Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of California, Santa Cruz/Constitutional Meanings and Movements (Spring 2018)
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- Course name
- Constitutional Meanings and Movements
- Institution
- University of California, Santa Cruz
- Instructor
- ELIZABETH BEAUMONT
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- U.S. constitutional development; social movements and legal/const'l change
- Course dates
- 2018-04-02 00:00:00 UTC – 2018-06-14 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 12
We will consider how American constitutionalism has shaped and been shaped by influential civic groups and movements from the 18th century to the present – from American Revolutionaries, Anti-federalists and Federalists, to Black and White abolitionists and Women Suffragists, to the Civil Rights and Labor movements, to modern Environmental, TEA party, Same-sex marriage, Dreamers, and Immigrant’s rights movements. We will examine how these groups, together with the U.S. Supreme Court and political officials, have shaped important developments, including the scope of freedom of expression, the boundaries and rights of citizenship, the meaning of equal protection of the law, and the uses and limits of political power.
In addition to considering legal cases and judicial doctrines, we will examine the different constitutional understandings and uses of law that groups and movements adopt as they attempt to frame claims, mobilize and build movements, and work toward goals. We will also consider questions and concerns raised by critics, such as whether focusing on law or attempting to work with legal frameworks drains social movements of democratic energy and passion, and whether turning to law and courts produces only narrow or symbolic victories or tends to provoke backlash.
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
-
- Friday, 6 April 2018
- In class - Introduction to Wikipedia Writing Project
- For Discussion F 4/6
Welcome to your Wikipedia project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for the course by breaking down the process into steps, including online trainings to help you get started.
For this senior seminar, you will undertake a research and writing project on a topic of your choice that includes two major components:
a) Expanding an existing Wikipedia article or creating a new one by developing fact- and research-based material written in a neutral tone.
b) Completing an 8-10 page analytical research paper (your senior paper) -- this will go well beyond your Wikipedia article to advance your own ideas, analysis, and arguments, as well as your original research about your topic.
Why include a Wikipedia project rather than just writing a senior paper? Wikipedia has become one of the most influential portals for internet-based research — providing readers across the world with information about a sweeping range of topics. For many people, Wikipedia has become the "go-to" source for initial information. Contributing to an article is an exciting way to contribute to the development of free and public human knowledge.
The overarching goals for the Wikipedia article component of your research project include:
- Making your own learning experience more powerful and meaningful by connecting it to the production of high quality public knowledge, and
- Helping to make Wikipedia a more effective and inclusive information tool by helping to bring relevant scholarly research to a broad audience, including those who lack access to these educational resources.
This course has been assigned a Wikipedia 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 short handouts:
- Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- In class - Discussion
- Choosing Project Topics, Forming Groups, Setting goals
Which topic/movement do you want to work on? Try to form a group with 2-3 people who will work together on this topic. Each of you is expected to contribute equally to the Wikipedia project as well as writing your own 8-10 page (2000-2500 words) final paper.
Goal-setting: What do we want to contribute/accomplish?
Start considering what makes a "good" Wikipedia article, and some goals to set for contributing a new article or adding to an existing article.
- "Content Gaps," Inclusive Authorship/Contributorship, and Neutrality
- Wikipedians refer to "content gaps." What might a content gap be, and what are possible ways to identify them?
- What are some reasons a content gap might arise? What are some ways to remedy them?
- Does it matter who writes Wikipedia? Could gaps in the types of authors/contributors or their educational backgrounds or interests relate to content gaps?
- What do you think of Wikipedia's definition of "neutrality"? What does it mean to try to be "unbiased" on Wikipedia? How is that different, or similar, to your own definition of "bias"?
- 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?
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 website as the main source of information about that company?
- What is the difference between a copyright violation and plagiarism?
- What are some good techniques to avoid close paraphrasing and plagiarism?
- Assignment - Assignment
- Wikipedia Training - Get started on Wikipedia
- Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (To avoid hitting Wikipedia's account creation limits, this is best done outside of class. Only 6 new accounts may be created per day from the same IP address.)
- It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! Incomplete trainings will be reflected in your grade.
- When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.
- Milestones
Week 2
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 9 April 2018 | Wednesday, 11 April 2018
- Assignment - Identify sources, begin reading and note-taking
Students will use the library's resources to compile a list of at least 5 relevant, reliable books, journal articles, court cases, pieces of legislation, newspaper articles, or other credible sources. Identify at least 5 high quality scholarly or fact-based sources you will use for your research project (both Wikipedia article and final paper). 1 of them should be from our course syllabus readings (there are also some . Begin reading and taking notes, and post your selected sources to Canvas as soon as you've identified them, but no later than F 4/27.
- Assignment - Choose a Wikipedia Article and Set Up "Sandbox" for Your Group
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
- Look up 3 potential Wikipedia articles related to your topic that you might want to update. Review the content of the articles and check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians are already contributing. Think about which areas you could improve or add to for each.
- Choose 1 article to tackle. (You can consider whether to create an article from scratch if there isn't something relevant available, but this is unlikely). Group members should decide which article they want to work on, and share their final choice with the instructor and class. Be prepared to explain why you chose it and your goals.
- Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
- On the Students tab of this page, each student should assign their chosen article to themselves
- Select one group member whose Sandbox space you'll all share to draft your article. (It will be titled something like User:Diderot/sandbox.) Each person should link to that shared Sandbox from their own Sandbox page. A sandbox is like any other page on Wikipedia, and anyone can edit it.
- Wikipedia doesn't handle multiple people editing from different devices at the same time very well. If you're working together in person, one person should add the work to the Sandbox. If you are all working independently, make small edits and save often to avoid "editing conflicts" with classmates. Make sure that you're logged in under your own Wikipedia account while editing in your classmate's sandbox to ensure your edits are recorded.
- Don't create a group account for your project. Group accounts are prohibited.
- Read Guide(s) for writing Wikipedia articles in your topic area
Please skim the following guide to gain a better sense of how to write a good Wikipedia article.
[https://wikiedu.org/political_science Political Science
]
Week 3
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 16 April 2018 | Wednesday, 18 April 2018 | Friday, 20 April 2018
- Assignment - Practice Contributing to a Wikipedia Article related to a Class Readings
Practice editing a Wikipedia article related to class by using one of the readings (book or article) assigned on the syllabus from Weeks 1-3:
1. Choose 1-2 important sentences from a class reading to add to a relevant Wikipedia article based on the reading, and
2. Cite that statement by adding a citation/reference to the book or article, as you learned in the online training.
(Review Editing Basics training to help you through this).
- Assignment - Evaluate Your Article; Brainstorm Possible Additions
Create a section in your sandbox (individual or group) titled "Article evaluation" where you'll leave notes about your observations and learnings.
- As you read the article, consider the following questions as a starting point (but don't feel limited to these):
- Is everything in it relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
- Does the article seem neutral or not overtly biased? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
- Do any important subtopics seem missing or sketchy?
- Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
- Check a few citations. Do they seem high quality? Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
- Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
- Does any information seem out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
- Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
- How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
- Does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic include the types of information and perspectives we've been reading about and discussing in class?
- In your sandbox, write a few sentences about what you'd like to contribute to the selected article. What can you add or improve? Post some of your ideas to the article's talk page, too.
- As you identify sources, post ideas for sources/bibliography to the talk page of the article you'll be working on, and in your sandbox. Make sure to check the Talk page to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.
- Begin writing a set of initial ideas/suggestions for expansion or improvement -- this can be a 1-page set of bullet points and/or short paragraphs explaining what you plan to work on. Post this to Canvas Assignments.
Week 4
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 23 April 2018 | Wednesday, 25 April 2018
- Assignment - Read sources, Take notes, Submit Annotated Bibliography
You've picked a topic and have been working on identifying sources. Now it's time to start reading your sources, taking good notes, and planning your writing.
Note-taking
- As you read, take notes from each source that you can use for your Wikipedia article and/or your paper. Your notes should include both what you consider the most interesting elements, arguments, or perspectives, and what seem to be the most important factual information.
- Organize these notes into an Annotated Bibliography a 1/2-3/4 page (single-spaced) summary of each source, key points, and any particular information, facts, quotations you want to include in your Wikipedia article or your final paper.
Planning to improve an existing article?
- Identify what's missing from the current form of the article. Think back to the skills you learned while critiquing an article. Make notes for improvement and start drafting new sections or additions in your sandbox.
Planning to create a new article?
- Write an outline of that topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia article's "lead section." Write it in your sandbox.
- A "lead" section is not a traditional introduction. It should summarize, very briefly, what the rest of the article will say in detail. The first paragraph should include important, broad facts about the subject. A good example is Ada Lovelace. See Editing Wikipedia page 9 for more ideas.
Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 30 April 2018 | Wednesday, 2 May 2018 | Friday, 4 May 2018
- Assignment - Complete First Draft of Wikipedia article/additions
- Complete your first draft and ask a Wikipedia Expert to review your draft by clicking the "Get Help" button in your sandbox to request notes.
- Post to Canvas
Week 6
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 7 May 2018 | Wednesday, 9 May 2018
- Assignment - Paper Outline/Roadmap due (post to Canvas)
See instructions on Canvas
Week 7
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 14 May 2018 | Wednesday, 16 May 2018 | Friday, 18 May 2018
- Assignment - Draft paper due for in-class peer review session F 5/18
Week 8
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 21 May 2018 | Wednesday, 23 May 2018
- Assignment - Revise and Submit your Wikipedia article
Improve your draft article based on any feedback and your own critique.
- Read Editing Wikipedia pages 12 and 14.
- Make sure that the format and tone of the article match Wikipedia's standards.
- Editing Wikipedia page 12 shows how you can create links from your article to others, and from other articles to your own. Try to link to 3–5 articles, and link to your article from 2–3 other articles.
- Optional: If you'd like to try to use/include an image, read the training module on contributing images.
When you've finalized your article, move your work to Wikipedia proper - the "mainspace."
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
Editing an existing article?
- NEVER copy and paste your draft of an article over the entire article. Instead, edit small sections at a time.
- Copy your edits into the article. Make many small edits, saving each time, and leaving an edit summary. Never replace more than one to two sentences without saving!
- Be sure to copy text from your sandbox while the sandbox page is in 'Edit' mode. This ensures that the formatting is transferred correctly.
Creating a new article?
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 13, and follow those steps to move your article from your Sandbox to Mainspace.
- You can also review the Sandboxes and Mainspace online training.
- Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!
Week 9
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 28 May 2018 | Wednesday, 30 May 2018 | Friday, 1 June 2018
- Assignment - Revise Paper and Prepare for in-class presentation
Week 10
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 4 June 2018 | Wednesday, 6 June 2018 | Friday, 8 June 2018
- In class - In-class research presentation
Provide a short presentation of your Research Project and Paper, including a written "Talking points Memo" covering the following:
a) A short summary of your topic, why you chose it, the argument/perspective you developed in your paper, one aspect of the topic that you think most people don't know (or a misperception of knowledge gap) or that you wish more people understood, and one interesting thing you learned or that surprised or frustrated you.
b) Brief reflections on your Wikipedia assignment:
- Critiquing articles: What did you learn about Wikipedia during the article evaluation? How did you approach critiquing the article you selected for this assignment? How did you decide what to add to your chosen article?
- Summarizing your contributions: include a summary of your edits and why you felt they were a valuable addition to the article. How does your article compare to earlier versions?
- Wikipedia generally: What did you learn from contributing to Wikipedia? How does a Wikipedia assignment compare to other assignments you've done in the past? How can Wikipedia be used to improve public understanding of our field/your topic? Why is this important?
- Assignment - Research paper due M 6/11 by 5pm