The Wiki Project--Finally

Last semester, I had vague ideas of how I wanted to use a wiki in my teaching.  This semester, I have actually done it!  I teach 2 sections of the PLI course Introduction to College Writing.  The students have been writing paragraphs so far; now they are getting ready to write their first essay.

The purpose of the assignment is twofold: to work on introductions and to allow students to become comfortable with an additional tool.

They will be using the wiki to critique each other's introduction paragraphs.  First, I set up a practice wiki and demonstrated it in class. Any student who added a page, commented on an entry, or made changes to a page would get extra credit.  In the next class, I answered the inevitable questions and explained the assignment again.  The expressions on the students faces were positive; they were feeling less intimidated and more eager. 

After I described the assignment to them, one student thanked me.  She was happy I was helping/allowing/requiring them to do a wiki and lamented that no other teachers were showing them tools like this. Wow!

I have divided the students into small groups of 3 or 4.  Each member of the group must enter their introductory paragraph.  Beyond that, students will receive extra credit for any comment they make on another's introduction or any change they make to another's introduction. 

If this works out, then I may have students do more precise work on each other's thesis statements (part of the introduction). 

Another step may be to create a wiki to substitute for the paper-and-pencil peer critiques.  Then, the guided comments can be accessed on the wiki, and the writer can try several responses to the reader's suggestion, eliciting more feedback.

 Another step will be to incorporate true collaborative writing.  But, for this, I will wait until I teach a section of 152, where students are do two group presentations.  For a true collaborative assignment, I have a concern about how to be fair in grading.  I would really have to look at the level and amount of contributions, but this could be daunting.  Any ideas out there?