WikiInfoLit Learning Outcomes

Course Learning Outcomes

This course has two kinds of learning outcomes. The first is that the instructional librarians, instructional designers, and instructors need to know the content that they will be teaching. The second is that they need to know how to teach it using Wikipedia and wikis. So in essence, they will take the course in order to learn to construct one like it. As they take the course, they will be guided in thinking about their learning and the course itself.

Authority

Learners will be able to:

Discuss the idea that expertise and reputation of the author, publisher, or selector of an information source do not guarantee its accuracy or correctness.
Evaluate the expertise and reputation of information source authors, publishers, and selectors.
Select information sources on the basis of the reputation of their authors, publishers, and selectors.
Assess, based on the above, the degree to which they can feel sure that the information contained in the information sources is accurate and correct.
Given a complete Wikipedia entry with a full Notes page, discuss the kinds of authority/authoritativeness that are valued by Wikipedia and Wikieditors, and critique those values.

Genealogy of Knowledge and Citations

Learners will be able to:

Describe the kinds of problems that arise for academic and daily-life researchers when they cannot identify the original source and genealogy/provenance of the information they find.
Explain, as if to a novice, the multiple purposes and values of citing sources (giving credit where credit is due, establishing credibility by linking one's work to work whose value is well-regarded, allowing the reader to trace the genealogy/provenance of the information, allowing the reader to pursue more and related information.)
Describe the situations in which it is necessary to cite a source (when quoting, when paraphrasing, when using a fact that is not common knowledge, when using someone else's idea.)
Define plagiarism and explain its harms in the context of citations and genealogy/provenance of information.
Cite a variety of sources in Wikipedia's house citation style.
Explain, as if to a novice, the importance of citing the original source of information, as opposed to the source in which you found it.
Cite indirect sources in Wikipedia's house citation style.

~~Scholarly Communication and Peer Review~~

~~Learners will be able to:~~

Given a complete Wikipedia entry with a History page and an active Talk page, discuss the conversation that took place among Wikieditors to come to a consensus about "what is known" on a particular topic addressed on that page.

Compare/contrast the Wikipedia peer review process, the scholarly peer review process, and the journalistic editorial process.

Describe the cycle of scholarly communication, being sure to note Wikipedia's place in the cycle as a tertiary/reference source, and the role of primary and secondary sources that are cited in Wikipedia articles.

Objectivity

Learners will be able to:

Compare and contrast objectivity with subjectivity and provide examples of each.
Define objectivity as an academic and scientific value. (The attempt to communicate facts and ideas without bias.)
Identify common sources of bias.
Identify accepted ways of reducing bias in scientific and academic research.
Discuss philosophical and practical objections to objectivity.

Neutrality

Learners will be able to:

Define neutrality in own words, with reference to the Wikipedia Neutral Point Of View (NPOV).
Compare and contrast neutrality with objectivity.
Discuss the values and advantages of neutrality.
Analyze Wikipedia pages in which neutrality may be misleading to the audience and that is discussed in the Talk pages.
Analyze Wikipedia pages in which neutrality is violated and discussed in the Talk pages.
Discuss their informed opinion on the matter of why Wikipedia and journalists choose neutrality as their highest value rather than objectivity.

~~Reflecting on Learning Using A MediaWiki~~

~~Learners will be able to:~~

Create, organize, and edit MediaWiki pages.

Use a MediaWiki to collectively create a class Encyclopedia of Information Literacy and Critical Inquiry.
Technical Skills Related to Designing the Course
Learners will be able to:
Set up a MediaWiki.

Summarize the history and mission of Wikipedia.

Discuss opinions among educators about the value and hazards of Wikipedia for academia and for students as learners and as researchers.

Identify the parts of a Wikipedia page.

Set up a WikiEditor account.

Adopt a Wikipedia page and make edits and improvements to it as needed.
Instructional Skills Related to Designing the Course
Learners will be able to:

Select and/or create instructional and directional materials for students to learn how to edit MediaWiki pages, set up WikiEditor accounts, adopt Wikipedia pages, and make edits and improvements to Wikipedia pages as needed.

Select a topic for their class's wiki of appropriate scope, relevance, and difficulty.

Identify and discuss best practices for organizing students into teams and facilitating their work in teams.

~~Identify and discuss best practices for project based learning.~~

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