Wikipedia as editorial microcosm

The logistics of this assignment present some challenges for instructors, particularly those who are teaching multiple courses with the same assignment. Our hope is that these materials, especially the assignment documents we have assembled, put such assignments within the reach of instructors who would not otherwise have the time or energy to run such an assignment. However, we would recommend running the assignment with only a single course the first time around since the first time running the assignment will also teach necessary things about how to run it. Once the teacher has a feel for the task involved, they can become more adept at identifying stalled articles that work well for this assignment and directing students to the issues, and have a clearer sense of what to look for in assessing these projects. We find that this assignment takes about as much effort as most advanced applied projects.

A few things to note that will make this assignment take up less time and energy:

1. Remember that the assignment is about process, not product. While many writing instructors take this perspective, it is particularly important when dealing with both Wikipedia and developmental editing within a live community space.
2. Selecting articles is the most essential part of the assignment for instructors. Take sufficient time to look through potential articles selected by students. The instructor will be able to see issues more clearly than students, see some red flags that might lead to less productive projects, and also get familiar with the issues each student will be facing. For those new to this assignment, doing so will also teach a lot about Wikipedia early in the assignment. (The overview of the assignment trajectory has advice on how to check articles.)
3. If feasible, meet with every student individually just after they have selected articles. Most students will not quite see what they need to do or how they might do it. Talking with them about the particular issues they are seeing and the strategies they might take will help jumpstart them on the project. It will do a lot to overcome the intimidation factor, particularly in relation to the community. This meeting will also give the instructor a sense of what students are working on to better integrate student work into class meetings and have an improved sense of how to apply assessment standards at the end.
4. Allow student work to guide class time. While we have gathered a lot of examples in these materials, the immense variety of issues students could face and the particularity of student-selected articles make it important and highly effective to use a portion of class time in which students point to things they notice in their particular articles. Doing so will also keep the instructor abreast of any issues that are arising.
5. Modify expectations. Both instructor and students will discover a lot each time this assignment is run. Allow the expectations and even the grading standards to adjust with each group and even each student.
6. Be satisfied with a variety of outcomes, including ones that don't seem ideal. This project doesn't reward refinement but rather ability to insightfully and diplomatically intervene in the writing trajectory of these articles. Sometimes a successful project is one that doesn't lead to a good product by usual standards or might even seem to make an article worse according to some standards (e.g., blanking out a section). I've had very successful students end up with articles getting severely reduced or even deleted. I've also had successful projects that were mostly communication, with very little changes actually accomplished.

Note that grading is easier by following this advice, as the instructor will be familiar with each student's projects and be updating themselves and the class while moving through the project.