Abstract
The main purpose of this research work is to describe and evaluate a learning technique that actively uses Wikipedia in an online masterâs degree course in Statistics. It is based on the comparison between Wikipedia content and standard academic learning materials. We define this technique as âlearning by comparingâ. In order to evaluate the performance of this learning technique, data from different academic semesters was collected. Through different hypothesis tests, the academic performance of the students following a learning-by-comparing strategy is compared with the case where Wikipedia is not used. Additionally, during the course the students are asked about the reliability, currentness, completeness and usefulness of Wikipedia, as rated on a 5-point Likert scale. This data is used to analyse the perceived quality of Wikipedia, for each statistical concept of the course, and to discover its relationship with academic performance. To that end, descriptive statistics, dependence tests, and contrasts of means have been performed.Â
Highlights
It is well known among lecturers that the complete understanding of a concept or topic commonly arises when one has to explain that concept or topic to students. Is it possible to reproduce such a situation in the learning process of a student? Is it possible to do it on a virtual course? This paper gives a possible answer to those questions, through a case study related to a pilot that was carried out for two semesters on the master’s degree programme in Information and Knowledge Society in the IN3 Institute at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), Spain
Wikipedia is broadly used by students at any academic level as an initial source of information, it is difficult to find higher education courses in which Wikipedia plays a central role in the learning process (Llados et al, 2013)
We have considered the second semester of the 2011/2012 academic year, when Wikipedia was not used, and the two semesters of the 2012/2013 academic year, when Wikipedia was actively implemented in the learning technique
Summary
It is well known among lecturers that the complete understanding of a concept or topic commonly arises when one has to explain that concept or topic to students. Students were asked to answer different questions related to their perceived quality of Wikipedia compared to that of the standard academic learning materials of the course. In this comparison process, as an important part of their learning performance, they have to provide evidence (examples) about the level of completeness, reliability, currentness and usefulness of Wikipedia in order to support their answers. The first hypothesis that will be tested is the following: Hypothesis 1: The learning-by-comparing technique with Wikipedia has a positive effect on the students’ academic performance.
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