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Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Colby College/The Global Middle Ages (Fall 2017)

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Course name
The Global Middle Ages
Institution
Colby College
Instructor
Megan Cook
Wikipedia Expert
Shalor (Wiki Ed)
Subject
English
Course dates
2017-09-08 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-12-06 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
20


What did it mean to imagine the world and its inhabitants in the Middle Ages? In this class, we will explore some of the (many) answers to this question by studying travel narratives produced by Christian, Jewish, and Muslim travelers in Africa, Europe, and Asia. These writings see economic, cultural, and religious differences as occasion for cooperation as well as conflict, and describe a world—well in advance of the modern nation-state—linked by a range of intersecting networks of travel, language, trade, and cultural practice.

Student Assigned Reviewing
Lwong97
Obscureatlas Petachiah of Regensburg Petachiah of Regensburg
Kierannud Benjamin of Tudela Benjamin of Tudela
Anguyen Colby Eldad ha-Dani
Reed carpenter
Apz126
Charlee Manigat Ahmad ibn Fadlan, Great Tang Records on the Western Regions
Ccfinn
Sagould18
Rmdesjar Benjamin of Tudela Benjamin of Tudela
Thmacdon
Cmarratta
Rrbird18 Eldad ha-Dani Eldad ha-Dani
Cmpapade Benjamin of Tudela Benjamin of Tudela
Btwillia
Oliviagomez11
Cpurcell97 Eldad ha-Dani Eldad ha-Dani
Mhouston32 Great Tang Records on the Western Regions

Timeline

Week 1

Course meetings
Wednesday, 18 October 2017
In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia project

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

Your course has also been assigned a Wikipedia 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:


Assignment - 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 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.

Week 2

Course meetings
Monday, 23 October 2017   |   Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Assignment - Evaluate a Wikipedia article

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

  • Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
  • Create a section in your sandbox titled "Article evaluation" where you'll leave notes about your observations and learnings.
  • Choose an article on Wikipedia related to your course to read and evaluate. As you read, consider the following questions (but don't feel limited to these):
    • 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?
    • Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
    • Check a few citations. 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?
    • Is any information 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?
    • How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
  • Optional: Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — ~~~~.

Week 3

Course meetings
Monday, 30 October 2017   |   Wednesday, 1 November 2017
Assignment - Add to an article

Familiarize yourself with editing Wikipedia 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.