Developing health content for millions: how to edit Wikipedia - Anahuac
Anahuac ALPHA program
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In this course, we begin by giving background on basic Wikipedia policies (Module 1), followed by describing how to edit Wikipedia as a health professional student (Module 2). In Module 3, we explore different strategies you can use to select article(s) to improve. Then Module 4 coaches you through making your first edits, and Module 5 addresses tips on contributing significant effort to Wikipedia, including adding visual assets. Finally, in Module 6, we consider how to contribute to controversial topics, as well as the concept of peer-review -- noting generally how that applies to Wikipedia-writing, as well as specifically in this asynchronous online course.
We include quizzes because testing and feedback improve learning, although these are only meant for your benefit. We also provide references and resources for further learning.
Throughout the course we ask that you share comments so that others in the course can learn from you. You are welcome to stop back any time to read what others have written and respond to comments on your posts.
Your Instructor
Amin Azzam is a professor at 3 San Francisco bay area universities: 1) University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, 2) University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, and 3) Samuel Merritt University. He has dedicated his career to innovations in health professional schools, including Problem Based Learning (PBL), Simulation Based Learning (SBL), and Open Educational Pedagogy (OEP). He remains clinically active—running long-term psychotherapy groups for patients with chronic illnesses. He lives in Oakland with his wife (June) and children (Remy and Margo). They enjoy camping, board games, and international travel. Dr. Azzam’s research interests include exploring the efficacy of various instructional approaches in stimulating health-professional students’ acquisition, retention, and application of content knowledge in their evolving roles as clinicians.
Course Curriculum
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StartModule 1 intro video from course co-designer: Cara Bazil (0:43)
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StartModule 1 Learning Objectives
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StartIntroductory framing
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StartJoining the Wikipedia community
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StartPillar 1: An encyclopedia
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StartPillar 2: Neutral point of view
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StartPillar 3: Free to access
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StartPillar 4: Civility
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StartPillar 5: the "Rules"
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StartModule 1 Quiz
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StartModule 1 Quiz explanations
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StartReferences
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StartDiscussion
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StartModule 2 intro video from Course Designer: Malak Helal (0:51)
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StartModule 2 Learning Objectives
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StartChallenges you might face while editing topics related to human health
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StartWhen do these MEDRS Guidelines apply?
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StartWhen doesn’t MEDRS apply?
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StartIdentifying reliable medical sources
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StartWhat are poor sources for Wikipedia?
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StartWhat are good choices for medical sources on Wikipedia?
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StartStyle conventions for medical topics
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StartNo original research
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StartWorking with the community
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StartBest Practices
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StartResources for editing health content
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StartModule 2 Quiz
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StartModule 2 Quiz explanations
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StartReferences
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StartDiscussion