The Wiki Quality Instrument: The Development of the Wiki Quality Instrument and its Protocols

Abstract

This is the second in a series of three white papers introducing the Wiki Quality Instrument (WQI), an instrument for measuring opportunities to develop 21st Century Skills in Wiki Learning environments. The WQI is a coding instrument used by trained researchers that measures the presence or absence of 24 behaviors that provide opportunities for students to develop skills in expert thinking, complex communication, and new media literacy. It has been used to evaluate excellence and equity in the use of wikis in K-12 settings.In Part III, I describe the three research programs involved in the development of the WQI, including a literature review, field work in wiki using classrooms, and content analysis of wiki learning environments. In Part IV, I describe the quantitative research, including growth modeling of edits and survival analysis of wiki lifetimes, used to develop the WQI protocols. In Paper Number 1 of this white paper series, I present the coding manual of the WQI and describe the training guidelines and instrument protocols. In Paper Number 3 of this series, I share suggested adaptation guidelines and ideas for educators and researchers who might be interested in using the WQI in their own practice.