Do Videowikis on the Web Support Better (Constructivist) Learning in the Basics of Information Systems Science?

Abstract

This paper describes the combination of a wiki and screen capture videos as a complementary addition to conventional lectures in an information management and information systems development course. Our basis was collaborative problem-based learning with the problems defined by students. The idea was that students were expected to find concepts or issues from four lecture themes which are not well-defined or clarified for them. The students worked in small groups of two or three students or they completed the coursework individually. First, the students selected the theme which was most unclear for them. Second, the students selected the problematic things from this area and created the presentations associated with these issues. Our intention was that in this way we could run collaborative learning under the principles of the Jigsaw method. In our variant of this technique the students create presentations on different themes and the students teach each other by using these video presentations. The study found that videowiki-based coursework affects both external and internal motivation equally in most cases. This reflects that from the perspective of constructivism the videowiki-based assignment is equally effective compared to learning without this setting. However, the development of knowledge concerning different course themes was positive in group of students who completed this videowiki assignment and the females benefited slightly more from this coursework.