Help:Glossaries
Grading
[edit]Wikipedia contributions related to the creation and improvement of glossaries (such as subject-specific term lists) may be graded in a course or training context as follows:
- 5% each (x3): Participation grade for early glossary exercises (weeks 2, 3, and 4), such as adding basic terms, cleaning up formatting, or fixing red links.
- 10%: Participation in discussions about glossary structure and scope on article talk pages or relevant project pages.
- 10%: Peer reviews and collaboration with classmates or other editors, including commenting on glossary talk pages and suggesting improvements.
- 15%: Presentation and reflective essay explaining how the glossary was planned, how entries were sourced, and how Wikipedia policies were applied (for example, verifiability and neutrality).
- 50%: Quality of the main Wikipedia contributions to glossaries, evaluated in light of the reflective essay and with attention to clarity, coverage, sourcing, and adherence to style guidelines.
Instructors using glossaries as a teaching tool can adapt these percentages, but the emphasis is usually on sustained, high‑quality contributions rather than one‑time edits.
What is a glossary?
[edit]On Wikipedia, a glossary is a structured list of terms with concise definitions, usually limited to a specific field such as physics, linguistics, or computing. Many glossaries are organized alphabetically and each entry often contains:
- a clear, concise definition;
- internal links to relevant main articles;
- optional short examples or notes, if needed for context.
Glossaries can be stand‑alone pages (for example, a "Glossary of X") or sections within broader help pages and project pages.
Best practices for glossary work
[edit]When working on glossaries, contributors should:
- Follow glossary style guidelines where available.
- Provide reliable sources for definitions, especially for technical or disputed terms.
- Keep definitions neutral, avoiding promotional or prescriptive language.
- Use consistent formatting for bullet points, bolding of terms, and punctuation.
- Avoid excessive duplication of content from main articles; a glossary definition should be brief and point the reader to full articles for details.
Using glossaries in teaching
[edit]In a classroom assignment, glossaries can help students:
- identify key terms in a subject area;
- practice summarizing complex ideas into short, clear definitions;
- learn how to integrate cross‑links between related articles and help pages;
- understand how Wikipedia structures knowledge across different namespaces, including help pages and project pages.
Students may be asked to:
- create new glossary entries;
- reorganize or expand existing glossaries;
- check entries for accuracy and up‑to‑date references.
See also
[edit]
([Template:Fullurl: Click to return to your main course page and continue.])