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Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Colgate University/The Evolution and Ecology of Sex (Fall 2019)

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Course name
The Evolution and Ecology of Sex
Institution
Colgate University
Instructor
Jennifer Blake-Mahmud
Wikipedia Expert
Elysia (Wiki Ed)
Subject
CORE SP
Course dates
2019-08-28 00:00:00 UTC – 2019-12-22 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
24


In this course we'll be learning about what sex is, how it started, and why it sticks around.

The information available in public access sources is often limited by what people volunteer to write about. This means there is lots of information on sex in large, cute, animal creatures (800+ words on bonobo sexual behavior) but very little on other creatures (<20 words on slime mold sex), which have equally fascinating reproductive lives. Furthermore, often evolutionary processes which are equally at work in plants and animals, protists and bacteria, birds and bees, are often only referenced for charismatic mega-fauna.

Wikipedia is the first stop for information for everyone from undergraduates to law makers. Making information available that is representative of the diversity in the natural world is an important task. You'll take on one small piece of this communal task during the course of this class. Enjoy!

Student Assigned Reviewing
LnK1761
Dainfodude
Radecker1 Endangered species
Chaigood Sequential hermaphroditism Amazon molly, Parthenogenesis
Pprosnitz Parthenogenesis Amazon molly, Sequential hermaphroditism
Ricky Perryman Slime mold reproduction Sex determination
Vputtagunta
Oliverlynchdaniels23 Pacific viperfish Sex determination , Mongolian gerbil
Claredailley Amazon molly Pacific viperfish
Mehnazt Sex determination Slime mold reproduction, Mongolian gerbil
Tadlund5 Pacific viperfish, Androdioecy
Chrisnoriega8 Androdioecy, Gender Slime mold reproduction
Bbyric Mongolian Gerbil, Mongolian gerbil Parthenogenesis, Sequential hermaphroditism

Timeline

Week 2

Course meetings
Thursday, 5 September 2019
Assignment - Introduction to the Wikipedia assignment

Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline. This page guides you through the steps you'll need to complete for your Wikipedia assignment, with links to training modules and your classmates' work spaces.

Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Resources:


Assignment - Get started on Wikipedia

Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (Because of Wikipedia's technical restraints, you may receive a message that you cannot create an account. To resolve this, please try again off campus or the next day.)

Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 3

Course meetings
Tuesday, 10 September 2019   |   Thursday, 12 September 2019
Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia

Exercise

Evaluate an article


Week 4

Course meetings
Tuesday, 17 September 2019   |   Thursday, 19 September 2019
Assignment - Do the exercise, look at some articles. DO NOT assign yourself one yet

[[../../../training/students/choose-topic-from-list-exercise|Brainstorm potential topics / Find some sources]]


In class - Discussion

What's a content gap?

Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area

Ecology

Environmental Sciences

LGBT+ Studies

Science Communication

Species

Week 5

Course meetings
Tuesday, 24 September 2019   |   Thursday, 26 September 2019
Assignment - Add to and refine your list of potential topics

By the end of the week, have a list of at least 5 potential topics that interest you. This should include two options from the class list and three of your own. Two options may be a specific species for which there is little or no information regarding its reproduction.


Assignment - Add to an existing article

Exercise

Add a citation

Week 6

Course meetings
Tuesday, 1 October 2019   |   Thursday, 3 October 2019
Assignment - Add media content to an existing article
Assignment - Submit you final short list of topics

Submit a list of the final ranking of your potential topics. For your new suggestions, include a sentence about what you might add to the wikipedia page. I'll optimize topics across the class and let you know what your term-project topic is.

Week 7

Course meetings
Tuesday, 8 October 2019   |   Thursday, 10 October 2019
In class - Assign yourself a topic
Assignment - Find your sources

Week 8

Course meetings
Thursday, 17 October 2019
In class - Discussion

Thinking about Wikipedia

Assignment - Start drafting your contributions

Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have questions using the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Milestones

Everyone has started reading and annotating their sources and drafting notes for their article.

Week 9

Course meetings
Tuesday, 22 October 2019   |   Thursday, 24 October 2019
Assignment - Work on your article
Assignment - Want to get your upcoming article more press?

Nominating your article for Did You Know

Week 10

Course meetings
Tuesday, 29 October 2019   |   Thursday, 31 October 2019
Assignment - Peer review two articles

Guiding framework

Week 11

Course meetings
Tuesday, 5 November 2019   |   Thursday, 7 November 2019
Milestones

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


Assignment - Respond to your peer review

You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. Consider their suggestions, decide whether it makes your work more accurate and complete, and edit your draft to make those changes.

Resources:

  • Editing Wikipedia, pages 12 and 14
  • Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.

Week 12

Course meetings
Tuesday, 12 November 2019   |   Thursday, 14 November 2019
Assignment - Continue improving your article

Exercise

Add links to your article

Now's the time to revisit your text and refine your work. You may do more research and find missing information; rewrite the lead section to represent all major points; reorganize the text to communicate the information better; or add images and other media.

Week 13

Course meetings
Tuesday, 19 November 2019   |   Thursday, 21 November 2019
Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia

Now that you've improved your draft based on others' feedback, it's time to move your work live - to the "mainspace."

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13


Assignment - Polish your work

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

Week 14

Course meetings
Tuesday, 3 December 2019   |   Thursday, 5 December 2019
Assignment - Final article

It's the final week to develop your article.

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

Week 15

Course meetings
Tuesday, 10 December 2019   |   Thursday, 12 December 2019
Assignment - Reflective essay

Guiding questions

Milestones

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