‣Attitude Changes When Using Wikipedia in Higher Education

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Pernilla Josefsson, Olle Bälter Katarina Bälter, Stephanie BonnDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Karolinska InstitutetSweden

Media Technology and Interaction DesignKTH Royal Institute of Technology

Sweden

‣The Study

Was  designed  to:  Evaluate  the  students´a/tudes  before  and  a4er  par6cipated  in  collabora/ve  wiki  assignments.

Result:    A  statistically  signi,icant  positive  shift  in  attitudes  (p<0.05)  

The  use  of  Wiki  technology  was  perceived  to  add  value

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Attitudes  towards  the  use  connected  towards  “human  behaviour”

Background: Few studies report on how attitudes change in relation to using the technology in learning activities designed to match course goals.

Aim:   A  change  occurred  in  students  attitudes  towards  the  use  of  a  wiki  as  it  was  implemented  in  their  learning  environment.

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Included  students  from  two  different  subjects    35  students  invited    -­‐>  23  participate.

‣Description of the project

Williams  College,  Massachusetts,  US

• Subject-­‐introducing  lectures  about  the  course  topics  • Introduction  lecture  by  the  Wikipedia  Campus  Ambassador  • The  assignments  strongly  related  to  the  learning  outcomes

Winter  semester  2013• In  average,  they  had  been  using  social  media  for  5.4  years.  • 2.1  h/day  on  social  media,  (1.4  h  primarily  towards  the  app.)  • Does  social  media  support  their  studies?

The  students:

The  introduction:

5%

30%

13%

52%

“Yes”

“Not sure”

“No”

“Yes, but only when it is compulsory”

‣Example: A learning activity

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The  students  were  asked  to:

• Create a personal presentation page !• Solve different problems and comment on

another groups’ solution !• Solve the same problem, using different data

sets and comment on another groups’ solution

‣Methods

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Figure  1:    Distribu6on  of  a/tudes  towards  the  use  of  wikis  in  a  learning  situa6on.

Interviews

Data collection

Pre- and Post- questionnaires

Human behaviour: “De- personalized communication with people that don’t know each other very well tends to be awkward”

‣Weaknesses and strengths

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Technology and design: “Technology barrier for people who aren’t strong computer users”

Neutral: “I am not sure”

We asked: What weaknesses and strengths they perceived with the use of wiki.

Pre- and Post- questionnaires

Interviews

Data collection

‣Weaknesses and strengths

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Figure  3:    Strengths  of  using  wiki  in  a  learning  situa6on.

Figure  2:    Weaknesses  of  using  wiki  in  a  learning  situa6on.

‣Weaknesses and strengths

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Figure  3:    Strengths  of  using  wiki  in  a  learning  situa6on.

Figure  2:    Weaknesses  of  using  wiki  in  a  learning  situa6on.

‣Weaknesses and strengths

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Figure  3:    Strengths  of  using  wiki  in  a  learning  situa6on.

Figure  2:    Weaknesses  of  using  wiki  in  a  learning  situa6on.

‣Interviews

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Openness:    Perceived  both  nega6ve  and  posi6ve  The  value  of  the  wri6ng  process  increased  PermiCed  feedback  from  others  The  absence  of  restricted  groups

Confirmed  the  a/tudes  from  the  ques6onnaires.  =>  Expressed  a  cau6ous  posi6ve  view.

Interviews

Data collection

We asked: The students to elaborate on the use

3 Students

‣Data from the wiki

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Figure  4:    Distribu6on  of   the  number  of  edits  made  

in  the  wiki  by  all  the  course  par6cipants.

Edits  in  the  Wiki    Number  of  edits  more  reliable  than  the  sum  of  characters.

Data collection

‣Summary

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Karasavvidis  (2010):  modes  of  work  and  students  resistance  are  important  aspects  to  consider  for  understanding  how  students  will  perceive  the  wiki.

Confirms:    Raman,  Ryan  &  Olfman  (2005):  we  saw  a  clear  shi4  in  a/tude  towards  being  more  posi6ve  as  the  students  gained  more  knowledge  about  the  technology.

The results show a statistically significant positive change in attitudes (p<0.05) before and after use of the wiki technology.

Limita/ons:    Small  sample,  short  6me  for  data  collec6on

The aim: Explore students’ attitudes towards using wiki technology in their education.

How  students  a/tudes  are  connected  to  their  percep6on  of    “human  behaviour”.

Contributes:  Serves  as  a  basis  for  further  explora6on  concerning  a/tude  changes  in  student  popula6ons.

‣@JPernilla

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Recently  published:    “An   Educa6on   in   Facebook?:   Higher   Educa6on  and  the  World´s  largest  social  network.”  Chapter  17:  Role  confusion  in  Facebook  groups.

Next  to  come:    •  Students  a/tudes  towards  the  use  of  social  media.  • Teachers  perspec6ve  on  the  use  of  social  media.

hCp://www.amazon.com/An-­‐Educa6on-­‐Facebook-­‐Largest-­‐Network/dp/0415713196