Appendix B: Wiki Instructor Survey

From WolfWikis

[Wiki Instructor Survey] Actual Survey (while it is still up).

1 Wiki Instructor Survey
2 Wiki Instructor Survey Answers at a Glance
3 Page Links

Wiki Instructor Survey

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my survey. My wiki research study is designed to provide teachers of writing with helpful information regarding implementing wikis in the teaching of writing. Your responses to this survey will allow me to learn more about how wikis can be useful in composition and pedagogy. Your responses will remain anonymous unless I specifically request to cite something you contribute per your permission.

PART ONE: INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS

What is your name and job title?

_______________________________

What is your contact email?

_______________________________

Which class are you teaching in which you are using a wiki?

_______________________________

What is the primarily reason you are using a wiki in this class?

_______________________________

For research purposes, it would be helpful if you could provide a URL to your course. Your course will not be identified specifically unless I request persmission from you to do so.

_______________________________

On average, how many students are in the class you indicated above?

_____

How does your use of the wiki achieve your goals for your course? How does the wiki reinforce your theory of teaching and learning?

How did you first become interested in wikis?

_______________________________

PART TWO: YOUR TEACHING GOALS

Please rate the importance of each goal to what you aim to have students accomplish by using a wiki in your course:

PART THREE: CLASS TIME MANAGEMENT

On average, estimate how much time you spend on the following processes concerning your wiki:

PART FOUR: STUDY STRATEGIES OF STUDENTS USING WIKIS

Based on your observations, what improvements in your current wiki would make students more successful with their use of the wiki?

PART FIVE: LEARNING-CENTERED TEACHING

What do you think you could do that would make the wiki more helpful to your students?

Do you think wikis will be around for the long run, or simply fade away as the next fad (or transform into something different)?

Do you have any specific problems/concerns with using a wiki in a writing course?

Please add below any other comments you would like to make about wikis in writing, wikis as a tool for improving student composing process and writing products, or wikis as a way to enact your particular ideology of theory of teaching and learning.

This is the end of the survey. Thank you very much for helping me in my research project. Please click on "submit" below. You will receive an immediate record of your response, which you can print if you wish.

Toby Coley,
M.A. student in rhetoric and composition,
Dept. of English
tfcoley@unity.ncsu.edu

Wiki Instructor Survey Answers at a Glance

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PART TWO: TEACHING GOALS

PART TWO: TEACHING GOALS	Not Important	Important	Essential	Total Responses
Analytical Skills	2	4	11	17
Synthesize Information	0	3	14	17
Think Creatively	2	6	6	17
Think Critically	1	4	12	17
Improve Reading	1	10	6	17
Improve Writing	1	5	11	17
Study Skills	6	7	4	17
Learn Content	2	7	8	17
Understand Technology	1	8	8	17
Technical Literacy	2	10	5	17
Time Management	8	7	2	17
Self-Esteem	4	6	7	17
Other: Gain Authority/Ethos in their chosen discipline	0	0	1	1
Other: Distributed Work	0	0	1	1
Other: Develop the ability to Reflect Critically	0	1	0	1
Other: Understand Human Factors for Reading Text Online	0	0	1	1

PART TWO PERCENTAGES: TEACHING GOALS	Not Important	Important	Essential	No Answer	Total Percentage
Analytical Skills	12%	24%	64%	0	100%
Synthesize Information	0%	18%	82%	0%	100%
Think Creatively	12%	35.5%	35.5%	17%%	100%
Think Critically	6%	24%	70%	0%	100%
Improve Reading	6%	58%	36%	0%	100%
Improve Writing	6%	30%	64%	0%	100%
Study Skills	36%	40%	24%	0%	100%
Learn Content	12%	40%	48%	0%	100%
Understand Technology	6%	47%	47%	0%	100%
Technical Literacy	12%	58%	30%	0	100%
Time Management	48%	40%	12%	0	100%
Self-Esteem	24%	36%	40%	0	100%
Other: Gain Authority/Ethos in their chosen discipline	0	0	1	0	100%
Other: Distributed Work	0	0	1	0	100%
Other: Develop the ability to Reflect Critically	0	1	0	0	100%
Other: Understand Human Factors for Reading Text Online	0	0	1	0	100%

PART THREE: CLASS TIME MANAGEMENT

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PART THREE: CLASS TIME MANAGEMENT	Rarely	A Little	A Lot	Total Responses
Lecture About the Wiki	9	8	0	17
Address Questions	3	11	3	17
Respond to Posts	4	7	6	17
Group Work	5	9	3	17
Class Discussions	4	12	1	17
Hands-on-Demonstration	3	11	3	17
Other: Posting Resources for Class Reference and Use	0	1	0	1
Other: Reading What Students Write	0	0	1	1

PART THREE PERCENTAGES: CLASS TIME MANAGEMENT	Rarely	A Little	A Lot	No Answer	Total Responses
Lecture About the Wiki	52%	48%	0%	0%	100%
Address Questions	18%	64%	18%	0%	100%
Respond to Posts	24%	40%	36%	0%	100%
Group Work	30%	52%	18%	0%	100%
Class Discussions	24%	70%	6%	0%	100%
Hands-on-Demonstration	18%	64%	18%	0	100%
Other: Posting Resources for Class Reference and Use	0%	100%	0%	0%	100%
Other: Reading What Students Write	0%	0%	100%	0%	100%

PART FOUR:STUDY STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS USING WIKIS

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PART FOUR: STUDY STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS USING WIKIS	Unimportant	Somewhat Desirable	Extremely Desirable	No Answer	Total Responses
Easier Interface	5	7	4	1	17
More Faculty to Student Interaction	2	10	4	1	17
More Engagement in Wiki-Related Activities	3	8	5	1	17
Less Wiki Use	15	0	0	2	17
Extended Utilization of Current Wiki Capabilities	5	8	3	1	17
More Open Access to the Wiki	16	0	0	1	17
More Security on the Wiki	9	2	4	2	17
Other: Better Commenting and Markup for Parts of Document,	0	0	1	0	1
Other: Navigation Support	0	0	1	0	1

PART FOUR: STUDY STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS USING WIKIS	Unimportant	Somewhat Desirable	Extremely Desirable	No Answer	Total Responses
Lecture About the Wiki	30%	40%	24%	6%	100%
Address Questions	12%	58%	24%	6%	100%
Respond to Posts	18%	47%	29%	6%	100%
Group Work	88%	0%	0%	12%	100%
Class Discussions	29%	47%	18%	6%	100%
Hands-on-Demonstration	94%	0%	0%	6%	100%
Other: Posting Resources for Class Reference and Use	52%	12%	24%	12%	100%
Other: Reading What Students Write	0%	0%	100%	0%	100%

PART FIVE:LEARNING-CENTERED TEACHING

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PART FIVE:LEARNING-CENTERED TEACHING	Unhelpful/Negative Effect	Somehwat Helpful	Extremely Helpful	No Answer	Total Responses
Formal training in effective integration of technology-enhanced teaching methods	3	9	4	1	17
More time on how wiki addresses student needs/concerns	3	12	1	1	17
Collaborated with writing teachers in my use of the wiki	3	11	2	1	17
Engaged in team projects integrating different courses (learning communities, etc.)	4	8	4	1	17
Group work or projects in my class that would contribute to a class wiki	2	7	6	2	17
More Web-based teaching	15	0	0	2	17
More active hands-on learning in class	15	0	0	2	17
More training in learning strategies for wikis in education	16	0	0	1	1
Other: Navigation Support	0	0	1	0	1

PART FIVE:LEARNING-CENTERED TEACHING	Unhelpful/Negative Effect	Somehwat Helpful	Extremely Helpful	No Answer	Total Responses
Lecture About the Wiki	18%	52%	24%	6%	100%
Address Questions	18%	70%	6%	6%	100%
Respond to Posts	18%	64%	12%	6%	100%
Group Work	24%	46%	24%	6%	100%
Class Discussions	12%	40%	36%	12%	100%
Hands-on-Demonstration	88%	0%	0%	12%	100%
Other: Posting Resources for Class Reference and Use	88%	0%	0%	12%	100%
Other: Reading What Students Write	94%	0%	0%	6%	100%

END MATERIAL

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The anonymity of the subjects has been maintained to ensure the integrity of all data provided.

	Long Run	Problems	Other Comments
Yes	17	10	7
No	0	3	3
No Comment	0	4	7
Total Responses	17	17	17
Additional Comments	At the moment, I think wiki functionality will be around for the long run, but I'm not sure that wikis, specifically, will necessarily continue. Perhaps I can best explain what I mean through an analogy. Consider what is happening the cell phone/PDA/MP3 market. What began as three rather distinct applications of technology have begun to merge. I suspect something similar will eventually happen with wiki. The opportunities for collaboration, etc., will continue, but the specific mechanisms for pursuing that collaboration may merge with traditional web publishing, resources, like Writely, etc.	Nope. I'm using one in a writing course. To my mind, the challenge is actually getting students to embrace the functionality of the wiki--to engage in collaboration rather than merely dumping their own work on a wiki page alongside someone else's. In other words, I think wikis can serve a very productive role in the writing classroom. The challenge lies in pursuing that role as effectively as possible.
Additional Comments			While our courses were not writing courses per se, they did involve writing, and the wiki helped to facilitate the writing process--drafting, conferencing, revising, providing specific feedback, etc. As mentioned previously, it allows for reflection on process, as well as constructing and revising knowledge--an embodiment of constuctivist theory as opposed to seeing knowledge as something that is unchanging, quantifiable, easily digested and regurgitated. The tool allows for the creation and manipulation of ideas--action, interaction, application rather than just memorization and regurgitation.
Additional Comments	Wiki technology appears to be highly scalable and durable. I do think it will be around, if not enhanced, for quite a while. The technology facilitates essential activities (collaborative writing) while extending our notions about how we write, giving it a somewhat transformational quality.	The lack of author voice does change the writing tasks. I would like to see a way to freeze (and make available) various iterations. I have used the history function, but display makes reading an older version difficult.	It seems as if wikis are facilitating the development of social spaces and communities which may enable unique, creative, and active learning. This is an important development in teacher education. We want to encourage new teachers to view teaching as an effort to facilitate active learning and self-constructed knowledge. Wiki technology might de-center authority in the writing and reading process. It could have some postmodern implications. The large scale construction of knowledge (Wikipedia) has an interesting trajectory. It has the veneer of a democratic user driven knowledge source, but over time authoritative structures have emerged. As the project grows, more and more avenues into the articles are closed. This process makes for in interesting study in the natural emergence of governing structures in social spaces. On a small scale wikis are very dependent on usability technologies. The harder it is for novice users to manage the interfaces, the less likely they will be to use it.
Additional Comments	I think they'll be around for awhile in some form or another. I think they've redefined the concept of "encyclopedia" and I'm not sure we could go back.	My own limitations with using html code and other software stuff limits my abilities to help students. However, they quickly realize that they are the leaders in this area, so maybe my limitations empower them.	I've never had such an accessible way of talking about knowledge construction with students, who can be very resistant. They also typically become very engaged with their entries on the wiki and often contribute far more than they are required to.
Additional Comments	I'm hoping that the low-threshold to access and the ability to collaborate and contribute is here for the long run, even if wikis develop into something else. I'll use them as long as they are useful and part of the writing landscape.	None. Really, absolutely none.
Additional Comments	I think they'll be around for a while, but I think they'll become even more multimedia friendly.	MediaWiki as we have it structured tracks the contributions made by ip address. That hasn't bothered me because I don't track individual contributions, relying instead on students continually reflective responses on their and their partners' participation. However, some instructors would like an easier mechanism to track who contributes what--they devise systems in text for that, but it's a bit clunky.	Wikis are fantastic for all stages of collaboration in the writing process. I've also used them with students who are working in project teams—they use the wiki to share notes and to plan their work schedule, enabling me to see easily what they've assigned for themselves when. Since [our univeristy's] wiki is password protected, open only to [our university] affiliated faculty, students, and staff, you can't see first-year students' work, but they've done the following projects: collaborative essays analyzing the rhetoric in an online speech they selected at American rhetoric; collaborative essays conducting critical discourse analyses of computer games, and project team pages tracking project development and completion.
Additional Comments	They'll transform	Students are not as tech savvy as the newspapers and techies would like us to believe they are. Only two of my cell-phone savvy students had ever used a wiki before last semester--and that was wikipedia. So they used it as a resource, not a participant
Additional Comments	WIKIs are here to stay, but their use in teaching is going to depend a lot on the personality of the instructor. They lack inherent structure, and compared to something like Moodle or WebCT/Blackboard they require the instructor to invent ways to use it.	The key issues are: - it's insecure so my university won't let me run it on a campus server. - having student work (and esp. my comments) on a non-campus server gets into FERPA. Questions - students would like to be able to do more with HTML page formatting than is currently easy to do My university is considering acquring an enterprise WIKI (probably Confluence), and that will take care of the security issues, I think. But it will not be as free form as the WIKI I was using, I think, and probably even harder for students to customize the look of pages (from what I've seen so far).
Additional Comments	It isn't new, really, i don't think. it's just a new name for a group project. that it has embraced the computer is the key. so it will morph with technology. and as i think technology is going to be (for a brief period) concentrated in the cell phone, i'm not sure how it will evolve.	Slackers can get away with little work since it isn't (easily) identifiable who did what. but that is where the reality of a group project hits the student in the face.