Wow, this sounds like it could yield some interesting research and writing. As you indicate, the biggest issue, as with Wiki generally, would seem to be quality control. At what stage of the process are you viewing it, and do you edit or grade it at some point?
My own Swift class has a less technological version of such collective research projects, which are distributed to the class in the form of annotated bibliographies and presentations. I'll assign a particular group the job of researching the topic of "Swift and Religion" and providing the class with an annotated bib. At the end of 2 weeks, they present, VERY briefly (5 mins, tops), and essentially offer questions to the rest of the class.
A wiki project like you describe could do the trick, too, though I still value the face to face interaction of group presentations. In my case, I have student groups put together physical portfolios to be graded, but wikis would be just as suitable.
Please let us know how this works, and what the pitfalls are, in this kind of approach.
Thanks, DM
I've used a wiki for a class (I'm a librarian). The prof. wanted to emphasize collaboration and so I set up a space where the prof., the students, and I could interact regarding research questions, recommended resources, that kind of thing. I asked the students at the end of the semester to evaluate the experience and the main problem was that wiki participation was not required, so not everyone was using it. The students were definitely interested in the process and reacted positively to the idea of engaging in a collaborative, scholarly activity. They liked being treated as "experts."
Even though wikis are "easy to use," be ready to deal with students who may have computer-anxiety; you will also have to train everyone in how to use the wiki, which will eat into your class time (and make sure time is set aside for questions). We showed the students how to work a wiki in a computer classroom, so the students could practice using the space and have someone nearby to help answer questions.
We've had some discussions on having a collaborative wiki for the projects (for documentation, among other things), so I've been reading a bit on them. I recently found this site on wikis in education; you might also find this article helpful.
Maybe one of these days you could try Moodle. A great many people in my department are using it, although I haven't tried it yet myself (got too much already invested in WebCT). It's an open-source classroom software package, which means users (mostly professors) are free to tinker with the program and get it the way they want it to be. The discussion board is based around a Wiki, but there is a lot else there as well including places to put files, weblinks, quizzes, journals, grades, etc. You can find out more about it and see some sample classes at moodle.org.
Just to put in my .02, I've never been too wild about Wikis. The collaborative aspect is great, but that can also be done via regular discussion boards or even email, and I just don't like the idea of someone tinkering with MY writing after I've written it. If they want to shuffle around one another's words, fine, but as the instructor I just don't want them messing around with mine. One student with a vendetta could sink a teacher forever with a well-tuned offensive remark.
I haven't used wikis for teaching but they seem an ideal way to deal with some of the background students lack about earlier periods. Your list of topics is comprehensive.
To answer Allen's concern: is there some way to "lock" articles? I suppose it would go against the ideals of wikidom, but even Wikipedia is increasing its checks and balances, from what one reads.
I'm not too worried about the locking of articles, since the wiki has a wiki-wide password and no one outside the class knows it. As far as students messing with one another's articles, I get a notice when any edits have been made, along with the IP of whoever did the edits. It would be ridiculously easy to trace a malicious edit back to someone. Plus, I like that using this wiki could make my students feel like they're taking over some of the responsibility for their own education and the education of their peers. Their teacher may have some of the answers, but, dammit Jim*, I'm a rhetorician, not a historicist!
I am getting them in contact with one another so they can share sources and approaches, but I am not a fan of collaborative written work for grades. It's one of those things that haunts me from undergrad.
* - Reference to James T. Kirk, not Jim Chevallier, who shall not be damned here or anywhere else.
Commenting by HaloScan
