Conference paper at EdMedia 2014

1. ‣Attitude Changes When Using
Wikipedia in Higher Education
PERNILLA
Pernilla Josefsson, Olle Bälter Katarina Bälter, Stephanie Bonn
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Karolinska Institutet
Sweden
Media Technology and Interaction Design
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Sweden

2. ‣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
PERNILLA
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.

3. PERNILLA
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”

4. ‣Example:A learning activity
PERNILLA
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

5. ‣Methods
PERNILLA
Figure
1:
Distribu6on
of
a/tudes
towards
the
use
of
wikis
in
a
learning
situa6on.
Interviews
Data collection
Pre- and Post- questionnaires

6. Human behaviour:
“De- personalized communication with people that don’t
know each other very well tends to be awkward”
‣Weaknesses and strengths
PERNILLA
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

7. ‣Weaknesses and strengths
PERNILLA
Figure
3:
Strengths
of
using
wiki
in
a
learning
situa6on.
Figure
2:
Weaknesses
of
using
wiki
in
a
learning
situa6on.

8. ‣Weaknesses and strengths
PERNILLA
Figure
3:
Strengths
of
using
wiki
in
a
learning
situa6on.
Figure
2:
Weaknesses
of
using
wiki
in
a
learning
situa6on.

9. ‣Weaknesses and strengths
PERNILLA
Figure
3:
Strengths
of
using
wiki
in
a
learning
situa6on.
Figure
2:
Weaknesses
of
using
wiki
in
a
learning
situa6on.

10. ‣Interviews
PERNILLA
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

11. ‣Data from the wiki
PERNILLA
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

12. ‣Summary
PERNILLA
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.

13. ‣@JPernilla
PERNILLA
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