia, can also serve as the lens for evaluating and grading students’ Wikipedia work.

课堂上
  • Students give in-class presentations about their experiences editing Wikipedia.
Assignments (due week 12)
  • Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.
  • Write a reflective essay (2-5 pages) on your Wikipedia contributions.

Week 12: Due date

You made it!

Milestone
  • Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading, and have submitted reflective essays.

Grading

This is a basic grading scheme appropriate for a syllabus similar to this one. For more ideas on how to grade Wikipedia assignments, see the grading rubrics section of the Wikipedia as a Teaching Tool brochure.

  • 5% each (x3): Participation grade for early Wikipedia exercises
  • 10%: Participation in class blog or class discussions
  • 10%: Peer reviews and collaboration with classmates
  • 50%: Quality of your main Wikipedia contributions
  • 15%: Reflective essay

Syllabus collection from past terms

If you have a syllabus you would like to share that includes a Wikipedia assignment you conducted, please email it to us: education﹫wikimedia.org
  • Johannes Bauer's syllabus – Michigan State University Professor Johannes Bauer used Wikipedia in his master's level Telecom Policy Analysis course in Spring 2011. For Wikipedia-specific assignments, see the course page.
  • Chris Cooper's syllabus – Western Carolina University Professor Chris Cooper used Wikipedia in his master's level Policy Analysis course in Spring 2011. For Wikipedia-specific assignments, see the course page.
  • Carol Dwyer's syllabus – Syracuse University Professor Carol Dwyer used Wikipedia in her undergraduate Wikipedia and Public Policy course in Spring 2011. For Wikipedia-specific assignments, see the course page.
  • Robin Kelley's syllabus – Georgetown University Professor Robin Kelley used Wikipedia in her undergraduate Women's Health and Human Rights course in Spring 2011. For Wikipedia-specific assignments, see the course page.
  • Piotr Konieczny's boilerplate course plan - the latest version of a Wikipedia assignment that Wikipedian Piotrus has been using and refining since 2006. This multi-stage assignment includes individual assignments designed to teach student how to edit Wikipedia leading to a major group project in which students create or improve a Wikipedia article with the final goal of achieving the "Good Article" community-awarded status.
  • Byron Price's syllabus – Texas Southern University Professor Byron Price used Wikipedia in his undergraduate public affairs seminar in Spring 2011.
  • Kristin Ruppel's syllabus – Montana State University Professor Kristin Ruppel used Wikipedia in her undergraduate/graduate mixed level Federal Indian Policy and Law course in Spring 2011. For Wikipedia-specific assignments, see the course page.
  • Leigh Themadatter's syllabus – Advanced (Sello B) English Students at ITESM- Campus Ciudad de México based their semester's work on various Wikipedia-based projects.
  • David Weil's syllabus – Boston University Professor David Weil used Wikipedia in his master's level Public Policy Analysis course in Spring 2011. For Wikipedia-specific assignments, see the course page.
Retrieved from "https://outreach.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Education/Syllabi/zh&oldid=235486"