Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Helaine (Wiki Ed) (talk | contribs) at 20:09, 18 January 2017 (Updating course from dashboard.wikiedu.org). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This course page is an automatically-updated version of the main course page at dashboard.wikiedu.org. Please do not edit this page directly; any changes will be overwritten the next time the main course page gets updated.

Course name

Environmental Justice Section 101

Institution

University of California, Berkeley

Instructor

Michel Gelobter

Misplaced Pages Expert

Ian (Wiki Ed)

Subject

Environmental Justice

Course dates

2017-01-17 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-05-12 23:59:59 UTC

Approximate number of student editors

30

Environmental justice is an idea, a movement, a science, and a method. Or rather it is a diverse collection of these things that together have transformed the landscape for environmental and social activism globally over the last 30+ years. The intersection of environment, identity, and wealth that environmental justice politics and scholarship have defined in that period promise to continue to be central to some of the planet’s most pressing problems.

This semester represents a unique moment in history…the first few months of a historically unique U.S. President whose agenda has been explicitly anti-environmental, sexist, and racist. This course will use this moment in two ways: • First, as a learning opportunity for students to engage with critical issues as they emerge on the social, economic, policy, and political landscape; • Second, to be of service by documenting key developments and creating a neutral source of information about them.

The class will explore the full breadth of environmental justice scholarship, activism, and policy-making. Over the semester we will work to understand social conditions and theories, quantitative data, and real-world politics and organizing. Students will dive into great stories, theories, and data that will help them understand environmental justice.

Service learning has always been a major component of the course and is designed to be even more so this semester. Besides a few individual assignments, students will largely work in small groups to edit and/or create Misplaced Pages articles in order to create a neutral, well-documented record of the assaults on the environment and environmental justice expected to unfold early in the Trump Presidency.

Timeline

Week 1

Course meetings

Thursday, 19 January 2017

In class - Introduction to the Misplaced Pages project

Welcome to your Misplaced Pages project's course timeline. This page will guide you through the Misplaced Pages project for your course. Be sure to check with your instructor to see if there are other pages you should be following as well.

This page breaks down writing a Misplaced Pages article into a series of steps, or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started on Misplaced Pages.

Your course has also been assigned a Misplaced Pages 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:

• Editing Misplaced Pages pages 1–5
• Evaluating Misplaced Pages

Assignment - Practicing the basics

• Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you.
• It's time to dive into Misplaced Pages. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. 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

This week, everyone should have a Misplaced Pages account.

Week 2

Course meetings

Thursday, 26 January 2017

Assignment - Critique an article

 It's time to think critically about Misplaced Pages articles. You'll evaluate a Misplaced Pages article, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page. 

• Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
• Choose an article, and consider some questions (but don't feel limited to these): 
  • Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
  • Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
  • Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
  • Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
  • Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
  • Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
  • Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
•  Choose at least 2 questions relevant to the article you're evaluating. Leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Helaine (Wiki Ed) (talk) 20:09, 18 January 2017 (UTC). 

In class - Discussion

What's a content gap?

Now that you're thinking about what makes a "good" Misplaced Pages article, consider some additional questions.

• Wikipedians often talk about "content gaps." What do you think a content gap is, and what are some 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 Misplaced Pages?
• What does it mean to be "unbiased" on Misplaced Pages? How is that different, or similar, to your own definition of "bias"?

Week 3

Course meetings

Thursday, 2 February 2017

Assignment - Choose possible topics

• Review page 6 of your Editing Misplaced Pages guidebook.
•  Choose 3–5 potential articles that you can tackle, and post links to them on your Misplaced Pages user page. For articles that already exist, check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians might be doing. Discuss your choices in section for feedback. 
• Speak directly with stakeholders in your potential article(s).  These may be members of a community affected by the article you'll be writing or an expert in the field.  Find them by scanning news items and/or research materials, and the goal is to validate that the information you are going to create will be valuable to them and/or others.You will need to speak to someone before finalizing your choice in less than two weeks.

Assignment - Add to an article

Familiarize yourself with editing Misplaced Pages by adding a citation to an article. There are two ways you can do this:

• Add 1-2 sentences to a course-related article, and cite that statement to a reliable source, as you learned in the online training.
•  The Citation Hunt tool shows unreferenced statements from articles. First, evaluate whether the statement in question is true! An uncited statement could just be lacking a reference or it could be inaccurate or misleading. Reliable sources on the subject will help you choose whether to add it or correct the statement. 

Week 4

Course meetings

Thursday, 9 February 2017

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 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 - Best practices for working in groups

•  Make sure everyone in the group is assigned to the same Misplaced Pages article on the Students tab of this course page. 
•  Select one group member whose Sandbox space you'll all share to draft your article. Each person should link to that shared Sandbox from their own Sandbox page. A sandbox is like any other page on Misplaced Pages, and anyone can edit it. 
•  Misplaced Pages doesn't allow multiple people to edit from different devices at the same time. 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 Misplaced Pages 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. 

Assignment - Review the rules for medical topics

Review Misplaced Pages's rules for topics related to medicine, human health, and psychology.

Week 5

Course meetings

Thursday, 16 February 2017

Assignment - Finalize your topic / Find your sources

• On the Students tab, assign your chosen topic to yourself.
•  In your sandbox, write a few sentences about what you plan to contribute to the selected article. 
  •  Think back to when you did an article critique. What can you add? Post some of your ideas to the article's talk page, too. 
  •  Compile a list of relevant, reliable books, journal articles, or other sources. Post that bibliography to the talk page of the article you'll be working on, and in your sandbox. Make sure to check in on the Talk page to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography. 

Assignment - Draft your article

You've picked a topic and found your sources. Now it's time to start writing.

Creating a new article?

•  Write an outline of that topic in the form of a standard Misplaced Pages 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 Misplaced Pages page 9 for more ideas. 

Improving 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 in your sandbox. 

Keep reading your sources, too, as you prepare to write the body of the article.

Resources: Editing Misplaced Pages pages 7–9

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 6

Course meetings

Thursday, 23 February 2017

In class - Discussion

Thinking about Misplaced Pages

• What do you think of Misplaced Pages's definition of "neutrality"?
• What are the impacts and limits of Misplaced Pages as a source of information?
• On Misplaced Pages, 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 Misplaced Pages was written 100 years ago, how might its content (and contributors) be different? What about 100 years from now?

Assignment - Expand your draft

• Keep working on transforming your article into a complete first draft. Get draft ready for peer-review. 
• If you'd like a Content Expert to review your draft, now is the time! Click the "Get Help" button in your sandbox to request notes.

Assignment - Peer review and copy edit

• First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
•  Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the articles that you want to review, and then assign them to yourself in the Review column. 
•  Peer review your classmates' drafts. Leave suggestions on on the Talk page of the article, or sandbox, that your fellow student is working on. Other editors may be reviewing your work, so look for their comments! Be sure to acknowledge feedback from other Wikipedians. 
•  As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic? 

Milestones

Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

Week 7

Course meetings

Thursday, 2 March 2017

Assignment - Respond to your peer review

You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. It's time to work with that feedback to improve your article!

• Read Editing Misplaced Pages pages 12 and 14.
•  Return to your draft or article and think about the suggestions. Decide which ones to start implementing. Reach out to your instructor or your Content Expert if you have any questions. 

Week 8

Course meetings

Thursday, 9 March 2017

Assignment - Begin moving your work to Misplaced Pages

 Once you've made improvements to your article based on peer review feedback, it's time to move your work to Misplaced Pages proper - the "mainspace." 

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!

Creating a new article?

• Read Editing Misplaced Pages page 13, and follow those steps to move your article from your Sandbox to Mainspace.
• You can also review the ] online training.

Week 9

Course meetings

Thursday, 16 March 2017

Assignment - Continue improving your article

Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on suggestions and your own critique.

•  Read Editing Misplaced Pages page 12 to see how to 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. 

Week 10

Course meetings

Thursday, 23 March 2017

Assignment - Polish your work

 Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Misplaced Pages's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Content Expert at any time if you need further help! 

Assignment - Prepare for in-class presentation

• Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Misplaced Pages editing experience.

Week 11

Course meetings

Thursday, 30 March 2017

In class - In-class presentation

Present about your Misplaced Pages editing experience.

Consider the following questions as you reflect on your Misplaced Pages assignment:

• Critiquing articles: What did you learn about Misplaced Pages 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? 
• Peer Review: If your class did peer review, include information about the peer review process. What did you contribute in your review of your peers article? What did your peers recommend you change on your article? 
• Feedback: Did you receive feedback from other Misplaced Pages editors, and if so, how did you respond to and handle that feedback? 
• Misplaced Pages generally: What did you learn from contributing to Misplaced Pages? How does a Misplaced Pages assignment compare to other assignments you've done in the past? How can Misplaced Pages be used to improve public understanding of our field/your topic? Why is this important? 

Assignment - Final article

It's the final week to develop your article.

• Read Editing Misplaced Pages page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
• Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Content Expert at any time!

Week 12

Course meetings

Thursday, 6 April 2017

Milestones

Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Misplaced Pages, and be ready for grading.

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