Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
Running head: EFFECTS OF WIKI ON STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND WRITING
Can the use of wikis increase student engagement and writing performance?
Viktor Bereziouk
Brooklyn College, CBSE 7201
December, 2013
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
Table of Contents
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………….3
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………..4
Review of Literature……………………………………………………………………….5-20
Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………………….20-21
Discussion………………………………………………………………………………...…22-23
References………………………………………………………………………………….24-27
Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………..28-31
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
ABSTRACT
This Action Research Project (ARP) aimed to explore the effects of Wiki assignments on student
engagement and productivity. Ten fifth-grade students from a Title-1 public school were
randomly selected and equally divided into two groups. Both groups received a pre-test
assignment which involved completing a written assignment with pen and paper alone. The next
stage of the ARP involved the experimental group completing an assignment on a computer and
posting it on a Wiki page and a control group completing another assignment with pen and
paper. The results show that student engagement and productivity was higher for the
experimental group. The limitations of this ARP include a very small number of participants.
Future ARP should investigate the effects of student engagement and productivity with a larger
sample size.
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
INTRODUCTION
I am a graduate student living in Brooklyn, New York. I am working on obtaining my
certification in General Education as an elementary school teacher. I am currently a graduate
student at Brooklyn College in the Childhood Education Liberal Arts program. Currently, I am a
student teacher, working in a public school in Brooklyn, New York. The school has a current
enrollment of approximately 187 students in grades pre-kindergarten to fifth grade
(http://schools.nyc.gov/OA/SchoolReports/).
The school has an overall attendance rate of 90.7%
(http://schools.nyc.gov/OA/SchoolReports/). Twenty-five percent of students have an IEP and
5.9% of students are English Language Learners. Eighty-seven percent of students are eligible
for free or reduced lunch range. Seventy percent of students are black, non-Hispanic, 21% of
students are Hispanic, 5% are Asian/Pacific Islander, 2% are Native American or Native
Alaskan, and 2% are White, non-Hispanic.
Demographics
Black, non-Hispanic
Hispanic
Asian/Pacific Islander
Native American or Native
American
White, non-Hispanic
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Heafner and Friedman (2008) investigated how using wikis in a social studies class
contributed to collaborative and constructivist learning. The study compared two groups of
students from one social studies class. The first group participated in the wikis collaborative
learning where they had to create a wiki page. Their assignments required them to upload images
along with their writing on key point of World War II. The second group received traditional
class instruction. The aim of their research was to investigate how much wikis contributed to
constructivist learning and its long-term effects on student learning. The use of wikis in the
classroom received positive feedback from students as being innovative and creative. The
authors note that when students uploaded imaged of key events of World War II it contributed to
a deeper understanding of the content. Their results show that using wikis contributed to a deeper
and increased understanding of content knowledge. The authors believe that due to the
ubiquitous nature of the internet in our schools, wikis have the potential to change students from
being passive generators of fact to active engagers of learning and information.
Neumann and Hood (2009) examined the benefits of using a wiki as a collaborative tool
on report writing in a university statistics class. Their study compared two groups of students
where one group used a wiki to write a collaborative report and another group wrote the report
individually. They expected positive results on student learning and students’ attitudes on
learning from both groups. However, greater student engagement and higher grades on students’
written reports were expected from the wikis group. Their results yielded positive outcomes
which support their hypotheses. Both groups reported reduced anxiety of statistics and
improvements in writing and computation of statistics. However, the wiki group reported
increased student engagement in the report writing. The authors believe that integrating wiki in
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
the classroom will help students become active learners. The constructivist nature of wikis
enhances learning by engaging students in collaborative and active learning.
Student engagement with the use of wikis was studied by Cole (2009). Given the
constructivist and collaborative nature of wikis technology the purpose of this study was to
investigate whether using wikis would increase student engagement in the classroom. The
instructor created a wiki page for the class and applied several changes to the teaching method.
First, students were required to post their assignments and comment on alternating weeks.
Second, content from lectures was organized into sections which helped to forester students’
synthesis of information and inter-relation between topics. Third, lectures provided information
on support and encouragement to use wikis. Finally, the researcher informed the students that the
final exam question would be taken from material posted on the wiki page. This study showed
that students’ poor motivation resulted in their lack to engage in collaborative writing on wiki.
The results showed that after few weeks of the study students have not posted anything to wikis.
Data revealed that half of the students who visited the class wiki did not post anything. There are
several reasons the study states which aim to explain the low enthusiasm among students. Some
students reported academic pressure from other course and thus they neglected participating in
the class wiki. Other factors included difficulties with using the wikis technology and low selfesteem. Students with low self-esteem were reluctant to be the first to post because they were
afraid of their peer’s’ critiques. The author’s conclusion for the lack of enthusiasm among
students is due to the unattractive course layout, as some students noted. The researcher
concluded that wikis stores potential advantages as well as disadvantages when employing wikis
to support student engagement.
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
Moskaliuk, Kimmerle, and Cress (2009) described a model of collaborative knowledge
building through wikis. Knowledge building is a cultural learning process that relays upon the
interplay between individuals and communities. Individuals take up new information from the
communities that surround them and integrate it into their own knowledge. The researchers set
out to test three hypotheses. Knowledge building is a social process. Knowledge building and
knowledge learning are enhanced in social learning settings such as wiki. In order to test their
hypotheses the researchers gathered 61 college students. Their task was to complete an
assignment via wiki. The topic chosen was "schizophrenia" because of the fascinating nature of
the disorder. The researchers found that the acquisition of knowledge was found to be correlated
with knowledge building via wiki. These results indicate that collaborative learning between
participants via wiki took place which enhanced the overall learning. In other words, the more
individuals engaged in collaborative learning, the more it enhanced their acquisition of
knowledge and engagement. This study was able to support the theory that collaboration via wiki
resulted in greater knowledge building and learning. The major conclusion of this study is that
learning and knowledge building are based on a strong interplay between a person's knowledge
and the information accessible in a wiki.
Su and Beaumont (2010) evaluated the use and benefits of a wiki for promoting effective
collaborative learning. The researchers pose the question of whether wikis can help create a
dynamic, collaborative learning environment in which learning takes place through open
discussion and free exchange of knowledge. This research article gives a detailed account of 47
University students. Their task was to constructed literature reviews by collaborating via wiki.
The results of the study show that students collaborated and engaged in active discussion with
other users of the wiki. This shows that students adapted quite well to the new learning tool.
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
Additionally, the researchers showed that more than half of the students felt comfortable writing
comments on other user's pages. Half of students provided constructive comments on other
student's work and approximately a third of the students thought that feedback from other
students was beneficial. The researchers determined that one of the best indicators that a student
was becoming a confident learner was to give and accept criticism. The study concluded that
peer feedback while actively working on a task is extremely beneficial to learning and is more
effective than feedback provided after the student has finished the task. Other findings suggest
that ownership of the wiki promoted responsibility, a strong sense of authorship, and increased
intellectual collaborative work. Overall, the many distinctive characteristics of collaboration via
wiki mentioned in this study make it an extremely successful instrument for promoting socialconstructivist frameworks of pedagogy.
Slotter (2010) investigated whether the use of wikis would increase student collaboration
and their ability to integrate content knowledge. Wikis was implemented in a college level
psychology course for the collaborative creation of a final project. Their assignment involved
collaboratively creating a chapter book about relationships. Each student created their own wikis
page and contributed to their classmates’ wikis by posting comments and uploading assignments.
The author passionately believes in integrating technology in the classroom and anticipated high
level of her students’ collaboration on the final project. This study showed that wikis can
significantly increase student collaboration student engagement. It also showed that the increased
collaboration can contribute to students developing a profound understanding of a topic and
enthusiasm for learning. The author suggests that educators start to increase the use of
technology in the classroom such as wikis to foster student engagement and enthusiasm for
learning.
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
Twu (2010) compiled data through research of a control group and online surveys. The
goal of this research study was to examine the predictive relationship in a single culture
background classroom between attitudes toward wiki and collaboration via wiki. By examining
the uses of wiki and the resulting effects of wiki learning as a social group experiment, the author
was able to conclude that there was a positive relationship between wiki learning environments
and interactions in the classroom. The social functions of wiki proved to have bolstered the
students’ ability to learn and comprehend through collaborative use of a wiki learning method.
Huang and Nakazawa (2010) investigated the collaborative and pedagogical effects of
wiki. Sixteen graduate students participated in the research study which aimed to investigate
their collaborative activities via wiki and the level of collaboration between students and
instructor. Participants were tasked to collaborate on writing reflections from their readings and
complete a weekly reflection of their collaborative practice. The results of the study show that
interaction and engagement among students was higher than the interaction between student and
instructor. However, because there is no limit to the number of times students can edit their work
on wiki they can lose momentum to keep generating new writing. Despite this potential
drawback, the author concludes that writing via wiki holds potential benefits to encourage
student collaboration and engagement.
Wichadee (2010) investigated the effectiveness of using wikis to teach an important
writing skill, summarizing. An average class of 35 students who were English language learners
participated in the study for one college semester. Students were broken up into small groups of
four or five and asked to create a wiki pages for their group. They were given passages to read
and asked to write a summary on their wiki page. Each student then would edit other students’
summaries and offer valid reasons for their editing. Each assignment was edited by the instructor
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
and critiqued. The research had several objectives for this study. The first objective was to
investigate whether online collaboration through wikis improved students’ summarization skill.
Second objective investigated the students’ attitudes towards using wikis as a learning tool.
Finally, the researcher investigated any objections or obstacles that the students faced during this
study. The results showed increased post-test scores on summarizing which suggests that their
improvement was attributed to the use of wikis collaborative writing. Students also showed a
positive attitude towards using wikis as a learning tool. However, the study showed that some
students found it difficult to work with other while some students got along well. The researcher
reported that based on the positive results of the study, wikis can be used as an effective tool to
teach writing. Collaborative writing via wiki improved students’ writing whey they read their
peers’ works and online discussions increased their knowledge.
Woo, Chu, Ho, and Li (2011) investigated the effect of using a wiki to scaffold writing
and increase student collaboration in elementary school of English language learners. The
researchers ensured that the students had a sufficient English vocabulary to participate in the
study. Students worked together in small groups over the period of six weeks. The classroom
teacher provided scaffolding on writing via wikis for each group. The students’ assignment
involved selecting a topic of their choice and producing a non-fiction story with illustrations.
Teacher’s scaffolding involved teaching the students paraphrasing and summarizing main idea.
The researchers believed that wikis can be successfully implemented in scaffolding collaborative
writing but it is not clear whether it can be helpful when teaching English language learners.
Therefore, their primary research question was to address how using wikis helps scaffold
collaborative writing in an English language learning class. Their secondary goals were to
investigate the benefits and challenges for students and teacher when using wikis for
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
collaborative writing, key benefits to using wikis to scaffold collaborative writing, and how
teachers use wikis to scaffold editing. The researchers reported many benefits for the students.
Students reported that collaborative wiki writing increased their vocabulary, improved their
grammar, and overall improved their writing. The classroom teacher also reported an
improvement in the students’ reading rate, vocabulary, and sentence structure. Overall, the
researchers reported positive results of their study which answered their primary and secondary
research questions. The results yielded that the more students edited, the better was the quality of
their writing. Researchers believe that wikis can contribute to better quality writing and increase
student engagement.
Allwardt (2011) investigated the effect of using wiki technology in writing a class
project. The class was split into two sections and each section was broken down into small
groups of 4 or 5. One section of students wrote the assignment by collaborating on wikis while
the other section wrote the assignment in a traditional face-to-face manner. The wikis sections
attended an informational session about how to use wikis and then required to join the wiki class
page. The instructor handed out reading material and asked both sections to write a collaborative
assignment. After one semester of research the researcher was inundated with the students’
negative feedback about the assignment. Several themes emerged as the researcher reflected on
the nature of the project. Students reported issues with time management because some group
members procrastinated the assignment and delay commenting the assignments on wiki. Other
students reported difficulties coordinating their group members for meeting at an assigned time
on wiki. Finally, some students reported difficulties with using the wikis site and voiced their
need to have more training time learning to use wikis. The author concludes that the
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
effectiveness of wikis in the classroom rests on the instructor as being capable to coordinate and
monitor students’ use of wikis.
Pifare and Fisher (2011) investigated the usefulness of wikis collaboration on young
students’ writing. A class of 25 students, ages 9-10, was divided into 6 groups and worked in
pairs on a writing assignment via wikis. However, only two groups participated in e very wiki
lesson and finished the collaborative assignment. The wiki lessons included instruction in
collaborative thought process, web-based research of topic, and collaboratively writing the final
text on wikis. The researchers had several aims for this research study. They investigated how
the use of wikis improved students’ composition and revision stages of the writing process.
Researchers also looked at how the use of wiki improved student engagement and revision on
writing. Finally, they examined the role of employing wikis in improving young students’
composition and revision. The researchers reported several findings among first being increased
student engagement in the writing and discussion of their projects. Second, the use of wikis
forced students to be simultaneously engaged in reading and writing. Finally, the researchers
reported students making more revisions and editing to their text which suggests that wikis may
foster evaluative and revising skills. The authors conclude that wikis hold the potential of being
an effective supplementary tool in the classroom.
Lin and Yang (2011) investigated the way students perceive and experience their peers’
commenting and editing of writing assignments via wikis. A class of 32 English learning college
students was divided into groups of four or five after receiving a passing score on English
language proficiency. They were instructed to write a reflection of their assigned class reading
and comment each other’s work. One of the aims of this research study was to investigate how
students perceive integrating wiki in the classroom and experience their peers’ feedback. Also
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
what were the advantages and disadvantages that students experienced while using wikis. The
results of this study showed that many participants reported benefits of using the wikis for
collaborative writing. Many students reported improvement in their writing, which includes
grammar, sentence formatting, and increased vocabulary. The author concludes that the wiki
provided students with many benefits from collaborative wiki writing and more research is need
to understand how to scaffold student collaborative writing via wiki.
Kost (2011) investigated the techniques that students use to write a collaborative essay on
wikis and their revision habits. Eight students worked in pairs writing their collaborative essay
on wikis. Each pair received instructions from the researcher about how to use wikis and a
separate wiki page for their collaborate essays. The researcher had several aims for this study.
One aim was to investigate the type of techniques used by students to write a collaborative essay
on wiki. Second was to analyze the type of revisions students made to their work and finally their
perception of using wikis. The results of the study suggest that students used several strategies to
write their collaborative essays. One of the common strategies use was brainstorming ideas and
creating question which helped the narration of the essay in the pre-writing phase. In another
strategy students clarified, added, and changed information in their essay multiple times. Another
strategy observed was students’ engagement in revising the essay in close collaboration with the
other student. It was reported that students focused their revision of the word choice and
perceived the wiki writing experience as positive and beneficial. The author concludes that the
students found wiki collaborative writing beneficial and they would like to use this method gain
in the future.
Dishaw, Eierman, Iversen, and Philip (2011) investigated the difference in collaboration
between wikis and email. Over the course of three college semesters, 472 students participated in
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
the study. Their task was to collaborate on a writing assignment via wiki class page or using
Microsoft Word software to write the assignment and collaborate via email. The researchers
hypothesized that there would be no difference between collaboration via wiki or email. They
perceived the usefulness and simplicity of both technologies and equal effort would be exercised
by both groups. The results of their study show that both groups exerted equal amount of effort
toward writing and editing their works. Students showed more preference for editing their
writing via email rather than wiki and they expressed their preference for email collaboration for
its simplicity. The authors concluded that the former finding could be related to the ubiquitous
nature of Microsoft Word software and email. The reason why students preferred to collaborate
via email is because they are more familiar with it than wiki. The authors caution against
generalizability of their findings and suggest future research should examine students’ perception
of technological tools such as wiki and its effective implementation in the classroom.
Wong, Chen, Chai, Chin, and Gao (2011) investigated whether collaborative wiki writing
contributed to the students’ writing performance. A class of 18 elementary grade students
participated in collaborative writing exercises on a class wiki page. Four groups of students were
assessed in the writing process which involved several writing exercises designed to fully
capture the score of writing. The first exercise presented an image which depicted a scenario and
the students’ senesce structure was assessed. Second exercise involved the instructor taking a
photo of a sports event in a school and tasked the students with brainstorming ideas, sentence
composition, and paragraph formation. The next exercise required the students to select two
images and write one paragraph about each image. The final task required writing an outline and
a paragraph. All exercises were completed in collaboration on the wiki page. The goal of this
research was to investigate whether collaborative wiki writing improved writing performance.
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
This research showed that collaborative writing on wiki improved the performance of writing
when compared with the notes of a traditional style of writing. However, some students were
reluctant to contribute changes to writing because they relied on other group member to do so.
Researchers concluded that implementing wiki in a collaborative writing class may improve
writing quality and peer engagement.
Kuteeva (2011) studied the effects of collaborative writing via wiki on 14 college
students. They were assessed on their ability to write a formal essay, persuasive essay, summary
of reading material, and a written story on preferred genre. Within those assignments the
researchers assessed their cohesiveness in paragraph writing. The author believes that because
proficient writing is oriented towards the reader, requiring students to write collaboratively on
wiki and peer evaluation would enrich their writing performance because of the constructivist
nature of wiki. On that note, the researcher aimed to answer several research questions. Does
collaborative writing on wiki produce more reader oriented written texts? Do students pay more
attention to structure and grammar when writing on wiki? Did their persuasive strategies
improve when writing collaboratively on wiki? The researcher found that students’ writing was
oriented towards the reader and attentive to structure and grammar. However, there was no
significant improvement on their persuasive strategies but overall improvement on writing
structure and grammar. The author concluded that given the students’ improved writing it is safe
to assume that collaborative wiring on wiki contributed to students’ attention to grammar and
structure.
Wong, Chin, and Tay (2011) investigated the relationship of whether wiki can foster a
positive learning environment for students. Their sample included 42 elementary school students
for the duration of several months. Students were asked to collaboratively write sentences via
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
wiki and engage in peer feedback. The study showed that students generated a large amount of
writing and the quality of writing was underlined by creativity. Student engagement in the form
of peer review and comments was also high. The researchers also discovered that students were
more motivated to write and were highly engaged in the activity. The authors conclude that wiki
technology is potentially a beneficial tool which harbors student engagement and motivation.
Allsop (2011) investigated the effects of student collaboration from using wikis. The
research sample included a fifth grade class for the duration of an academic year. The researcher
aimed to explore whether collaboration took place when students wrote via wiki and how to it
can be implemented to the advantage of successful pedagogy. The participants were instructed
them on the basic functions of the wiki and had weekly access. It is important to note that the
researcher was conscious of unintentionally instructing the participants in collaboration. Their
task involved creating a collaborative project on the wiki page. The results showed that
collaboration within the group was improved due to the level of communication among peers.
The researcher suggests that constructivist learning is highlighted by students generating their
own knowledge and collaboration via wiki seems to support that view. Further findings revealed
that students engaged in many behaviors which related to collaboration which enhanced their
ability to work together and build on the knowledge of their peers. The author concludes that
give the positive results of this study, wiki may be effectively implemented in the classroom to
foster student collaboration.
Naismith, Lee, and Pilkington (2011) conducted a research study were they investigated
the effect of wiki on student engagement. Their sample included two graduate course students of
six and 35 respectively for five weeks. Their task involved collaboratively writing assignments
via wiki. The researchers aimed to answer several questions in their research. Does wiki
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
contribute to student collaboration when engaged in a group exercise? What are their views on
collaboration and whether they were provided by wiki? What are the advantages and
disadvantages of using a wiki and their participants’ view of the technology? The results showed
that student engagement and collaboration via wiki was high. Most students in both courses
expressed positive thoughts on collaboration via wiki. To answer the second research question,
researchers asked the participants whether they thought that the wiki project should be graded as
a whole class. One student in group one believed that the project should be graded as a whole
whereas over half of participants in group two believed that the project should be assessed
individually. Additional results showed that students expressed their frustrations with the wiki’s
lack of editing power and technical errors. The authors conclude that despite the technical
difficulties and limitations, wiki showed significant student engagement on a collaborative
assignment.
Pai-Lu, Hui-Ju, Sih-Han, Mei-Yao, and Pai-Shih (2011) conducted a research and survey
data to determine whether or not the use of wiki technology would be beneficial or detrimental to
a particularly tested general education course. Through the use of semi-structured interviews,
and qualitative data compiled on student perceptions, the authors were able to determine that the
students’ uses and experiences with exposure to wiki cascaded a negative effect. The difficulties
found through system usability contributed to resistance to learning. Furthermore, a more
fundamental and prevalent problem occurred where students began to show a more passive
attitude toward learning. In conclusion, the authors discuss possible solutions and functionality
of wiki within the classroom.
Hadjerrouit (2012) investigated the advantages and disadvantages of collaborative
writing on wikis. This research aimed to answer the technological and pedagogical implications
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
of using wikis in the classroom, students’ performance as a group, and wiki’s place in the
curriculum to teach writing. The sample included three groups by three college students who
were assessed on their collaborative writing via wiki class page. The wiki assignment involved
writing a text no less than 4,000 words, be well structured and written, and capturing the quality
of a well informed writer. The three groups wrote on different topics collaboratively on wiki for
the duration of eight weeks. The results showed that students reported positive attitude towards
using wiki and found its use simple. Students reported mixed responses on collaboration and
engagement via wiki. The researcher speculates that the reason could be of technical origin due
to the lack of technical functions of the wiki used in this experiment. Conclusions drawn from
this research suggest that wiki has technological limitations that prevented it from being a
significant catalyst in collaboration and student engagement. The reported low collaboration
among students would prevent wiki from being a significant pedagogical tool. Finally, the author
concludes that the role of the teacher in the classroom remains important and further
investigation into wiki’s place in the curriculum is needed.
Li, Kai Wah Chu, Wah Ki, and Woo (2012) designed a study that promoted student's
engagement and motivation through a use of wiki to improve writing skills in Chinese primary
school students. Most people will acknowledge without hesitation that Chinese language and
writing is extremely difficult. Even Chinese people themselves often complain of the difficulties
encountered when learning to write. For instance, Chinese primary school students often
complain that not only Chinese writing is complex but that it is also tedious and emotionless. For
this reason the researchers investigated the effects of wiki collaborative writing. They analyzed
how students learned via wiki, the difficulties associated with wiki learning, their performance,
and attitudes towards wiki leaning. During the initial writing process 59 students collaborated
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
with one another on the assignment. The duration of the study was approximately two months
and each group of students from the study created c compositions. The results of the study
indicate that students identified wiki writing to be beneficial in helping them improve in their
writing. Wiki writing also motivated them to improve on computer skills and to work with
others. After using the wiki for about two months, not only students' attitudes and perceptions
changed in a favorable way, but also the students improved in their final composition on the
wiki. The authors conclude that collaborative writing via wiki holds potential benefits to
improve writing skills and student engagement.
Nakamaru (2012) studied the relationship between student engagement and writing via
wiki. The research sample included 47 community college students who had difficulties staying
engaged in a semester long writing course. The participants from two courses were tasked with a
wiki project which measured their reading, writing, and vocabulary. Their reading was assessed
on the basis of them posting summaries of relevant reading literature and collaborative
summaries. Students were instructed to post their writing assignments on wikis and comment on
each other’s works. Finally, all participants collaboratively created a vocabulary page which
included vocabulary they learned from the reading. The goals of the research were to understand
the degree of student engagement in the wiki assignment and its relationship on student success
in the course. Results showed that student engagement was high by the number of revisions to
their writing which improved the quality of their writing. The author concludes that the amount
of wiki participation is directly linked to the content created by students. Therefore, the
constructivist nature of wikis technology should be utilized more often in the classroom.
In a recent study, Wichmann and Rummel (2013) investigated whether collaborative wiki
writing benefited revision and overall writing quality. They recruited participants from two first
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
year undergraduate classes and assessed their writing on the ability to plan, draft, and revise.
Each class was divided into groups of three and randomly assigned to control or experimental
groups. The experimental group collaborated on their writing on the wiki class page and the
control group completed the writing individually. The researchers hypothesized that
collaborative writing would enhance the students’ revision and quality of their writing. The
results of the study support their hypotheses. It was shown that writing a collaborative text on
wiki benefited students’ revision and contributed to the quality of their writing. The authors
conclude that although their study showed improvements in revision and writing quality, more is
needed to explore the place of wikis technology in the classroom.
DATA ANALYSIS
Sample
This Action Research Project (ARP) followed a quasi experimental design which involved two
randomly assigned groups with five students in each group. Students were selected from a Tier-1
public school in Brooklyn, NY from an ICT fifth grade class. The APR was conducted over the
course of three days. On Day one both groups were given a pre-test assignment and assessment.
Both groups completed the writing assignment with pen and paper individually. On Day two the
experimental group spent one class period at the library learning to use the wiki page. On the
final day of the APR the experimental group completed a writing assignment individually on a
computer and posted it onto a wiki page. The control group completed the assignment with pen
and paper individually and handed it in to the teacher. Both groups were assessed with a rubric
based on the Common Core ELA standard W.5.3 which the researcher created.
Results
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
Results from Day one which served as a baseline showed an average score of 54.8 while the
results from Day three showed an average score of 68.3. The difference of average scores of 13.5
shows a significant increase in student scores. However, significant increase of student scores
was observed in the experimental group. The table 1shows a significant increase in student
scores between Pre-Test and Post-Test. While table 2 shows stagnant insignificant findings of the
control group which suggest that student performance and engagement was higher in the
experimental group.
Pre- PostStudents
Test Test
1
65 90
2
50 75
3
70 90
4
55 85
5
50 80
Table 1
Pre- PostStudents
Test Test
6
75 70
7
55 60
8
65 65
9
60 60
10
50 50
Table 2
DISCUSSION
Results from this APR show that students benefited from completing a writing assignment on a
wiki page. Results clearly show that the control group showed significant improvement in their
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
grade which indicated that their engagement and writing performance has benefited from the
wiki assignment. One of the limitations of this APR clearly reflect its small sample size which
would suggest that its results cannot be generalizable. Another limitation of this APR is that due
to the small sample size is that stronger writers could have been randomly assigned to the
experimental group and weaker writers randomly assigned into the control group. Finally,
students with stronger computer skills could have been assigned to the experimental groups and
weaker ones into the control group. Future APR should consider these limitations by increasing
its sample size.
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
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Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
APPENDIX
Demographics Survey
Instructions
ANSWERS
For each question select the best answer below. Write the answer in the right column.
1) What is your age?
________
1) 9 2) 10 3) 11
2) What is your gender?
________
1) Boy 2) Girl
Scale
1 = No
2 = Yes
3) Do you know how to type on a computer?
________
4) Do you know how to use a computer to surf the web?
________
5) Do you know how to open Microsoft Word?
________
6) Do you know how to save Microsoft Word documents on computer?
________
7) Do you know how to write and send an email?
________
8) Have you written and sent an email before?
________
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
9) How fast can you type?
________
1) 1-5 words in 10 seconds
2) 5-10 words in 10 seconds
10) Do you read informational texts on line?
________
Self-Attitude Scale
Instructions
For each question select the best answer below. Write the answer in the right column.
Scale
5 = Strongly Agree
4 = Agree
3 = Not applicable
2 = Disagree
1 = Strongly Disagree
Preferences
1. I prefer to work alone
______
2. I prefer to work with friends
______
3. I prefer to work in groups
______
4. I prefer to complete my work using pen and paper
______
5. I prefer to complete my work typing on a computer
______
Instructions
For each question select the best answer below. Write the answer in the right column.
Scale
5 = Everyday
4 = Four days a week
3 = Not Applicable
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
2 = Two or three times a week
1 = One day a week
Frequencies
1. I work better alone
______
2. I work better with friends
______
3. I work better in groups
______
4. I do my work better with pen and paper
______
5. I do my work better on a computer
______
Rubric
Standards
Below basic 1
Basic 2
Proficient 3
Advanced 4
Orient the reader
by establishing a
situation and
introducing a
narrator and/or
characters;
organize an event
sequence that
unfolds naturally.
Is unable to orient
the reader by
establishing a
situation and
introducing a
narrator and/or
characters; is unable
to organize an event
sequence that
unfolds naturally.
Is able to orient the
reader by
establishing a
situation and
introducing a
narrator and/or
characters; organize
an event sequence
that unfolds naturally
with 3 or 4 teacher
guidance.
Is able to orient the
reader by
establishing a
situation and
introducing a
narrator and/or
characters; organize
an event sequence
that unfolds naturally
and 1 or 2 teacher
guidance.
Is able to orient the
reader by
establishing a
situation and
introducing a
narrator and/or
characters; organize
an event sequence
that unfolds naturally
and independently.
Use narrative
techniques, such as
dialogue,
description, and
pacing, to develop
experiences and
events or show the
responses of
characters to
situations.
Is unable to use
narrative techniques,
such as dialogue,
description, and
pacing, to develop
experiences and
events or show the
responses of
characters to
situations.
Is able to use
narrative techniques,
such as dialogue,
description, and
pacing, to develop
experiences and
events or show the
responses of
characters to
situations with 3 or 4
teacher guidance.
Is able to use
narrative techniques,
such as dialogue,
description, and
pacing, to develop
experiences and
events or show the
responses of
characters to
situations with 1 or 2
teacher guidance.
Is able to use
narrative techniques,
such as dialogue,
description, and
pacing, to develop
experiences and
events or show the
responses of
characters to
situations
independently.
Grade
Effects of wiki on student engagement and writing
Use a variety of
transitional words,
phrases, and
clauses to manage
the sequence of
events.
Is unable to use a
variety of
transitional words,
phrases, and clauses
to manage the
sequence of events.
Is able to use a
variety of
transitional words,
phrases, and clauses
to manage the
sequence of events
some of the time. (1
or 2 examples)
Is able to use a
variety of
transitional words,
phrases, and clauses
to manage the
sequence of events
consistently. (3 or 4
examples)
Is able to use a
variety of
transitional words,
phrases, and clauses
to manage the
sequence of events
independently.
Use concrete words
and phrases and
sensory details to
convey experiences
and events
precisely.
Is unable to use
concrete words and
phrases and sensory
details to convey
experiences and
events precisely.
Is able to use
concrete words and
phrases and sensory
details to convey
experiences and
events precisely
some of the time. (1
or 2 examples
Is able to use
concrete words and
phrases and sensory
details to convey
experiences and
events precisely and
consistently. (3 or 4
examples)
Is able to use
concrete words and
phrases and sensory
details to convey
experiences and
events precisely and
independently.
Provide a
conclusion that
follows from the
narrated
experiences or
events.
Is unable to provide
a conclusion that
follows from the
narrated experiences
or events.
Is able to provide a
conclusion that
follows from the
narrated experiences
or events some of the
time. (1 or 2
examples)
Is able to provide a
conclusion that
follows from the
narrated experiences
or events
consistently. (3 or 4
examples)
Is able to provide a
conclusion that
follows from the
narrated experiences
or events
independently.