Wikis as a workspace This presentation provides a case study of the use of a wiki as a collaborative workspace. You can visit the wiki at The case study was first presented at the LDI Showcase at Staffordshire University on 16/04/11 by Alison Davidson.

Introduction The wiki was set up as a collaborative workspace for a BSc(Hons) Policing and Criminal Investigation module called Science for Justice.

Alison Davidson

The module required students with little science background to attend lab sessions and produce a group report

Formative Work A piece of formative work was set to trial the use of the wiki and provide students with an introduction to writing group reports.

Cary Bank Robbers - NC Wanted Screen clipping taken: 09/03/2011, 11:09 The formative work was based on a website image of a bank robbery. Students were asked to consider what forensic evidence might be present and how it would be analysed.

Setting up Setting up the wiki pages was very easy and a screencast of how it was done is available at: For students to create their own pages, you need to make sure the privacy option is set to ‘public’.

Student View To see what the student view looks like when setting up a page then visit the screencast at: Students’ pages were left public for other students to see. This screencast also shows how to insert images.

Benefits The next few pages show some of the observed benefits of using the wiki for a formative group work space.

Student communication

Sharing ideas For formative work I like the way that ideas spread between groups as students noted and adopted what they saw as best practice.

Identifying input Comparing revisions easily shows who did what and the levels of engagement...

Feedback

Summative Work Eventually, for the summative work, groups were given the option of using the wiki as a collaborative workspace. The final report was actually submitted via Turnitin and students were advised to use Microsoft Word.

Benefits The next few pages show some of the observed benefits of using the wiki for a collaborative work space.

Organisation Some groups used the wiki pages very effectively to organise the group.

Report composition Others compiled the whole report on the wiki.

File depository Some groups used the wiki to share files and photos.

Student Feedback

Good “..proved beneficial in the structuring and communication of the work” “The wiki page was a huge help and contact was made easier” “The Wiki page was very useful and easy to use”

.. not so good “When people don’t look at the page frequently, requests from other team mates won’t be met” “.. social networking website was better as everyone can talk on one page whilst seeing what everyone else has done also.” “communication via the Wiki page was effective but not immediate”

Conclusion I found the wiki to offer an effective collaborative workspace for students. Students found the wiki easy to use and it offers another alternative to face-to-face meetings, and Facebook. I would also use the wiki for future formative assignments with students performing self and peer-assessment.

Thank you If you would like to know more, please contact me at or visit