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Coursewide Wiki Assignment Ideas

To use a coursewide wiki you will need to either create a wiki using one of the many available online tools (see A Little Bit About Wikis) and then make a link for it in a content area of your course or, enable the use of the wiki tool if you are using a wiki tool that works within your course management system as a building block (see Wiki Tool). 

Once you have created or enabled the wiki, you will need to configure it so that everyone in the course has access.  You can organize the wiki in a variety of ways, so taking time to create good projects for students to work on together can really pay off in student response and engagement.  And, the more students are engaged, the more likely they are to learn and have fun learning. 

One idea for using the wiki in a course-wide function is to create an ice-breaker assignment.  This assignment works to both help familiarize students with how the wiki works, and get them on more comfortable terms with each other. 

• Utilize a link from the home page of your wiki to a page titled "Break the Ice!" or something similar.  Explain to students where they need to click to get to the ice-breaker page.  On that page, create an introduction assignment, such as having them answer 3 questions.  Make two of the questions about themselves (what their majors are, what hobbies they have, etc.) and then make the 3rd question something fun.  Here are some ideas:
   
  1. There is an age-old question - why did the chicken cross the road?  What do you think the answer is?
  2. If you were stranded on a desert island, what 3 things would you take with you?  Why would you choose those items?

After the posted question, provide step-by-step instructions for the students so that they can add their introductions to the list.  It's important to have an early activity like this so that students can learn to use the tool in a friendly environment.  Make sure that your directions are as clear as possible so that students can be successful on their own during this first encounter with the wiki.

One type of assignment that wikis seem especially well suited for is problem-based learning.  In these assignments the class becomes involved in researching and proposing solutions to real-world problems.  These type of assignments are gaining in popularity because of their authentic nature.  Some ideas for these type assignments are: 

• Case Studies - there are likely many of these studies already available that could be easily formatted into a wiki for study.  Different pages could be created for an overview of the case, contributing factors to the problem, research around the central topic, and suggestions for solutions.  These projects have students learn to analyze issues carefully and seek resolution.  A course could contain a wiki with several case studies completed by the students over the course of a semester. 

• Writing for Peer Review - a wiki makes a great place for collaborating on writing projects and submitting them for peer review.  Students can work on their projects in one general area, share their work with their peers, and get comments on their work.  In addition, the wiki can serve as a class portfolio of all writing projects completed during the duration of the course.
   
• Discussion Groups - the wiki could be arranged around a series of discussion questions over the material covered for the semester.  Different pages can be used for different modules or weeks, and students can collaborate on answers and discuss their ideas in one centralized place.  The linking features of the wiki make it easy for students to link to other pages within the wiki, or to outside sources that enforce their ideas.

• Class Research Project - a topic could be posed to be researched in a holistic matter (for example the year 1969 could be examined from political and social areas further divided into categories such as important persons, the Vietnam War, etc.).  Individuals or small groups could pick an area of interest to research for contribution to the wiki.  At the end of the semester, the class would have a collaborative artifact showing many different aspects of a particular topic. 

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