This is a draft version for “Chu, S. (2008). TWiki for knowledge building and management. Online Information Review, 32(6): 745-758.”
Title: TWiki for knowledge building and management
Author: Samuel Kai-Wah Chu
Division of Information and Technology Studies, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong
Abstract
Purpose – This paper reports on a study examining the effectiveness of TWiki, an open-source online collaborative groupware, in facilitating students’ co-construction of knowledge in their group work. The paper focuses on the groupware’s impact on knowledge management, in terms of knowledge creation, capturing, sharing, and transferring. It also discusses some of the obstacles faced by students in using the software and how these can be addressed.
Methodology – In this study, TWiki was used in structuring the knowledge building environment for group projects in an undergraduate course on Knowledge Management. Students created a chapter for a wikibook. Wiki templates were designed for the course to help with the organization of contents inside TWiki. A questionnaire and individual interviews were used to collect student opinion regarding the advantages and disadvantages of using the wiki software for their projects.
Findings – Overall, students were generally positive regarding the effectiveness of TWiki in facilitating their group projects. In particular, TWiki was seen to improve group collaboration as well as work quality, and it was also seen as a useful tool for knowledge management in terms of knowledge creation, capturing, sharing and transferring.
Research implications – With its ability to improve student collaboration as well as their quality of work, TWiki can clearly be a suitable tool for collaborative constructive learning, such as group projects. However, the study also showed that students and teachers should be adequately trained to use the tool in order to maximize its benefits. Some features of TWiki have to be improved and technical difficulties are to be fixed for easy use. Further studies can focus on using TWiki in different subjects and in classes of different sizes.
Value – There were several important outcomes of the study: first, the comparison between students’ perceptions of TWiki and MS Word in terms of usability and effectiveness; second, the findings with regard to improvement of work quality in small group size, which are unique; and third, TWiki was found to be an effective knowledge management tool.
Keywords TWiki, Knowledge building, Knowledge management, Wiki, Collaborative work
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Wiki is a Hawaiian word meaning quick (Lamb, 2004), and wiki software is so named because it combines reading and writing within a web browser, allowing for easy editing of text, as well as easy creation and linkage of web pages. For this reason, wikis are commonly used as knowledge management tools to facilitate the creation, sharing, discussion and revision of knowledge artifacts in group projects (Da Lio et al. 2005). Wiki software has also been applied in various ways in education, including as support for writing individual and group projects, course management and distance education (Bold, 2006; Parker & Chao, 2007). Some teachers have even used wikis as tools to co-create teaching materials (Da Lio et al., 2005). Of the various wiki software, TWiki is considered as the flagship by some researchers (Ebersbach et al. 2006), and it serves well as a project development space, a document management system and a knowledge base for intranets or the Internet (TWiki, 2007).
This paper explores the effectiveness of using TWiki to facilitate student group work. Questionnaires and interviews were used to analyze student views and experiences of using TWiki.
Literature review
Constructivism has been regarded as a leading theory in learning since the 1980s and 1990s, overtaking behaviorist and information-processing perspectives (cited in Liu and Matthews, 2005). It describes learning as “learners learn by experimentation, and not by being told what will happen. They are left to make their own inferences, discoveries and conclusions. It also emphasizes that learning is not an ‘all or nothing’ process, but that students learn the new information that is presented to them by building upon the knowledge they already possess (schoolnet.com, 2008). Perhaps due to this learning theory, curriculums worldwide (at tertiary, secondary, and primary levels) seems to be changing from exam-based learning to project based learning in the past two decades. Under this new approach of learning, students have the freedom of selecting their research topics, finding relevant sources for their enquiries, and coming up with new knowledge as the result of their projects. As web-based tools that can be used to facilitate collaborative writing and learning, recent years have seen an increasing use of wikis in education. This includes support for writing individual and group projects, course management and distance education (Bold, 2006; Parker & Chao, 2007). Moreover, some teachers have used wikis software as a tool for creating teaching materials collaboratively (Da Lio et al., 2005).
Past research on the use of wiki software in education has focused on four main areas: the rationale for using wikis (Engstrom & Jewett, 2005; Lamb, 2004; Raman et al. 2005); collaborative learning and writing using wikis (Bold, 2006; De Pedro et al. 2006a; De Pedro et al. 2006b; Engstrom & Jewett, 2005; Guzdial et al. 2001; Raman et al., 2005; Nicol et al. 2005); knowledge building and management using wikis (Bruns & Humphreys, 2005; Da Lio et al., 2005; Raman et al. 2005); and sharing and structuring of information using wikis (Aumueller, 2005; Bruns & Humphreys, 2005; Da Lio et al., 2005; Nicol et al., 2005).
Key factors in the rationale behind the use of wikis in education, as described by Engstrom and Jewett (2005), Lamb (2004) and Raman et al. (2005), consist of the following:
· Wiki is an open-source technology which is easy to install and learn. It can serve as a platform for users to put their work together, as an online sketchpad, or a shared workspace for brainstorming.
· Users are able to update information in wiki pages easily with minimal knowledge of HTML. The updated pages can be shown immediately and automatically.
· Wiki pages are organized by content, and students are able to decide how to structure the information.
· It is easy to go back to earlier versions if problems occur because most wikis allow users to trace the project progress.
· Some wikis permit limited access through registration, which can ensure privacy of members’ work. On the other hand, if no restriction is put on the access right, the readership and/or the authorship of a wiki can be extended far beyond the organizational boundary to many other communities around the world.
Researchers have frequently reported positive experiences of using wikis to facilitate collaborative learning and knowledge building (Bruns & Humphreys, 2005; Bold, 2006; Nicol et al., 2005). Scardamalia & Bereiter (2003) sees knowledge building as a constructive process which calls for deep constructivism where people “identify problems of understanding, establishing and refining goals based on progress, gathering information, theorizing, designing experiments, answering questions and improving theories, building models, monitoring and evaluating progress” (p. 1371). The writing of a group assignment on wiki is an example of knowledge building. Bold (2006) employed wiki technology to support the completion of assignments and course management among students of an online Master’s degree programme. Not only did the students report greater convenience and better connection with the use of the wiki, but they also showed an improvement in their online technology skills. In De Pedro et al.’s (2006b) study on using wikis as a platform for university students to do group projects, it was found that the wiki methodology saved time in areas such as the final mark up of the work, avoidance of writing similar content and group meetings.
Despite the apparent benefits of using wikis in collaborative learning and knowledge management, certain challenges in implementing the technology have been indicated by some researchers. Training for teachers and students in wiki technology, for instance, has been found essential in order for them to fully utilize the software (Raman et al., 2005; Da Lio et al., 2005). Bold (2006) and Engstrom and Jewett (2005) observed a lack of interaction (such as exchange of ideas, questions and feedback) among students of the same and different groups. Social obstacles, such as the frustration of having one’s materials modified, have also been reported (Da Lio et al., 2005). To address these issues, teachers are advised to contribute and respond to students’ wiki entries, and to encourage critical thinking and multiple perspectives (Engstrom & Jewett, 2005). Additionally, specially designed grading policies, such as those giving points for posting comments, may also motivate students to collaborate more effectively in wikis (Raman et al. 2005).
While past research is clear on the advantages of using wikis in group work, there has been limited discussion on whether wikis contribute to a higher quality of collaborative work, and on addressing the social obstacles constraining student interactions in wikis as suggested by Da Lio et al. (2005). By specifically examining the effectiveness of TWiki in facilitating students’ knowledge building in working on their group projects, this paper attempts to enhance such discussion. It also focuses on how well TWiki serves as a knowledge management tool, particularly on creating, capturing, sharing and transferring knowledge. Knowledge management consists of any process of creating, acquiring, capturing, sharing and using knowledge, wherever it resides, to enhance learning and performance in organizations (cited in Jashapara, 2004).
Research methods
In this study, TWiki was used to support knowledge building for students from an undergraduate course on Knowledge Management (KM). In the KM course, students were required to create a chapter (a case study) for a wikibook[1]. Wiki templates were designed specifically for the course by the instructor, which could be modified by students according to their needs.
The wiki workspace for the KM course consisted of three parts, namely “group progress”, “group discussion”, and “group report”. “Group progress” was a page for students to write their draft reports, whereas the “group report” page was for the finalized reports. Students were free to discuss any issues relating to their projects on the “group discussion” page. The templates for “group progress” and “group report” were initially identical; students could modify them in accordance with the design of their group report. See Figure 1 for an example of the “group progress” and “group discussion” online template.
Figure 1. TWiki template for “group progress” and “group discussion”
The effectiveness of TWiki in facilitating student group projects was examined by surveying students with a questionnaire and interview. Forty-one undergraduates (22 Year two and 19 Year three) studying Knowledge Management responded to the questionnaires. As only a small proportion of students were male (7 out of 41 students), gender effect was not examined in the study. In the questionnaire, six questions used a 5-point Likert scale, and a few were open-ended questions[2]. Additionally, 19 frequent users of TWiki were interviewed regarding their views on the effectiveness of TWiki as an enabling technology for knowledge management.
The data from these questionnaires was analyzed using SPSS (Windows version 14.0). For each survey question that required ratings, the one-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and a histogram were used to test the normality of students’ ratings. Since the results showed that the normality of data was questionable (p < 0.05 in the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and skewed histograms), non-parametric tests were used. Ratings in the survey questions were compared between second and third year students using the Mann-Whitney test. Possible correlations were explored among the key items examined (e.g., between the improved quality of work and the improved level of collaboration). A 5% level of significance was used in all statistical tests in the study. For the open-ended questions, comments with similar meaning were grouped together and analyzed using NVivo version 7.0.
Findings and Discussion
Overall, the results from the questionnaires and interviews were generally positive regarding the effectiveness of TWiki in facilitating student group projects, and as a tool for knowledge management in terms of knowledge creation, capturing, sharing and transferring.
This section will first give an overview of the positive and negative comments given to both TWiki and the traditional method of doing a group project. This will be followed by a more detailed evaluation on the effectiveness of TWiki in supporting collaboration among students based on their ratings in the questionnaire. A comparison was also made between the ratings of the more frequent and the less frequent users of TWiki. Then, the effectiveness of TWiki as a knowledge management tool based on the data from the interviews will be examined. The workspace design in TWiki for doing group projects will be subsequently discussed, followed by a discussion of the social obstacles involved in the use of TWiki as well as room for improvement of the technology.
Comparison between TWiki and the traditional method of working on a group project
In the questionnaires, there were positive and negative comments for both TWiki and the traditional way of doing projects using Microsoft (MS) Word (see Table 1). Although De Pedro et al. (2006a) also listed some advantages and disadvantages of using wikis from a teacher’s perspective of reviewing students’ work, the comments in this study are from a student perspective of using the technology to facilitate their group project.
Most students reported that TWiki was able to facilitate collaboration in group projects. Students noted that it helped in keeping track of others’ work progress, giving comments to each other, sharing knowledge, and made it possible to work at any time, from any place. These characteristics are not available when doing a group project using MS Word. However, it was also noted that the interface of TWiki was less user-friendly than MS Word, and it took time to get used to the platform in TWiki.
Table 1. Positive and negative comments given by students to TWiki and MS Word
Positive Comments (No. of Students):TWiki:
Facilitates collaboration of group work (20)
Able to keep track of others' working progress (7)
Facilitates knowledge sharing (7)
Able to receive comments from others (6)
Able to work anytime anywhere (4)
Saves the time to send emails and files to other group members (3)
Facilitates communication within group (2)
Able to keep track of different versions (2)
Allows consistent formatting (1)
A new way of creating report (1)
User-friendly (1) / Traditional way using MS Word:
Easy formatting (8)
More advanced functions (5)
User-friendly interface (4)
Higher familiarity (3)
No networking problem (2)
Negative Comments (No. of Students):
TWiki:
Difficulty in formatting (5)
Time consuming to learn to use the editing tools (4)
Technical problems, e.g. server problem (3)
Difficult to identify each member's contribution (1)
Available functions are primitive (1) / Traditional way using MS Word
Only allows individual work (7)
Troublesome when sending emails (5)
Cannot track others' work progress (2)
Difficult to share with other people (3)
Time consuming to combine members' work (2)
Duplication of editing (1)
Inconsistency in writing format (1)
Effectiveness of using TWiki to support student group projects