Moodle Wiki Trial Design for Online Learning SEM

Background – The unit Unit title: Principles of Marketing Communication Unit offering level: UG 1 Delivery: Five face-to-face contact hours at UC College. Student cohort: International students studying in Diploma of Communication. As a required unit for advertising and public relations degrees, upon successful completion of this unit, students are eligible to receive 3 credit points towards their designated bachelor degree at the Faculty of Arts and Design.

Background - Learning outcomes Learning outcomes: Define advertising and outline its basic principles; Describe the key principles underpinning marketing communication; Explain advertising’s role within the broader context of marketing communication; Identify the key marketing communication tools and their relationship to advertising Articulate the basic context within which marketing communication is located including markets, audiences, publics, and cultures; industry sectors; as well as theories of communication and persuasion; Demonstrate basic proficiencies in written and oral communication skills.

Previous assessment structure

The challenge facing assessment 1 A current issue with assessment 1 case study discussion is that international students often face the challenge of planning and preparing for classes before class discussion. Lack of preparation leads to lack of participation and contribution to discussion, therefore, compromises their performance.

Proposed assessment structure with wiki

The proposed wiki element Weekly wiki entry on allocated case study weighs 10% of the total mark. Each student is given a group in week 1 and needs to read allocated case study while making wiki entry based on the case study before each tutorial. At the end of the term, each student is able to view all their notes and comments on wiki. Instructions on how to use wiki and how to prepare for weekly wiki entry are both provided on Moodle site.

Justification for using Moodle wiki Benefits of wikis and its alignment with learning outcomes 1. Wikis encourages peer learning and capture students’ preparation effort. Setting up online Wikis for weekly case study discussion encourages more participation prior to and after face-to-face sessions. It also helps capture preparation effort prior to each face-to-face discussion, which helps students to reflect on their own performance by looking at their own effort over time. 2. Wikis allow teachers to monitor students’ progress. It makes it easy for teachers to assess students’ ability to combine critical thinking with editing, reviewing, collaboration and technology discovery (UNSW). Wikis enables synthesis of knowledge, negotiate understanding and multiple perspectives among users (UNSW).

Benefits of wikis and its alignment with learning outcomes 3. Wikis address intended learning outcomes. Wiki is an appropriate choice in addressing its intended learning outcome type. According to Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy (2009), wikis are capable of meeting remembering, understanding, analysing and applying types of learning outcomes. This is consistent with the learning outcome types addressed by Assessment 1. Justification for using Moodle wiki

Addressing international students’ learning needs 1.Wiki enables students to prepare before each discussion, which helps international students enrolled in this unit to adjust to the new learning environment. 2.Observing efforts from themselves and peers helps students to form a study habit where they plan and manage tasks and work load outside class time. 3.Wikis also allow students more flexibility in making contribution to discussion while being able to demonstrate their communication skills through online communication.