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Using Wikis in Methods Courses: Nature of Students' Collaboration
1. Using Wikis in Methods Courses Examples from Mathematics Education
2. “The goal of wiki sites is to become a shared repository of knowledge, with the knowledge base growing over time” Godwin-Jones, 2003, p. 15
3. “The goal of wiki sites is to become a shared repository of knowledge, with the knowledge base growing over time” Wikis are great for: Creating knowledge Brainstorming Managing ideas Exchanging ideas Sharing knowledge Classroom ideas resources Godwin-Jones, 2003, p. 15
4. Wiki Ideas and Student Use EMS 480: Teaching Mathematics with Technology Review of free web-based technology tools EMS 513: Learning and Teaching Algebraic Thinking Connecting research to practice: Perspectives and Issues in algebra EMS 519: Learning and Teaching Statistical Thinking Connecting research to practice: Topics in statistics EMS 472: Teaching Topics in High School Math Sharing ideas and resources Survey Results: Nature of Students’ Collaboration in the Creation of a Wiki
5. Nature of Students’ Collaboration Using Wikis EMS 513: Teaching and Learning Algebraic Thinking Each group will read and synthesize 5-8 practitioner/research articles (max of 2 articles can come from course readings) related to one of the following perspectives or issues on teaching algebra. These perspectives/issues are not necessarily disjoint: 1) Algebra as generalized arithmetic and abstraction from computation 2) Algebra as the study of functions, relations, and co-variation 3) Algebra as the study of structure and processes 4) Algebra as the study and generalization of patterns 5) Use of technology in Algebra Use of modeling to teach Algebra
6. Communication & Collaboration “Having 5 people on a project like this was challenging, but I think the use of the wiki helped with that, especially communication.” All six groups reported that they used the wiki as a tool for communication as they collaborated Only one used it as the sole communication method Most used a combination of email, face to face meetings, and wiki Content was discussed on the wiki Posted ideas Posted articles Comments on other’s wiki additions
9. Learning to Construct a Wiki Instructions we provided: How to sign up for the wiki account How to enter plain text How to insert an image History tool revealed: All students participated in the creation of a wiki All students used at least one advanced formatting code (i.e. bold italics, headings, table of contents, inserting an image, framing an image, thumbnails of files, etc.) They reported that they learned by: Using the university wiki help pages Using other help pages found online Referring to other wikis with similar desired formatting Creating practice spaces within the wiki
10. Reported Benefits of a Wiki Construct and edit without having to worry about version control Communicate within the project itself Refer to everyone else’s work (including other groups) Be more creative in form Include extra information (e.g. weblinks, videos, artifacts) Become familiar with collaborating in ways that students are collaborating outside of school Final product is more useful “These are valuable sites we can use for information. I glanced over these for information while I’ve been reading articles for this course and others. I can see these being great resources to use in the future.”
11. “I love the use of new technology. Now that I am familiar with the wiki creating process, I am excited about using it in my own classroom someday.”
