The Sequential Analysis of Individual versus Collaborative Writing Processes in Wikis

• In Event: Investigations of Wikis for Collaboration and Knowledge Building

Abstract

When students engage in collaborative processes like summarizing, questioning, and clarifying, students produce higher quality text. Yet, research shows that groups tend to choose approaches so that members work more on an individual than collaborative basis. Is this also the case when students use wikis? How and to what extent do students collaborate? How can collaboration be measured and operationally define? This study illustrates a method for coding behaviors recorded in wiki histories and using sequential analysis to build process models for visually and quantitatively identifying patterns in action-sequences observed in wikis. This study presents some of the initial findings, the instructional implications, the potential strengths and limitations of the described method, and directions for future research and development.

Authors

• Allan C. Jeong, Florida State University

• Patricia Anne Heeter, Florida State University