Learning patterns/Featured Articles in classroom courses

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Featured Articles in classroom courses

problemFeatured Articles are some of the most difficult to improve for new editors because the pages are already high-quality.

solutionThe course instructor prepares a list of articles to edit from which the students can choose in advance of the course taking place.

creator• Richard Nevell (WMUK)

created on14:04, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

status:DRAFT

What problem does this solve?

Selecting which articles to edit for a Wikipedia course in the classroom can be a tricky proposition. Should you go for short articles where improvement might be most obvious, or important articles where any extra information might reach a greater audience? How much scope should students be given to choose something which interests them, balanced against ensuring they write about something relevant?

In some situations students will be drawn towards making edits to Featured Articles as they are often interesting subjects and on important topics. However, since Featured Articles represent a huge investment of time for Wikipedia editors and are already amongst the best pages Wikipedia has to offer, there is a higher barrier to entry when making edits and good-faith edits sometimes reverted.

What is the solution?

Prepare a list of articles which students can improve based on certain criteria (eg: below a certain length). While this requires more time from the course leader it will help avoid setbacks and ensure that students are working in areas where the improvement in content will be more appreciable.

When to use

• Wikipedia classroom courses

See also