Education:IPM criteria

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This is a Trias Wiki Educational page Editorial conventions for this page

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General information Educational Module

The criteria are used in the assessment of pages written during assignments within the IPM curriculum of The Hague University. They are based on a translation of criteria within the Dutch public management wiki of The Hague University.


General criteria for a wikipage

Technical requirements and form aspects

The help portal in this wiki will provide you with explanations and examples concerning the how-to of the requirements listed below!

  1. Structure, page layout, use of Categories
    1. The right page setup is used for the particular page type (i.e. 'portal', 'encyclopedia page' etc.) and assignment (e.g. 'TRIAS masterclass 2007' or 'IPMProject 1.3')

In practice this usually means that you have to use the right preload-button when you first set up a page. (Clicking on a red link will provide you with a choice of different preload buttons, consult your teacher/tutor when unsure which one to use!)

    1. Content (text, images, links...) was added to the given structure (headers) in a correct manner
    2. Optional additions to the structure (adding headers, tables etc.) was done correctly
    3. Structure additions made are of added value
  2. Active referencing (wikilinks)
    1. Internal
      1. Done correctly (clear and appropriate title, working link)
      2. The reference is relevant within the content of the page and the context of the assignment
    2. External [url]
      1. Done correctly (clear and appropriate title, working link)
      2. The reference is relevant within the content of the page and the context of the assignment
  3. Consistency/Interconnectedness - one of the most important features of a wiki like this one is the ease of generating connections based on content relations. The quality of a wiki as a whole is depends heavily on the connections created by the users/editors themselves.
    1. ‘Outgoing’ (internal and external) are used wherever and whenever possible and useful. (For assessors: Especially encyclopedic pages without any 'blue wikiwords' are always insufficient in this respect!)
    2. 'Incoming' links: created on other pages in this wiki wherever and whenever possible and useful (accessible by 'What links here' in the left-hand menu). The more relevant incoming links point to a page, the more important the content of this page is considered to be, apparently! (For assessors: An encyclopedic page without any incoming links from either case, portal or other encyclopedic wikipage might just as well be non-existent in this wiki - and effectively speaking of no added value whatsoever! Even pages with only one or two of these content-related incoming links will still be rarely visted by an interested wiki-browsing reader)
  4. Layout and design
    1. Text layout is implemented correctly and functional
    2. Any (optional!) images and/or other media files added to a page were uploaded with the inclusion of a proper source reference, not to mention without violation of copyrights!
    3. Images/media files are added within the page layout correctly and functionally
    4. Images/media files are relevant to the page content and of added value

General Content criteria

This wiki has a multiple-audience orientation. On the one hand, professionals from the field of eGovernment can contribute to and/ or benefit from the content of this wiki. Experts in eGovernment specialisms may be considered contributors rather than intended readers, although ideally the broad scope of this wiki may hold new and useful information even for them. Education professionals (trainers, teachers, tutors) and students of various backgrounds are the main audience this wiki caters for.

  1. Relevance
    1. The information on the page adds to the content area (and/or context of the educational module in question) already present in this wiki
    2. Relevant and clarifying examples are provided
  2. Neutrality, avoiding bias
    1. The content presented in this wiki should avoid any impression of being biased,
    2. No commercial purpose should be served by the presented information
    3. Omission of relevant and important important other viewpoints w.r.t. a debated topic creates bias!
  3. Depth, detail and clarity
    1. Concepts are used correctly and explained clearly wherever necessary (which may require starting a new encyclopedic wiki page of course!)
    2. The page does not contain unnecessary detail
    3. The information on the wiki page is unambiguous, formulated in an accessible manner, and does not contain inaccuracies or inconsistencies

Sources and referencing (General)

As often indicated in preloaded text and educational assignments, proper referencing when making use of sources is vital.

  1. Sources selected should be reliable
  2. The reader should be made fully aware of what sources underlie what wiki pages content. Proper layout and in-text referencing should be used at all time
  3. Every page should contain a section with full information on the sources used, whenever possible including up-to-date links to websites.
  4. Unless of unique value, literal text citations are not to be used - a proper external link to an original text will do just as well. When deemed necessary, a short summary preceding such a link may be included.
  5. Wiki contributors are expected to be aware of applicable laws regarding copyright and plagiarism, and to behave accordingly when editing this wiki.

Module and assignment-specific criteria

Nonsense, unfounded and unmistakably biased information do not belong in this wiki. Presenting such content as the objective, well-researched information a reader of this wiki may expect, is considered to have a degrading effect in this wiki as a whole. Users persistently making inappropriate contributions my be banned for wiki vandalism.

Old IPMProject 1.3 (2007-2008)

Balancing detail, relevance, legiblity, educational Theme and eGov orientation

An important distinction to be made when selecting the content to be included in a TRIAS encyclopedic page, is between information within the domain of eGovernment and/or another educational Theme (such as Migration/Migration policy for IPMProject 1) and information outside this realm. The former should always be included as completely as possible without rendering a wiki page illegible (a delicate balance to strike given the wealth of eGov insights, opinions and cases available these days). The latter should either be left out or just briefly touched upon for the sake of illustration or necessity of understanding context. Pages should not get too technical (there are other sources to point to in case users may want to pursue further in-depth studies in that respect), nor too monodisciplinarily legal/economic/political/etc.

IPMProject 1 (Migration) 2009-2010

Assignment 1.1 (Migration, term 1): Encyclopedic PM page criteria per page section

Definition, short explanation

In this section of the encyclopedic page, you should present the clearest possible definition of the title topic, or provide a brief and clear explanation of what the term means. In many cases, several definitions may be found - list the most appropriate and argue which one you choose for this article, or combine existing definitions into a new one of your own. Take really good care to give proper reference to the source(s) you derived this definition or description from! As an exception, it is allowed to literally quote other authors' definitions in this section, but never without proper layout and in-text referencing! Use no more than a 100 words!

In depth

In this section of the encylopedia page, you should further introduce the concept, and provide the interested reader with more details, as well as in-text links to 'further reading' sources which go beyond the scope of this wiki page. Anything relevant yet too elaborate for the previous section may be described here. This is also the section in which to connect to other articles in this wiki, so bring on the wikilinks!! Take care to not write outside the domain of this wiki - which is about public management and public administration only! NB: There is room for examples in a section below! Please refrain from elaborations outside the scope of anything related to migration - point to other sources/websites/wikis instead!

Relevance of the topic for migration (policy)

In this section of the encyclopedic page, you provide arguments for the concept's relevance for (or impact on) migration or for policies affecting migration, or its' relevance for both migration AND policy. This section should not be about just migration, or migration analysis in general - there are other pages in this wiki for that (you may want to improve them!) - but should first of all be about the page topic's relation to migration. Anything about migration but not about the page topic does not belong here!

Note that some topics may be directly linked to migration, for example because they fit nicely into the push/pull/barriers framework, while other topics may be more indirectly connected to migration. A topic may for example be related to policy-making in general, thus also affecting the more specific migration policy. Or it may for example concern not migrating rather than migrating, i.e. be an alternative to migration rather than cause, effect or part of it.

Please refrain from elaborations outside the scope of Migration and/or Migration-related policy - point otherwise interested readers to other sources/websites/wikis instead (further reading)! Any specifics of the topic which you think need to be understood by the reader but are not linked to migration (policy), belong in the 'in depth' section preceding this one!

Examples

In this section of the encyclopedic page, provide relevant examples by filling in the TRIAS example templates below. Always provide proper referencing - examples without sources can be considered 'invented', and their veracity and illustrative value is doubtful. Make sure quoted text can be recognized as such, eg. by using italics and/or 'quotation marks'.

What kind of examples should I present? This of course depends very much on the topic at hand. In general, either presenting figures, e.g. comparing countries, or providing a short (and real!) 'human interest' story to illustrate (part of) the explanations you provide above could be a good approach. Remember that the illustrative value of an example does not only depend on the content of the example itself, but also on the concept/relation/etc. it illustrates! So do not add examples to the obvious. An example: In a wiki article about football ('soccer' for Americans), illustrating the nature of the game by giving an elaborate description of how the motion of a famous player's foot results in the ball moving forward, has hardly any added informational value (however poetic the description). Presenting sales figures of season tickets for the top 5 clubs to show how popular the game is, does add value, as it provides real life 'proof' of a statement about popularity made in a previous section - adding practical credibility to the wiki page content.

How to fill in the template? The empty template (providing the example box layout) contains '...replace this..' text after equation marks. Substituting your own title and text here will put it into the box layout. On a new page, the unused template looks like this: 

{{IPM example|
|Example title=...replace this with your own title...
|Example text=...replace this with your own example description...
}}

Filling in some text: 

{{IPM example|
|Example title= Free WiFi connectivity at airports
|Example text= As of yet, no major Dutch airport has realized wireless access to the internet free of charge. 
Although a serious disappointment to many travellers, competition has still not reduced WiFi prices.
}}

gives:

Example: Free WiFi connectivity at airports
As of yet, no major Dutch airport has realized wireless access to the internet free of charge. Although a serious disappointment to many travellers, competition has still not reduced WiFi prices.

See also the description on Help:Examples. Technically there is no limit to the length of the text you can insert, but it is recommended to limit the title to one line, and the body text to 350 words - inserting images is possible and recommended, but please resize!

Sources, further reading

List all the sources you used to write this page here, replacing the items below. Use the proper '*'-bullet layout for the list, and the linkname layout for pointing to web resources. IPM students should make sure they make use of AT LEAST three different sources, at least ONE being a BOOK. For the majority of topic, at least twice as many good sources should be easy to find by smart searches (with the right keywords, using the sources of sources, etc.) in the right places.

How and where to find your sources? Google may seem helpful, but is above all certian to come up with a host of unreliable or irrelevant items, aggravating your problems of selecting the best and most relevant articles/sites/books etc. The wikipedia(s) are in themselves unreliable sources, however good the actual quality of many a page may be. Putting a wikipedia page in your reference list is not the best way to make your statements look credible! Any good wikipedia page will have a proper list of reliable sources, though - so make good use of these, rather than the wikipedia article itself! This makes wikipedias a good knowledge search tool rather than a good primary source by itself. The HHS library site is a great place to start, as it offers access not only to the HHS collection, but also to a huge variety of other libraries, online content not available to everyone. For effective searching for sources, you need to have given some thought about which search terms to use, going beyond the topic title and synonyms, and on how to use them to broaden or delimit your search. And do not forget that you can also search this wiki - a fellow student may also have found a source of use to you, or maybe even has already addressed what you are looking for on a related wiki page - saving you work!

The quality and reliability of your sources determines the value of the content you added - without sources to back you up, anything you write may be considered of very little value by a neutral reader of this wiki. Do not forget to use in-text referencing as well, and match you full reference details in this section to those in the text above.

Assignment 1.2 (Migration, term 2): Portals

There are portal-specific requirements stressing the difference between a portal and a 'regular' wiki page such as an encyclopedic topic page. In general, be aware of the following characteristics of portals:

  1. Objective of a portal: Providing (improved) access to this wiki, disclosing the content of this wiki. A (thematic) portal should make the pages in this wiki - especially the encyclopedic ones - easier to find to the (interested) reader. Linking to relevant pages will improve the accessibility of pages to both readers and potential editors (i.e. improvers of the wiki's content), providing context (such as recent developments in the news, debates etc.) will make the encyclopedia easier to understand, highlighting (featuring) specific pages/topic will make the wiki more interesting, convenient listings and ordering of topics will provide the wiki user with structure, etc.
  2. Relevance: A portal contains the most relevant information within a certain content area (or theme). For in-depth information and detail, a portal refers to 'underlying' pages (often to encyclopedic ones, although cases and lectures may also provide valuable insights!)
  3. Specific requirements per portal section: Depending on the type of portal, various sections may be required and/or available! See the instructions below, as provided within each portal 'box'! NB: these are not just tips, but also assessment criteria!
Education:IPM Portalexplain text/Introduction

This section is the first thing a visitor of this portal will read! Make sure to provide a welcoming and to-the-point text, briefly introducing the portal theme and explaining the purpose of this portal so the reader knows what to expect right away. Take care to limit the amount of text, so the introduction box does not expand so much that it pushes the layout of lower portal sections off the screen! Read the IPM criteria to be aware of the purpose of a portal. TIP: It is highly recommended to refrain from using pictures here, or at least radically downsize them to not waste the limited space available (there already is a portal logo section!)

Education:IPM Portalexplain text/Featured

The 'featured item' section is the showcase area, the shop window of a portal. It contains a representative display of the content of an existing (encyclopedic) page from THIS wiki, about a topic most relevant for the theme of this portal, of course including several internal wiki links for further reading. The selected item should be of high quality to be showcased here! Do not post the entire content of another wiki page here, but give a representative sample of its text (the definitions and some initial explanation, an example maybe, wiki links) and when of added value, a picture. The featured item should change frequently (at least once a week) for this section to remain interesting to returning readers! This section is exemplary of the rule that portals should offer no content that is not also present elsewhere in the TRIAS wiki! TIP: include a list of previously featured items, for example by using <noincludes>. TIP2: When the best topics you would like to present here do not exist yet, or are below IPM wiki standards, create and/or improve these pages to make them featurable!

Education:IPM Portalexplain text/In the news

In this section, the portal visitor should be given an overview of important news items which have a significant impact w.r.t. the theme of this portal. Rather than parrot news texts, the items displayed here should each clearly explain the connection between a recent event and the portal theme and then provide external link references to original news reports elsewhere. NB: Adding a date to a news item is imperative. This section requires constant updating! Up-to-dateness and relevance w.r.t. the portal theme are the most important criteria here! Each item should of course also contain relevant internal wiki links to pages within the TRIAS wiki! TIP: It is advisable to place the most recent events on top of this section, and to 'comment out' items at the bottom of the section that become too old, by placing 'noincludes' before and after the text you want to prevent from showing up on the portal.

Education:IPM Portalexplain text/Historical perspective

This section should provide a clear and complete overview of the history of the portal theme. It is advisable to use headers to separate different periods or developments. Beware of providing too much detail, it is overview you should aim for here - in-depth information should be placed on encyclopedic wiki pages. When necessary create new wiki pages when you have relevant (!) information going beyond this portal overview! Remember, (a) the objective of a portal is disclosing the information elsewhere in this wiki, and (b) a portal should not contain any information not also present on encyclopedic pages in this wiki (with the possible exception of news items).

Education:IPM Portalexplain text/Policy practices compared

The text in this portal section should not just contain information about various policy fields in different countries or regions, it should primarily aim at providing the wiki reader with an overview of similarities and differences between these items. Do not leave it to the reader to make the comparisons! Make sure that more detailed information about countries, policy objectives, instruments etc. can be found on encyclopedic wiki pages this section links to - do not clutter this section with too much detail, but do make sure to provide the necessary (relevant!) detail elsewhere in this wiki!

TIP: Start out by arguing why you choose certain policy areas and certain countries/regions, why are these the most interesting, the most illustrative in the context of this portal theme?

Education:IPM Portalexplain text/Did you know...?

Did you know that...

  • you are free to decide what information you put here?
  • relevance of facts presented here enhances portal quality?
  • usefulness of the info in this section is an important criterium?
  • regularly updating this section keeps readers coming back (min.=weekly)? (TIP: use 'noincludes' to keep an archive of old DYKs!)
  • this is the preferred list format for this section?
  • every item should include a wikilink (preferably!) or external link (when required for referencing)?
  • this section should also enable readers to enter further into this wiki? (Go easy on the external links, make sure to include enough internal wiki links!)
Education:IPM Portalexplain text/Institutions

The preferred wikitext format for this portal box is a list of wikilinks. Be careful when choosing the (spelling of) new wikititles, because the wiki title conventions need to be followed here! In researching both practice and theory connected to the portal theme, you will come across several organizations/institutions with a strong impact directly connected to the portal theme through research/advisory work, policy-making, stakeholders, executive agencies etc. The space of this box limits the length of the lists you can make, so make sure you include what is most relevant and leave out what is less interesting to the reader!

Education:IPM Portalexplain text/People

The preferred wikitext format for this portal box is a list of wikilinks. This implies that ideally, each person on this list should be described on an encyclopedic wiki page! Be careful when choosing the (spelling of) new wiki titles, because some conventions need to be followed here, especially where names of persons are concerned! In researching both practice and theory connected to the portal theme, you will come across various names which simply must be mentioned here in a 'most important people list'. The space of this box limits the length of the lists you can make, so make sure you include only the most relevant names and leave out those who are less interesting to the reader!

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