Wiki-based collaboration and academic publishing

By Stewart Mader

Help write this chapter! Edit the draft I've posted here, and add your revisions and suggestions for this new teaching method.

This project will use the wiki, a web site that can be collaboratively edited using just a web browser for college chemistry and physics students to prepare and publish papers just as practicing scientists would. It makes use of The Science of Spectroscopy, a wiki-based learning tool developed with support from NASA that teaches spectroscopy using a model where students are introduced first to applications, and learn the underlying techniques and theory as they explore applications that interest them. The site was originally built in 1999 to teach spectroscopy more visually using technology, and was converted into a wiki in 2004 to accommodate the growing number of educators who were offering content to make the site more relevant to their own teaching. This project aims to take participation to a greater level by directly involving students in the creation of the material they study, and moves them from passive consumers to active participants in their education.

Working in groups intended to resemble scientific research groups, students choose an existing topic or propose a new topic for addition to the site, with the understanding that the paper they produce will be peer-reviewed and published directly on The Science of Spectroscopy wiki. Initially, each group is given a private wiki page that only group members can edit, which they use throughout their research, writing, and revision. As they research the scientific literature and informal science publications, each group will use the wiki page to document sources, take notes, and outline their paper. They then use the information gathered to prepare a paper, using the wiki as collaborative writing space. Along the way, the teacher can check their reference collection and notes to be sure they're on the right track and provide guidance on their draft, just like a colleague might do for a paper to be published. Once paper drafts are finished, each group submits their paper for peer review by a small group consisting of their teacher, wiki website publisher, and another teacher or scientist familiar with the course subject matter. Comments are posted by the peer-review group on the wiki page, and each group is given time to incorporate them before submission for publication in the appropriate topic page on The Science of Spectroscopy. This model motivates students with the idea that a high quality final product will be published for the world to see, so the quality of the finished product becomes more important than just a grade.

The goal of this project is twofold - to build the first wiki-based journal for collaborative authoring, peer-review, and publishing of student generated work, and in doing so expose students to the real workings of science as soon as possible in their undergraduate careers, help them build confidence in their ability to conduct research, and keep them on the formal path to science careers by completing undergraduate science degrees. In the same manner that open-content projects like MIT OpenCourseWare have made teacher-generated content available, this project establishes a new model in which high quality student-generated content is valued as a source of knowledge, and it is our hope that this inspires others to recognize the enormous untapped potential of student work that right now, sits static on countless students' computers after being read by, in all likelihood, no one other than their teacher.

The potential of this model is national, even international, in scope. As an example, The Science of Spectroscopy has contributors from Indonesia, Germany, Sweden, Poland, New York, Maryland, and California; because the wiki is completely Web-based, takes just a few minutes to learn how to edit, and does not require a high speed Internet connection it promotes complete equality throughout the community. Science disciplines may be the quickest to adopt this model simply because there's a parallel in both structure and content, but the model for wiki collaboration and publishing can easily be applied to any discipline. One product we intend to develop as this project progresses is a comprehensive guide anyone in any discipline can use to successfully implement the model.