Peter DangerfieldMedical Education

Tünde Varga-Atkins (CLL)Nick Bunyan (CLL)

Steve McKinnell

David Brigden

David Williams

Martin Ralph

Funded by the CETL for Developing Professionalism

WIKIS – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING?

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

LEARNING CONTEXT

Liverpool uses problem-based learning - course themes includes Personal and Professional Development

“You come to University to learn how to learn”

Can this be enhanced?

Can Web2 technologies do this?

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

Liverpool Medical Undergraduate course 5 years ( 4 years for graduates) Problem Based, spiral and case led

Four themes ­ Structure and Function in Health and Disease­ Population Perspective­ Individuals, Groups and Society­ Personal and Professional Development

Professionalism is a component

LEARNING CONTEXT

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /354

GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

GMC Good Medical Practice 2006 Duties of a DoctorEg:Make the care of your patient your first concern

Protect and promote the health of patients and the publicProvide a good standard of practice and careKeep your professional knowledge and skills up to dateRecognise and work within the limits of your competenceWork with colleagues in the ways that best serve patients' interestsTreat patients as individuals and respect their dignityTreat patients politely and consideratelyRespect patients' right to confidentiality

etc

DUTIES OF A DOCTOR

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What is web2?

What is a wiki?

Are wikis used in education?

Can wikis enhance learning?

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

THE PROJECT

Wiki pilot at the Medical School- aims, - methods, - findings, - conclusions,- recommendations.

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

PROBLEM BASED LEARNING (PBL)

Learning context in the Medical UG curriculum Idea: Extend collaboration beyond face-to-face sessions

using web tools?

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formal

online

informal

face to face

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

EXAMPLES OF PBL LEARNING OUTCOMES

Privacy/confidentiality 3 3 4 4 4 4 3 4

Role nurse specialist 4 3 5 4 4 3 4

Breaking bad news 4 4 4

Human Rights Act 3 3 3 5

Truth/ trust /veracity 2 3 4

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Depth of discussionLearning objectives

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

PBL RESOURCES AND SHARING

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What is patient confidentiality? Resources

What is the role of the nurse specialist?

What is the difference between privacy and

confidentiality?

How to break bad news?

PBL GROUP

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

WHAT IS WEB2.0?

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Rich user experienceFree and evolving

User-generated tagsParticipation

The Long Tail

Play

Trust your usersUser-generated content

UsabilityRemixability Sharing

Social networking

Collaborative

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

WHAT IS A WIKI?

Embedded images, text, hyperlinks, audio, video etc.

Many purposes

Read/write access

World-wide (public) vs task-oriented (closed)

History / rollback functions

Easy-to-edit website

Collaborative

Web2.0 tool

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

WIKI TYPES: GANFYD (GET A NOTE FROM YOUR DOCTOR)

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

WIKI TYPES: ASKDRWIKE

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http://askdrwiki.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Physician_Medical_Wiki

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

WIKI TYPES: CLOSED: E.G. COURSE WIKI

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

METHODS

Four PBL groups (n=32)

Facilitator interviews

Focus groups Small-scale survey

Observation of online wiki use

Using Teams LX wiki tool in Blackboard

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

What did the students do?

How did the students did it?

ENGAGEMENT WITH THE WIKI

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /3518

ENGAGEMENT

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

LEARNING PATTERNS

Range of working patterns in-between PBL sessions (MSN/Facebook etc.)

Mobile phone contact Email Informal chat over coffee etc Use of group Facebook Use of MSN/Live Limited use of Blackboard

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

ENGAGEMENT WITH WIKI

What did students do in wiki: ­ Varied uptake: posting / viewing / not everyone

engaged

What did they post? ­ Mostly useful weblinks but some useful content found.

Different groups engaged differently with wikis (good to

limited!)

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

Developing your identity

Learning about yourself

Learning about Professionalism

Sharing information

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PERCEIVED BENEFITS

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

BENEFITS

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1. WIKIS AS A SHARED RESOURCE

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

Students were able to share resources on professionalism in their PBL groups

Wiki contributions helped clarify PBL discussions.

By being able to check one another’s contributions online, some students felt more confident in their learning

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SHARING RESOURCES ONLINE

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

Wikis made some students reflect on the way they contributed to group wikis (as opposed to how they interacted in their private social networking space eg Facebook)

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2. IDENTITY AS PROFESSIONALS – I.

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

2. IDENTITY AS PROFESSIONALS – II.

Wikis made some students reflect on the way they contributed to group wikis (as opposed to how they interacted in their private social networking space eg Facebook)

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

Please note: bubbles are not quotes just illustrations of findings!

Students’ descriptions suggested that they reflected on and evaluated the resources they posted in the wiki

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2. IDENTITY AS PROFESSIONALS – III.

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /3528

Students were aware / wanted to be seen as ‘professionals’ when posting to the wiki

They were, in contrast, happy to post links and resources into private areas such as ‘Facebook’. This was taken as an indication that students were developing a professional approach to learning

2. IDENTITY AS PROFESSIONALS – IV.

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

LEARNING AND TEACHING ISSUES 1

Not wanting to be the first one to post

Confidence: - lacking confidence in posting to online space - Natural reticence to share when not sure about quality

of online resource Professionalism:- issue afraid of ‘being seen to be wrong’;

Separation of informal/social space vs formal ‘work’ space.

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

LEARNING AND TEACHING ISSUES 2

Learning preferences and engagement

Preferences for individual vs group work;

Students level of ICT competence

Motivation to use ICT as an enhancement to learning

Cultural issues related to sharing.

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

Purpose of the Wiki

Uncertain views by students

Group negotiations outside PBL?

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LEARNING AND TEACHING ISSUES 3

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

FINDINGS: ISSUES

Technological Managerial

Usability vs Facebook (interface, no alerts)

Wiki linked to bi-weekly module (does not lend to cumulative gathering)Who has access to Wiki?

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

CONCLUSIONS 1

1. Familiarity Students less familiar with wikis than expected. The purpose and structure of wiki need to be explained.

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

CONCLUSION 2

2. Confidence Students may not be confident to post in a large group

wiki. A wiki environment which encourages students’ to post

needs to be created with appropriate levels of sharing & privacy.

Other student attitudes such as (positive) competitiveness may also be harnessed. “Did other group get more than us?”

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

3. Role of Institution The functions of the institutionally available wiki tool

may be restrictive (e.g. lack of alerts). If these functions are deemed important, other external

tools may need to be considered.

CONCLUSION 3

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

Explain purpose of process On-line tool must use Web 2 type of alerts etc

Preloading and seeding some resource Environment must bring with it the concept of Trust

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RECOMMENDATIONS

WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

What is the purpose of a WIKI?

Does it really enhance learning?

QUESTIONS FOR DEBATE?

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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35

Available at:

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FULL AND SUMMARY REPORT

http://www.liv.ac.uk/eddev/Research_and_Evaluation/Pedagogic_research/Projects_Completed.htm

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Peter Dangerfield spine92@liverpool.ac.uk

Tünde Varga-Atkins tva@liv.ac.uk

Contact:

QUESTIONS?

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