Wikipedia:Writing Wikipedia Articles course/Final project

	Writing Wikipedia Articles: The Basics and Beyond
	a free six week course

This assignment spans Week 3 to Week 6 of the Writing Wikipedia Articles course. This constitutes the main coursework; you should plan to put several hours into this project in the coming weeks. You have a choice of whether you would like to work on an existing Wikipedia article, or start a new one; in either case, your contributions to the article should represent a clear advancement to a higher level on Wikipedia's quality assessment scale.

The WIKISOO Burba Badge is awarded to students who successfully complete the final project and accumulate at least 200 edits to Wikipedia.

You may choose to either:

• select an existing Wikipedia article to improve at least one level on the Wikipedia quality scale; or
• start a new Wikipedia article and bring it to at least "Start" class

In addition to improving an article, in order to earn the WIKISOO Burba Badge (pictured at right), you will need to accumulate 200 edits to various Wikipedia pages. (You can keep track of your edits by clicking "Contributions" near the upper right corner of the screen; we will cover a way to easily count them in an upcoming screencast.)

You may be interested in an example of how a Wikipedia article evolves. This page provides an overview: Evolution of an article

Choosing an article

You may choose any article on Wikipedia to improve (unless it is already a Featured Article, of course!) You may also choose to create a brand new article. Several considerations may go into your decision. The following concepts may be helpful as you decide:

• Many of our students have an interest or background in open educational resources. We especially encourage you to choose an article from this list of related articles: WP:Communicate OER Content

Considerations relating to each quality rating

• New article or stub: If you are starting a brand new article, or expanding a "stub" (generally speaking, an article that is only a few sentences long), your goal is to bring it to "Start" class. The article is developing, but should satisfy Wikipedia's basic content standards. The article should make it clear how the topic is notable by Wikipedia's definition, and should contain adequate sourcing to satisfy the verifiability standard.
• Start class article: Your goal is to bring the article to "C class." It should be improved in structure, style, and general quality. Your task will vary depending on the article you start with: you may need to work to reduce bias and instill a neutral point of view into the article; you may need to add new sections to make the article cover the topic in a more comprehensive fashion; etc. Adding high quality reliable sources is almost always a component of bringing an article to C class.
• C class article: Your goal is to bring the article up to "B class". The article should be "mostly complete and without major problems" by the end of the course. While you may wish to consult B class criteria specific to a related WikiProject, these general criteria for B class will serve as a good guideline.
• B class article or higher: After B class, article ratings become more formal. Choosing a B class article is a very ambitious step, and will require substantially more effort. If you do choose such an article, your task will be to bring it to Good Article status or higher (i.e., A class or WP:FA.) The formal processes for these reviews typically take a month or more, so you may find that you submit for your badge after the conclusion of the course. This is not a problem, but you should be prepared to continue your work after the class ends. An alternative is to submit the article for a formal peer review. If you do so, and get feedback and input that results in agreement from another Wikipedian(s) that the article is ready to be submitted for GA or higher, this may be sufficient to earn the WIKISOO Burba Badge, and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

How to claim your article (Week 3)

Once you have chosen your article, add it next to your name on our main course page.

• Next to your name, there will be a box that says "Add an article." Type in the title of your article, taking care to enter it exactly as it appears on Wikipedia.

Working on your article (Weeks 3 to 6)

If you choose to write a brand new article, we advise that you begin working in your sandbox (instructional video), and seek a little feedback from other students and/or course instructors prior to moving the article to its permanent home on Wikipedia. You may want to consult this page: WP:Starting an article However, we do not advise using the articles for creation (AFC) process, which you will see mentioned on that page; AFC is a process geared toward people figuring out Wikipedia without any guidance, and will make you jump through more hoops than you need to. You're learning a lot about Wikipedia, and the point of this class is to help you edit like an old pro, not a "newbie"!

For those working on a new article or a stub, the Did You Know (DYK) process may be a helpful guide, and a way to seek feedback from other Wikipedians. Let us know on the course talk page if you need some guidance getting started with DYK!

We expect that most students will be aiming for C or B class in their projects. In most cases, finding good sources and using them to add material to the article will be your primary task.

In some cases, there may be disagreements -- or potential disagreements -- to work through, in order to establish a neutral point of view appropriately reflects varying perspectives and beliefs. Whenever this is likely to be an issue, be sure to use the article's talk page to seek out input and talk through the relevant issues. Feel free to seek out advice from your classmates and instructors if this comes up, but be mindful that canvassing -- that is, explicitly seeking out people to support your position and overrule those who disagree with you -- is to be avoided. When you seek input into a disagreement, try to use neutral language, and don't exclusively seek out people on one side or the other.

Submitting your article for the WIKISOO Burba Badge (Week 6 or later)

To complete the WIKISOO course and earn the WIKISOO Burba Badge, you will need to submit your article on the P2PU site.

1. Create an account at p2pu.org, and log in
2. Visit this page: http://badges.p2pu.org/en/badge/view/22/
3. Click the green button that says "submit a project for this badge"
4. Fill in the form, explaining why your work meets the standards of the badge. Please include relevant diff links, talk page links, etc. to illustrate your work on the article!

Notes

Writing Wikipedia Articles: The Basics and Beyond
class page	Week 1 14/16 May	Week 2 21/23 May	Week 3 28/30 May	Week 4 4/6 June	Week 5 11/13 June	Week 6 18/20 June
class archive	Blackboard YouTube	Blackboard YouTube	Blackboard YouTube	Blackboard Youtube Wikimedia	Blackboard Youtube Wikimedia	Blackboard Youtube Wikimedia
lab archive	Blackboard YouTube Wikimedia	Blackboard YouTube	Blackboard YouTube	Blackboard YouTube Wikimedia	Blackboard YouTube Wikimedia	Blackboard YouTube Wikimedia
course discussion page • course final project description