Scaffolding Wiki Use in Engineering Courses

维基，被称为协作知识构建环境，被用来促进在基于项目的环境中工作的本科生之间的计算机协作。随着教育技术成为教学工程领域不可分割的一部分，远程教育成为公认的实践，理解学生如何学习工程与理解计算机媒介通信如何帮助和阻碍学习交织在一起。教育学Wiki项目正在创建一个新的框架，用于评估和支撑Wiki环境中的协作学习。正在进行的研究包括(a)研究学生在新的和正在进行的基于维基的工程课程中的采用和互动情况，并比较维基在非工程（教育）课程中的采用情况；(b)开发基于话语分析和课程主题本体的教学评估工具，以定性地评估学生在Wiki上的互动；(c)确定搭建机会，例如基于主题的材料共享，以促进学生的参与和交流。活动理论被用作研究Wiki采用情况的框架。最终，这项工作的一个关键组成部分在于新的话语和基于主题的工具，使教师和教育研究人员能够更好地评估学生在Wiki环境中的学习情况。正在制定定性和定量量度，其中一些是针对正在研究的特定领域。结合使用新的自然语言处理技术和传统工具来研究Wiki在工程环境中的应用，有助于理解学生如何在协作的“现实世界”媒介中学习工程。将以计算机为媒介的协作的最佳实践编入法典正在影响工程学的教学方式。

Computer Science (31) Wikis, known as collaborative knowledge building environments, are being used to facilitate computer mediated collaboration among undergraduate students working in project-based settings. As educational technology becomes an integral part of the instructional engineering landscape and distance education becomes accepted practice, understanding how students learn engineering becomes intertwined with understanding how computer mediated communication helps and hinders learning. The Pedagogical Wiki project is creating a novel framework for assessing and scaffolding collaborative learning within Wiki environments. Research being undertaken includes (a) studying student adoption and interaction in new and ongoing Wiki-based engineering courses, and comparing Wiki adoption in non-engineering (education) courses;(b) developing instructional assessment tools based on discourse analysis and course topic ontology for qualitatively evaluating student Wiki interactions; and (c) identifying scaffolding opportunities, such as topic-based material sharing, to promote student engagement and communication. Activity Theory is being used as a framework to study Wiki adoption.Ultimately, a key component of this work lies in the new discourse and topic-based instruments that enable instructors and educational researchers to better assess student learning within Wiki environments. Qualitative as well as quantitative metrics are being developed, some with respect to the particular domains being studied. The combined use of new natural language processing techniques and traditional instruments to study Wiki adoption in an engineering context contributes to an understanding of how students learn engineering in a collaborative, "real-world" medium. Codifying best practices for computer mediated collaboration is impacting the way engineering is being taught.