The+Lesson

= **The Lesson** = Adapted from ideas included in two articles published in //Social Education// [Issue 75(2)]:
 * //A Call for Wikipedia in the Classroom// by Mark Kissling
 * //Wikipedia: Does it have a Place in Historical Research?// by Ann Claunch

Background
Every year when students present their Unit 1 Projects, a debate among students erupts as to whether or not Wikipedia is appropriate to use in historical research. Therefore, I decided to begin each school year with this debate: "Does Wikipedia have as place in our historical research?"

**Part 1: Getting Started**

 * Assign collaborative groups //within// the class period.
 * Have students log in to laptops and go to the USHistory8 website.
 * Demonstrate how to access the backchannel and explain its role in our class routines.

**Part 2: Backchanneling/Brainstorming**

 * Part 2 introduces students to both Wikipedia and backchanneling (this first session will be used in a later class period to create a "student backchannel etiquette").
 * Questions posted to the backchannel (each one is separately discussed):
 * Is Wikipedia an acceptable source for a research project? Why or why not?
 * What is knowledge?
 * Who makes, authorizes, and presents it? And how?
 * What happens when it changes or when it conflicts with other knowledge?
 * How does it relate to power and who benefits/suffers from this relationship?


 * The primary founder of Wikipedia asserts that Wikipedia is an enterprise for bringing together the “sum of all human knowledge”.
 * But is this how knowledge construction works- do we simply add it together?
 * What happens when there are competing knowledge claims?
 * How is knowledge from communities that do not have access to the Internet, or to computers, represented?
 * What limitations are raised when knowledge is detached from a speaker or writer?


 * Questions like these focus on exploring what it means to live responsibly in a social world.

**BIG IDEA: Each time you critically read a source, ask yourself who stands to gain and who is hindered by the information that is presented as well as why and how. **

**Part 3: Conducting an Online Search**

 * Distribute [[file:Handout 1.docx]] to students
 * Explain the first two columns to students.
 * Listed in the first column are 10 topics that will be discussed in USHistory8 this year.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">In the second column, you will see where Wikipedia ranks when an online search is conducted.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Each student should fill in the third column with 10 topics previously discussed in any school subject.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">After completing an online search for each of these topics, students should record where Wikipedia ranks for each of their topics in the fourth column.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">As a large group, discuss our findings.

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">BIG IDEA: There is no denying Wikipedia is a part of our lives. **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The definition of historical research is "the process of systemically examining past events to give an account; may involve interpretation to recapture the nuances, personalitites, and ideas that influenced these events; to communicate an understanding of past events." In the classroom we can simplify this definition to mean historical research is the study of the past; and we study the past through primary source douments and through those who have studied primary source documents or secondary sources.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Primary Source** - The most common definition of a primary source is that which is written or produced in the time period. Primary sources are materials directly replated to a topic by time or participation. These materials include letters, speeches, diaries, newspaper articles from the time, oral history interviews, documents, photographs, artifacts, or anything else that provides first-hand accounts about a person or event. This definition also applies to primary sources found on the internet.


 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Secondary Source **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;"> – Secondary sources are usually published books or articles by authors who were not eyewitnesses or participants in the historical event or period and who base their interpretation on primary sources, research, and study. These sources provide context for a historical event. For example, textbooks, biographies, retrospective newspapers and other history books about a particular topic are secondary sources. This definition also applies to secondary sources found on the internet.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Tertiary** **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Source **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">– Tertiary sources are summaries and collections of primary and secondary sources. These sources provide ideas for topics and further investigation. Some examples are almanacs, encyclopedias, dictionaries, guidebooks, manuals, etc.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Introduce students to the Library of Congress website and discuss primary, secondary, and tertiary sources.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Distribute to students.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">In groups, students examine the chart on the handout. Why do each of these examples fit into these categories (based upon the definitions provided above)?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Discuss results as a whole class.

**BIG IDEA: Wikipedia is considered a tertiary source because it is an encyclopedia. It might be a good starting place but it is not a good ending place.**


 * Explain the process of creating (and the parts of) a Wikipedia entry.
 * Point out the **Notes** section, **References**, **Further Reading** (Historiography), and **Outside** links (and explain how each one will take you deeper into the research).
 * Explain: Wikipedia is unique because it is an open source website. This means:
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Anyone who has an internet connection can edit any text or image
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Users can contribute anonymously, under a pseudonym, or with their real identity
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">The expertise or qualifications of the user are not considered.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Group/Class Discussion: Why is this a problem for researchers?

**BIG IDEA: Use the footnotes! Dig deeper (layer by layer, link by link) to find incredibly primary and secondary sources**

**Part 6: Wiki Construction**

 * Introduce students to "Project Teams" on Wiki (and collaboration across class periods)
 * Introduce students to Final Product (persuasive paragraph)
 * Provide time for wiki construction and teacher input (if needed)

**BIG IDEA OF PROJECT: Wikipedia has its place as a //tool// in historical research but never as a //source//**