I agree with Oona. No problem with the question at all! Indeed, another lesson we can learn from Frank and the WMF more generally is that backing off for fear of disagreements is only counterproductive.
But to put this in more positive terms... Again, I do think that the WP quality assessment criteria are helpful bases for assessing much student work on the encyclopedia. So rather than cumulative material, I'd ask students to think about things such as comprehensiveness, balance, range of sources, and so on. What belongs in an article on a novel (say): plot summary, yes; theme analysis or account of critical reaction, yes; literary and historical context; and so on and so forth. It is much more difficult to write a *balanced* article (in all senses of the term) than simply to write a *long* one. Personally, in class I focus above all on the notion that students should contribute *regularly*: i.e. that they should start editing early, and continue throughout the semester. This goes against their (natural?) tendencies, encouraged by term papers etc., to leave everything to the last minute. But it helps them get into the notion that writing on Wikipedia is a matter of *re*-writing and revising, rather than simply dumping pre-prepared text. (Ideally, this will also advance them towards the notion that all writing, even for term papers etc., is also a matter of rewriting and revising... This can be one of the great pedagogical benefits of using Wikipedia in class.) Take care Jon On Jan 31, 2014, at 4:56 AM, Oona Castro <[email protected]> wrote: > Juliana, please don't worry about the question and discussions that followed > your email. The reason why the thread became controversial and a long debate > is because assessing articles quality has been hard for everyone I guess. Not > an individual problem, but a movement problem for which nobody has the > perfect answer. > > I think some good inputs came out of this and that's obviously your call to > decide the best way to grade your students. You've been constantly > experimenting and this is important to find pros and cons of the > methodologies you try. > > Perhaps, establishing a minimum contribution (a complete paragraph with > references? I don't know) could help you establish a baseline and you > wouldn't have to be counting bytes (we can help you on this, but believe me, > it can be hard, especially when they work in groups, or forget to login etc). > > Oona > > > > > > > > > On 31 January 2014 08:09, domusaurea <[email protected]> wrote: > And this was how I learned not to ask questions, ever. > > Juliana > > Enviado via iPhone > > > Em 31/01/2014, às 02:17, Everton Zanella Alvarenga > > <[email protected]> escreveu: > > > > I belive Frank will like your approach. You should let him know. :) > > > > Prizes depending on the number of bytes would be really cool and > > pedagogical. > > > > 2014-01-27 Juliana Bastos Marques <[email protected]>: > >> *NOT a CFP!* ;) > >> > >> Hello all! > >> > >> I have been thinking about using the criterion of a minimum number of bytes > >> to evaluate the students' edits for my next course - together with content, > >> of course. This came up because I noticed some students were editing as > >> little as possible, and this time I want the whole group to start new > >> articles from scratch. > >> > >> Has anyone used this approach? Pros/cons? What would you consider a > >> reasonable number for the minimum of bytes in the final article? > >> > >> Juliana. > >> > >> -- > >> www.domusaurea.org > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Education mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education > > > > > > > > -- > > Everton Zanella Alvarenga (also Tom) > > OKF Brasil - Rede pelo Conhecimento Livre > > http://br.okfn.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Education mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education > > _______________________________________________ > Education mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education > > _______________________________________________ > Education mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education _______________________________________________ Education mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/education
