Sharing Information and Building Reports in a Common Workspace

Who: University of York What: Wikis

Objective: Explore the institutions and practice of contemporary politics through the analysis of diverse cases from different regions while introducing students to research and reporting via case studies, discussions, and collaboration.

Process: Sixty-three separate teams made up this large cohort and Campus Pack was used for collaboration within assigned working groups. Within the course, wikis were used for the development of weekly, group case-study reports, allowing file uploads to be combined with online editing and report writing. This facilitated a more collaborative approach to file-exchanges and report writing, and allowed tutors to monitor individual students' contributions.

Results: Of the 185 students, 88 percent were considered active users of the group pages. Using wikis with the small group model generated more commitment and responsibility in members toward one another, as well as the incentive to contribute. To learn more, access the University’s World Politics Case Study here.