American University - Skills Institute Feb 2010

Course schedule

The Skills Institute took place over two and half days, starting at 4 pm Friday, Feb 19, and ending at 4:30 pm Sunday, Feb 21.

Day 1, Friday Feb 19: 4-9pm

• Renewable Energy in the Developing World (4:45 - 5:30pm)
• Intro to PV (5:30- 6:00pm)

American University Skills Institute
Source: http://www1.alumni.american.edu/regi...eg&eventID=659. Author: American University. Permission: Fair Use.
• Break (6- 6:30)
• DIY PV- cell soldering (6:30-7-15pm)
• National and International Clean Energy Technology Development and Outlook- Jessica Morey, Clean Energy Group (7:30-9pm)

Day 2, Saturday Feb 20: 9-5pm

• Intro to Biodiesel (9-10:15)
• Global Perspectives of Biodiesel- Suzanne Hunt, Hunt Green, LLC (10:30- 12)
• DIY Biodiesel- Chemistry Lab Test Batches (12:15- 1)
• Break (1-1:30pm)
• Field Trip to Pogo Organics (MD)- Frankie Abralind (1:30- 5)
• Assignment- Climate Lab

Day 3, Sunday Feb 21: 9-5pm

• Tour of Residential PV and other RE technologies- Scott Sklar’s House (VA) (10am-12)
• Lighting Africa Program, World Bank Group Initiative (12:30- 1:15pm)
• Lunch Break (1:15- 1:45pm)
• Intro to Climate Lab- Adam Tapley (1:45- 2:45pm)
• Climate Lab Article Assignments (2:45- 3:15?)
• Course Wrap-up, Evaluations

Article assignment

Skills Institute students have been assigned to develop individual wiki articles on a topic of choice that, by in large, relates directly or indirectly to material covered during the weekend course. Articles should:

• Have their titles and corresponding student author names logged within the Article Schedule (see below)
• Fit general Climate Lab wiki article norms (see handout below attached to this wiki page and the Climate Lab "How To" section for reference)
• Have lengths of 2,000 or more words
• Incorporate a media or similar component, whether images, video, maps, etc.
• Be posted in their entirety to Climate Lab by midnight, Sunday, Feb 28, 2010.

Wiki articles will be made private from the general Climate Lab community until March 6, 2010, when they will be published publicly to Climate Lab.

Article schedule

The table below should be used to log and track the status of articles being developed for the Skills Institute project.  Track articles by article name, current article quality, and any additional notes on status.

• Skills Institute Student - Names of the students -- last name, first name.
• Username - Corresponding Climate Lab usernames, to provide for easier reference within the wiki.
• Article - Article topics selected by students.  As final topic selections are made, they should be recorded within this table and a hyperlink added to the corresponding wiki page.
• Status - Logs the status of an article, either: No content / In progress / Final.  This should be updated by students.
• Notes -  Can be used to leave notes on the progress of the article. (Ex., "Need help inserting image," or "Done except for updating footnotes")

General Climate Lab articles articles are rated on quality as follows: FA - featured article, A - complete article, B - incomplete article, C - sporadic information, START - little content, and STUB - outline.  See the general Climate Lab Article Quality Ratings Table below for full descriptions. Skills Institute articles should aim to achieve a quality of A or AF.

 Article structure and format

It is useful to be familiar with the basic structure, elements and functions of a wiki page when you start. Some are more obvious than others. (See “How to Layout a Wiki Page”) Basic Climate Lab page elements include:

• Title: The title identifies the subject of the article (ex., “Solar Lanterns”).
• Introduction: The introduction defines the article’s subject, places it in the context of climate change, and provides an overview of significant related issues.
• Sections: Sections and subsections organize information in articles around different topics or subtopics. Sections should be organized consistently and with a sense of progression, starting generally with the most accessible information. For example, an article about solar lanterns might follow its intro with sections such as: “Background,” “Technology basics,” “Applications,” “Advantages,” “Barriers,” “Costs,” “Footnotes,” and “Resources.”
  
  • To create a section: Simply change the Style in the page editor and type the header.
• Footnotes: Footnotes refer to specific passages of an article and cite the sources for those passages. All pages on the wiki should have a Footnotes section and should cite at least three different credible sources.
  
  • To insert a footnote: Move the cursor to where you want to insert the footnote in the text and click the “Insert Citation” button. In the popup dialogue box, type the full footnote reference information and click “Insert.”
• Resources: Resources are relevant information sources on the article topic not specifically covered by footnotes.

While there is a basic structure for wiki articles and some fairly universal sections, particular articles may call for different or additional sections and subsections.

Article quality ratings

Below is the rating table used to rate the quality of general Climate Lab wiki articles.  Skills Institute articles should strive to achieve an A or FA status.