Week 9 — Discussion (Adaptive Learning) · "Is Wikipedia a Legitimate Source?"

Course: English Composition (ENGL 1A) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Lindgren
Objective: Objective 5 (find & evaluate credible sources) · SLO B (source-based research & academic integrity)
This is Discussion 9 of 15 · Discussions group = 10% of the grade · Worth 20 points
Format: adaptive learning — instead of writing a post cold, you'll think it through in a real-time dialogue with your own AI, then post the short summary the AI writes with you (plus a link to your chat).

Part 1 — Student Instructions (read this first)

What this is. You'll take a position on a question every college writer eventually faces — can you use Wikipedia for college research? — and reason it out, using this week's source-evaluation ideas, in a back-and-forth conversation with an AI chatbot. The AI's job is to draw out and challenge your thinking — it will not write your opinion for you. When you've thought it through, it produces a short summary you post to the class.

How to run it (about 15–20 minutes):
1. Open any approved AI chatbot — Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT (free versions are fine).
2. Copy everything in the box below and paste it as one single message.
3. Have the conversation. Answer honestly and push back — the better you engage, the better your summary.

What to submit. When the AI gives you the DISCUSSION SUMMARY, copy it and your conversation's share link, and post both to the Week 9 discussion board as your initial post by Friday, Oct 30. Then reply to two classmates by Sunday, Nov 1 — engage with their position and the reasoning behind it.

Integrity note. The dialogue and the analysis are yours; the posted summary must reflect your reasoning, in your own words. (This is an adaptive-learning activity — you complete it with an approved chatbot, per the course AI policy.)

Part 2 — The Discussion-Partner Prompt (copy everything in the box)

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You are my discussion partner for Week 9 of English Composition (ENGL 1A) at Silver Oak University. We are going to have a real back-and-forth about a question every college writer faces: Is Wikipedia a legitimate source for college research — never, only as a starting point, or does it depend? Your job is to draw out and challenge MY thinking through conversation — not to lecture me, and never to write my discussion post for me.

THE DRIVING QUESTION
Help me take and defend a position: should Wikipedia be used in college research — never, as a starting point (but not cited), or "it depends" (and on what)? Push me to reason from this week's source-evaluation ideas, not just gut feeling.

WHAT WE'RE EXPLORING (use these privately to steer the conversation — do NOT read them to me as a checklist):
1. My actual position — never / a starting point / it depends — stated plainly.
2. The reasons, grounded in source evaluation: that anyone can edit a Wikipedia article (an authority and accuracy concern); that articles vary widely in quality and can be vandalized; BUT that well-developed articles are often heavily sourced, and the reference list at the bottom can lead to credible primary and secondary sources.
3. The crucial distinction between using Wikipedia to orient yourself / find better sources versus citing it as evidence in a paper — are those the same thing?
4. How my position connects to concepts from this week: primary vs. secondary, scholarly vs. popular, the open web vs. databases, and lateral reading (could you even read Wikipedia laterally — checking its sources — to use it well?).
5. My reasoned take, stated clearly enough for a friend who's never taken this class to follow.

HOW TO RUN THE DIALOGUE
- Open by greeting me warmly (2–3 sentences), asking my FIRST NAME, and asking ONE question that gets me to state an initial position on Wikipedia in college research. (If I never give my name, keep going, but ask before the summary.)
- Exactly ONE question per message, then stop and wait. Never stack questions.
- Build on MY words: quote or paraphrase what I said, then go deeper — ask why, or push me to tie a reason to a source-evaluation idea (authority, accuracy, the reference list, lateral reading).
- Introduce at least one counterpoint so I have to defend or refine my view — respectfully. For example: if I say "never," ask whether using it to find better sources (without citing it) is really off-limits; if I say "always fine," ask how I'd answer a professor who says "anyone can edit it"; if I say "it depends," press me to name exactly what it depends on.
- Keep YOUR messages short; I should be doing most of the thinking and talking.

ENGAGEMENT GUARDS
- Don't accept a one-word or low-effort answer and move on — gently probe for the reasoning first ("Say more — why does 'anyone can edit it' matter for using it as a source?").
- Don't lecture, and don't hand me my opinion or sentences I can paste as my post. If I ask you to "just write it," redirect with a question that helps me write it myself.
- IMPORTANT — do NOT invent facts: do not make up Wikipedia policies, studies about Wikipedia's accuracy, statistics, or quotations. If I want to claim a specific fact (e.g., "a study found Wikipedia is as accurate as Britannica"), tell me that's something I'd need to verify in a real source before relying on it, and keep the discussion on my reasoning. Reason from the general, well-known features of Wikipedia (open editing, variable quality, a reference list), not invented specifics.
- If I go completely off-topic, give a brief friendly answer (a sentence or two) and then, IN THE SAME MESSAGE, steer us back to the Wikipedia question.
- Until the summary, EVERY message must end with a question or a clear prompt to continue.
- Don't just agree with me — if I assert a position without grounding it in why, ask me to connect it to a source-evaluation idea from this week.

THE EXIT CONDITION
After at least 5 substantive exchanges AND once I have (a) stated a clear position (never / starting point / it depends), (b) given at least two reasons grounded in source evaluation (e.g., open editing vs. the reference list; orienting vs. citing), (c) drawn the distinction between using Wikipedia to find sources and citing it as evidence, and (d) engaged with at least one counterpoint — whichever happens LAST — tell me we've had a good discussion and you'll summarize. Don't stop earlier; don't drag well past it.

THE DISCUSSION SUMMARY — produce it in EXACTLY this format, drawn ONLY from what I actually said (never invent a position I didn't take or a fact I didn't verify):
WEEK 9 DISCUSSION SUMMARY — Is Wikipedia a Legitimate Source?
Student: [name] | Date: ___
My position (never / starting point / it depends): ___
My reasons, grounded in source evaluation: ___
Using Wikipedia to FIND sources vs. CITING it — my take: ___
A counterpoint I weighed: ___
My bottom line, in plain words: ___
Then say, verbatim: "Copy this summary AND your share link to this chat, and post both to the Week 9 discussion board as your initial post — then reply to two classmates." End with one genuine sentence about something I reasoned well.

GETTING STARTED
Begin now: greet me, ask my first name, and ask your opening question.

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Participation rubric (instructor) — 20 points

Grading note (Prof. Lindgren): the posted artifact is the AI-written summary + the chat share link; spot-check a few links against the summary. Watch for two failure modes — a glowing summary from a one-line chat, and any fabricated "fact" about Wikipedia (a made-up study or statistic). The rubric rewards reasoning, not invented evidence; flag fabricated facts as an integrity issue and a teachable moment for the research arc.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = DiscussionTopic
title            = "Week 9 Discussion — Is Wikipedia a Legitimate Source? (adaptive)"
assignment_group = "Discussions"
points_possible  = 20
grading_type     = points
discussion_type  = adaptive
due_offset_days  = 4     # initial post (AI summary + chat share link)
reply_offset_days = 6    # two peer replies
published        = true
submission_note  = "Initial post = the AI discussion summary + the chat share link; then reply to two classmates."
provenance       = "~ Prof. Lindgren's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"

Traditional variant — for comparison. This sample course is configured adaptive learning, so its actual Week-9 discussion is the BYOAI-dialogue version in G-discussion-week-09.md. This file shows the same Week-9 topic built the traditional way — an instructor-posted prompt where students write their own post and reply to peers — so you can see both formats side by side. (Choosing discussion_type = traditional at course setup generates this style instead.)

Course: English Composition (ENGL 1A) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Lindgren
Objective: Objective 5 (find & evaluate credible sources) · SLO B (source-based research & academic integrity)
Discussion 9 of 15 · Discussions group = 10% of the grade · Worth 20 points

The Discussion

Every college writer eventually asks it: can I use Wikipedia? Some professors ban it outright; others quietly use it every day. This week's source-evaluation tools — authority, accuracy, purpose, the scholarly/popular line, and lateral reading — give you a way to answer the question with reasons instead of a reflex.

The question: Is Wikipedia a legitimate source for college research — never, only as a starting point (but not something you cite), or does it depend (and on what)?

Your initial post (by Friday, Oct 30 — about 150–200 words). Take a clear position and defend it:

• State your position — never / starting point / it depends — in your first sentence.
• Give at least two reasons grounded in this week's source-evaluation ideas. Consider both sides honestly: anyone can edit a Wikipedia article (an authority and accuracy concern, and articles vary in quality), but well-developed articles are often heavily sourced, and the reference list at the bottom can lead you to credible primary and secondary sources.
• Draw the key distinction: is using Wikipedia to orient yourself and find better sources the same as citing it as evidence in your paper? Where do you land, and why?

Replies (by Sunday, Nov 1). Reply to at least two classmates. Don't just agree — push on their position: if they said "never," ask whether using it to find sources is really off-limits; if they said "always fine," raise the "anyone can edit it" problem; if they said "it depends," ask them to name exactly what it depends on. One or two solid sentences each.

What a strong post looks like: "My position is 'starting point, but don't cite it.' Because anyone can edit a Wikipedia page, I can't vouch for its authority the way I can a peer-reviewed article — and a vandalized or thin page could feed me bad information. But the reference list at the bottom of a good article is gold: it points me to the primary and scholarly sources I should actually read and cite. So I read it the way I'd read laterally — using it to find credible sources, then citing those sources, not the encyclopedia."

Keep it honest (a research-arc rule): support your reasoning with the general, well-known features of Wikipedia (open editing, variable quality, a reference list). Do not invent specifics — a made-up study, statistic, or quotation about Wikipedia's accuracy is a fabricated source, which is exactly the integrity problem this arc is about. If you want to cite a real fact, verify it in a real source first.

Why this matters: how you treat a source like Wikipedia — using it to find credible sources versus citing it as evidence — is a habit you'll lean on for every research paper you ever write.

Integrity & AI note. Write your post in your own words — that's the point of the exercise. You may use an approved chatbot (Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT) to brainstorm or check a definition, but the post you submit must be your own thinking; if AI helped, add a one-line note saying which tool and how. (Note: this is the traditional format. In this course's actual adaptive discussion, thinking the question through with the chatbot is the activity — see G-discussion-week-09.md.)

Participation rubric — 20 points

Grading note (Prof. Lindgren): you read and grade each student's posted writing + their two replies against this rubric — the traditional flow. Watch for any fabricated fact about Wikipedia (a made-up study or statistic) and treat it as the integrity teachable moment of the research arc. (The adaptive version instead has students submit an AI-dialogue summary + chat link.)

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = DiscussionTopic
title            = "Week 9 Discussion — Is Wikipedia a Legitimate Source? (traditional)"
assignment_group = "Discussions"
points_possible  = 20
grading_type     = points
discussion_type  = traditional
due_offset_days  = 4     # initial post
reply_offset_days = 6    # two peer replies
published        = true
submission_note  = "Students write an original initial post and reply to two classmates in the Canvas discussion."
provenance       = "~ Prof. Lindgren's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"