Wikis supporting research workshops in higher education Prospective use in Cuban universities MSc. Roberto C. Rodríguez-Hidalgo Prof. Dr. Aida M. Torres-Alfonso Departamento de Tecnología Educativa Universidad Central “Marta Abreu” de Las Villas (UCLV) Santa Clara, Cuba Prof. Dr. Chang Zhu Prof. Dr. Frederik Questier Department of Educational Sciences Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) Brussels, Belgium Authors

collaboration collaborative learning Cuban higher education Databases graphs theory networked learning peer learning relationships research workshop social networks analysis Sciences of Information career social software teaching and learning process Web 2.0 wiki

Research background teaching strategy Collaborative learning activities Social software Pilot studies Wikis supporting research workshops Threaded discussions supporting self-study Hypotheses (1 st pilot study) 1.the collaboration supported by social software reinforces the peer relationships among the students of the class 2.and improves the time efficiency of the stakeholders participating on

Context Cuba Higher education UCLV Sciences of Information Database Theory Course 20 young students 19 females 1 male years old Basic competences using office software dependents Never used social software before

Methodology Mixed research methodology [52, 53] Quantitative data Questionnaires Social network for studying DBT Time employed by the students on DBT Learning outcomes of the students on DBT Qualitative data Observation Collaboration strategies Semi-structured interviews Perceptions on collaborative activities Software thoughts 52.Z. Todd, B. Nerlich, S. McKeown, and D. Clarke, Mixing methods in psychology, Hove: Psychology Press, I. Silverman, “Why social psychology fails,” Canadian Psychological Review, vol. 18, 1977, pp

before-during-after design Data Collection Before During After Workshop Perform Teams Guiding Working Sessions Results Wiki Preparing tools Explain Concepts Digital Identity Using the tools

Results – peer relationships beforeafter

Results – SNA MetricBeforeAfter Isolated nodes51 Directed edges36102 Graph Density Shortest Paths Average Shortest Paths Average Betweeness Centrality Average Closeness Centrality Modularity * Clustering Coefficient Number of Communities73 Triangles12149

Results – correlating spent time

NO CORRELATION

Results – time_before vs. time_after Descriptive Statistics NMin.Max.MeanStd. Dev. time_before20,06,01,9501,3659 time_after19,52,51,658,7275 Valid N (listwise) 19 Higher homogeneity Teamwork intensified Eliminated passive and null participation

Results – students’ contributions Descriptive Statistics NMin.Max.MeanStd. Dev. report12202,004,503,02501,08185 report319555,00,000 topic_knowledge12202,005,003,5250,86565 topic_knowledge310353,90,568 Valid N (listwise)10

Conclusions This experience is extensible in Cuban higher education – More engaged students – Better quality of research reports Checking hypotheses the collaboration supported by social software reinforces the peer relationships among the students of the class, and improves the time efficiency of the stakeholders participating on

Limitations of the study Workshops’ organizing Hawthorne effect

Recommendations for subsequent use Alternating the number of members and membership of the research teams. Providing the students with various collaboration strategies. Using the online forums of the wiki instead of the . Using the RSS channels for controlling the contributions and discussions.

Promoting the use of references to the resources for a better supporting of the students’ contributions. Warranting the training of the students on the use of this kind of tools. Decreasing the complexity of the tools for analysing the classroom network. Improving and increasing the ways of feedback between students and instructors. Recommendations for subsequent use

Thanks… Questions

study relationships

weekly use of time Average: 1.95 hours SD = 1.37 Max = 6 hours Min = 0 hours DBT