Integrating Wikis in the

Support and Practice of

Historical Analysis Skills
By Catherine Cabiness, James Irvine Intermediate School, Garden Grove Unified School
District, Loretta Donovan, California State University Fullerton, and Tim D. Green,
California State University Fullerton

Abstract
This case study examines the benefits of integrating wikis into the World History curriculum. Six middle school students chosen because
of their designation in relevant subgroups
GATE, AVID, and RSPparticipated in this
20-week study. Abstract historical concepts can
be difficult to grasp; therefore, students collaborated via a wiki on topics that required students
to practice historical analysis skills that are utilized by historians and social scientists who are
experts in their field. Historical and social science analysis skills add rigor to the curriculum
as students develop a deeper understanding of
historical events beyond the core curriculum.
Findings indicate that students, when given
the option, chose to use higher order thinking
skills. The high number of responses by the RSP
students was a surprising outcome. The data indicates that wikis foster collaborative learning,
interaction, and natural student inquiry.
Key words: wikis, collaborative learning,
historical analysis skills, higher order thinking
skills, critical thinking

he National Council for the Social Studies

(NCSS) advocates that an effective social
studies curriculum will provide students
with the skills to be competent and productive
members of this society. The NCSS further affirms that these skills are essential to civic competence and the maintenance and enhancement
of a free and democratic society (NCSS, 2008,
p. 211). This supports the notion as to why the
California State Board of Education, when creat-

38

ing the framework and content standards for the

history-social science courses in 1998, elected to
include historical analysis skills for all levels of
social science education for grades K-12.
In California 7th grade Social Studies, this
is accomplished in a year long course focusing
on medieval world history in which teachers are
expected to help students gain an understanding of history by studying the people and events
from the Middle Ages to Early Modern Times.
The standards emphasize examining the daily
lives and accomplishments of people as well as
their role in the development of social, economic,
and political structures (California Department
of Education, 1998). Continuity and contact of
civilizations are further emphasized as students
make connections across cultures and societies
of the Middle Ages to today. In addition to the
content standards, teachers are expected to incorporate the practice of historical and social sciences analysis skills into their teaching practices
(California Department of Education, 1998). The
goal is to help students develop and practice critical thinking skills that are utilized by historians
and social scientists who are experts in their field.
The historical and social science analysis skills
add rigor to the curriculum as students develop
a deeper understanding of historical events beyond the core curriculum. Additionally, given
the current shift towards Common Core State
Standards (CCSS) with its emphasis on crosscurricular learning, the use of technology to
support content area literacy is paramount. This
approach can benefit districts or schools within
districts (such as the district in which this study
is conducted) in which the World History course

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is offered only as a semester course (20 weeks)

rather than a year-long course.
As educators, we know that abstract historical concepts can be difficult to grasp; therefore, students need time to process information in order for it to be retained. Wineburg
(1991) examined the acquisition of historical
analysis and critical reading skills; he asserts
that historical thinking begins with the thinkaloud technique, which asks people to verbalize their thoughts as they solve complex problems or read sophisticated texts (p. 497). This
type of critical reading and understanding allows learners to construct knowledge. Further,
Wineburg (1991) wrote that skilled readers will
pretend to deliberate with others by talking to
themselves (p. 503). This type of constructivist
learning is often supported by class discussions
and student collaboration.
In an effort to support content area literacy
and promote historical analysis skills all within
the allocated time, teachers will need to rethink
how they approach instruction. One way to accomplish this is to provide opportunities for
students to interact in course content in an online environment. Actively involving students in
critical thinking and problem solving can be accomplished through the use of technology and
constructivist learning activities (Rice, Wilson,
& Bagley, 2001; Solvie & Kloek, 2007). Additionally, online discourse extends learning outside of
the confines of a class period (Jonassen, Howland, Marra, & Crismond, 2008) with benefits
of extending the learning experience (Churchill,
2009; Persell, 2004).
The purpose of this study was to examine the
impact of online collaboration on student ability
to process World History concepts, as well as its
impact on the promotion of higher order thinking skills. Specially, this study was driven by the
following questions:
1. What is the impact of online discourse on
student ability to demonstrate higher order
thinking skills, and
2. How can the use of wikis promote historical
analysis skills in middle school students?
This study adds to the literature on integrating online discourse into the World History curriculum (Bennett & Pye, 1999; Dils, 2000; Zukas, 2000), and can be used to support the shift
towards CCSS and content area literacy.

Theoretical Framework
This study was conducted under the assumption that wikis (an online collaborative tool

Volume 57, Number 6

that supports multiple contributors) are a way

teachers can meet the demands of the required
curriculum and individual student needs. Wikis
allow teachers to focus on mastery of academic
standards but also support standards such as the
International Society for Technology in Educations (ISTE) National Educational Technology
Standards for students (NETS-S).
Through the use of wikis, groups of individuals collaborate on various topics by adding text,
images, videos, as well as other multimedia elements into one cohesive final product (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009). The
intent of wikis is to foster collaboration in an
asynchronous working environment (Thomas,
King, & Minocha, 2009). In education, students
and teachers use wikis to collaborate on a range
of topics. Students can collaboratively work with
peers on individual pages within a wiki or even
participate in a discussion that can be started by
the teacher or their peers.
We conducted this study with the assumption that middle school students ability to
think abstractly is still developing, and as educators we must provide opportunity to develop
this skill. Specifically, during late concrete and
early formal operational stages, middle school
students are beginning to see history not so
much as a ready-made stories, but rather as stories constructed by analyzing and interpreting
sources (Dutt-Doner, Cook-Cottone, & Allen,
2007). This type of interactionanalyzing and
interpreting sourcessupports the acquisition
of higher order thinking skills as students are
forced to evaluate and justify their opinions and
the opinions of their peers. Students today are
already using wikis, blogs, and other socially
constructed knowledge tools to make connections outside of the classroom. Therefore, using
the same social tools in the educational context
will provide opportunities for students to learn
collaboratively and make personal connections
to their learning experiences (Larusson & Alter
man, 2009).

Review of literature
In the educational environment, wikis represent collaborative learningan authentic
learning opportunity in which two or more
students are involved (Larusson & Alterman,
2009). Their use in education allows students to
collaborate beyond the confines of the school or
classroom environment (Jonassen et al., 2008;
Larusson & Alterman, 2009), and work at their
own pace; thus, supporting the varied learning
and life styles of 21st century students (Solvie &

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39

Kloek, 2007). Recent research (e.g., Kissel, Hathaway, & Wood, 2010; Nakamaru, 2012) implies
that teachers are making greater efforts to integrate wikis into the learning experiences. The
literature in this area draws from the K12 and
higher education environments. We can also
draw on research on the role of asynchronous
collaboration (e.g. online discussion boards) to
examine the impact of educational uses of wikis.
The nature of the wiki environment shifts
the responsibility for learning from teacher to
student, which supports the notion of self-regulatory behavior (Friedman & Heafner, 2008; Lin
& Kelsey, 2009). Within the wiki environment,
additions, edits, and revisions are recorded history that all users are able to see; thus, creating
a sense of personal and peer accountability. Larson (2009) studied 5th grade student responses
within a threaded discussion and found that
even though students were not given specific
guidelines on length or content, they established
their own expectations for appropriate conduct
and content to be posted. Additionally, the use of
wikis for collaborative and cooperative learning
provides a safe environment that will allow students to learn to grow together and help each
other, and not how to succeed at the expense of
other students (Xiao & Carroll, 2007, p. 35).
Examining the impact of wikis on student
achievement has added importance in light of
the shift toward CCSS. Although the research
(e.g., Hernandez-Ramos & De La Paz, 2009;
NCREL, 2005; Taylor & Duran, 2006) shows
a positive impact of technology enhanced collaborative learning on standardized assessment
results, we also need to remember that such assessments do not always accurately reflect what
a student has truly learned in the course of collaborating with peers. Of particular relevance to
this study on historical analysis skills and social
studies achievement is the study conducted by
Heafner and Friedman (2008) who compared
students who created wikis to students who
were taught using tradition teacher-directed approach. This study demonstrated that though
wikis did not demonstrate short term gains in
student achievement (as measured by traditional assessment practices), data from follow-up interviews conducted with students eight months
later suggested that wiki students retained historical concepts to a greater level than traditionally taught students
Knowing that history is [a] conversation
about the past (Sheets, 2009, p. 54), we need
to think about wikis as a historical discussion.
Therefore, when examining the impact of wikis
on higher order thinking skills, in particular, we
must look beyond the literature on wikis per se
40

and explore literature on online discussions. It

has been documented that online discourse supports the acquisition of higher order thinking
skills (Dutt-Doner et al., 2007; Tally & Goldenberg, 2005). More specifically, the integration of
threaded discussions into the learning strategies
has been shown to enhance student retention of
course content (Barbour & Rich, 2007; Lpez &
Jordine, 2008; Taylor & Duran, 2006). Relevant
to this study, students as historians, whether engaged in class or online, are using higher order
thinking skills in the interpretation of primary
and secondary sources. Because the discipline
of history is interpretative in nature, the social
construction of knowledge through the use of
online communication tools can be powerful.
An additional benefit of using wikis in the
classroom can be seen on the impact on English
Language Learners. Studies of online discourse
show that student engagement increases when
students have the opportunity for thoughtful reflection before posting a response (Kelly, 2008).
The California History/Social Science Project
(CHSSP) studied the effects of student engagement via a threaded discussion in the history
classroom. The results indicate that students
were more apt to participate in online discussions than in class. Of great relevance to this
study is the fact that the ELL participation was
significantly higher when online discourse was
required (Wellman, 2002).
It is clear that there are many benefits to introducing online discourse, and in particular, wikis into the social studies learning environment.
Integrating technology in middle school social
studies classrooms effectively serves to not only
support Common Core pedagogy, but also has
the potential to support individualized learning
(Dils, 2000). The fact is that more students will
benefit from the integration of a variety of tools
and strategies (Solvie & Kloek, 2007). Rice, Wilson, and Bagley (2001) contend that the uses of
technology in the history/social science classroom are limited only by the imagination of the
teacher. It is in this area that the use of wikis can
serve as a tool to help students make meaningful connections across content areas that will enable them to become productive citizens in this
global society today.

Method
Participants and Setting
This study was conducted at an urban
middle school located in Southern California.
The school at which this study was conducted
has approximately 870 students, of which 43%

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are ELL. Specifically, this study was conducted in the 7th grade Medieval World History
courses taught by Author 1. Class sizes range
from 24 to 36 students and are heterogeneously
grouped. Students have access to computers at
school both in the library/media center and via
a mobile laptop cart. Depending on individual
classes, between seventy-five and eighty-five
percent of students report having access to
home computers. For the purpose of this study,
students were provided with laptop access during class periods as well as before and after
school to complete the required assignments.
Students. A total of 200 students were eligible for participation. Six students enrolled in
7th grade Medieval World History were chosen
as participants based upon subgroups
in which they are classified: Gifted
and Talented Education (GATE), Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID), and Resource Specialist
Program (RSP). These students represent various subgroups that require
differentiated lessons. The GATE and
RSP students are of particular interest because the school and district
are both in Program Improvement
(PI) due to the EL and Special Education subgroups who did not meet the
growth target. Further, the largest subgroupEL learnersis not progressing according to district goals. Four of
the participants are EL learners.
Teacher. The teacher (Author 1) in
this study has been teaching Medieval
World History for eighteen years, and
has a Masters Degree in Educational
Technology. As a result, the teacher
provides the opportunity to engage
students in learning through a range
of tools (e.g. wikis, blogs, WebQuests,
shared documents) throughout the

course of the year.

educational setting. No students had previous

experience using a wiki prior to this study. Students were assigned a username and password,
taught how to use the wiki, and were educated in
appropriate behavior and proper digital citizenship for this online community.
Two specific wiki assignments provided
the learning context for this study. For the first
assignment, students from all sections of the
course contributed to one wikiThink Like a
Disciplinarian (TLAD) (Kaplan, 2006). In this
assignment, students were asked to choose a
disciplinarian (e.g. anthropologist, archaeologist, economist, geographer, historian, linguist,
political scientist, sociologist) and complete
four tasks. Students completed a teacher-created

Context
In order to examine the impact
of collaborative Web-based learning
on student acquisition and practice of
historical analysis skills, this study examined student wiki contributions as
part of several units within the medieval world history course. In addition
to wiki in-class assignments, students
were given the option to use the wiki
as an alternative method to complete
homework assignments. This was the
first time students used a wiki in an
Volume 57, Number 6

Figure 1. Think Like a Disciplinarian Task Page (continued on next page)

TechTrends November/December 2013

41

post their finalized response to their

inquiry-based research question. Students were encouraged to respond to
each others contributions as often as
they liked. The goal was that students
would be motivated to work together
since all six World History classes
were working on this wiki assignment
together.
The second wiki assignment (Sum
it UP!) was not mandatory for all students. A typical Sum it UP! assignment
included reading a section of the textbook and choosing one Response to
Text option (Figure 2). For each Sum
it UP! homework assignment, students
were given the option to post their responses on the wiki as opposed to writing it on their Sum it UP! paper. This
option was given to encourage students
who normally would not complete assignments on paper, but are motivated
to do so because it can be done on the
computer. The Response to Text option (Dodge, 2006) is frequently used
with students because it offers options
(write a key idea, paraphrase what
youve read, make a connection to
current events) for students as well as
differentiates for student academic
ability (Dodge, 2006).

Data Collection

Figure 1. Think Like a Disciplinarian Task Page (continued from previous page)

task in which they were asked to create a question for research (Figure 1). Next, the students
were asked to respond to another students research question to offer support and clarification. Third, students were given the option to
revise or modify their research question based
upon feedback from their peers. During this
portion of the assignment, students helped to
clarify research questions, points of view, and
even grammar. Additionally, students were to
conduct research to answer their question and
post their findings. Students from different class
sections, who were researching similar questions, worked collaboratively on responses
that accurately reflected what they discovered.
For the fourth required task, students were to

42

Data were collected by reviewing participant posts on each wiki

page. Using Wiki Statistics (an internal tracking system), the teacher conducted a search by members to determine on which pages students posted
responses. For each participant, member post
statistics were printed. Next, using the history
tab for each page, the teacher collected specific
student responses. Screenshots were taken for
student responses and compiled within a Word
document. The Word document was the primary means for recording data.
Posts were initially reviewed in isolation;
however, in order to understand the collaborative
process in which the students were engaged, posts
were examined in context of prior posts and after
feedback from peers. These additional responses
were collected via screen shots and added to the
initial list of student responses. Student responses within the Word document were arranged in
chronological order and listed by topic.

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Data Analysis
Wiki contributions from both the
TLAD and Sum it UP! homework assignments were coded in three different ways. First, they were coded based
upon the History Social Science Analysis Skills (California Department of
Education, 1998). The Historical and
Social Science Analysis Skills are organized into three categories: Chronological and Spatial Thinking (C); Research, Evidence, and Point of View
(R); and Historical Interpretation (H). Figure 2. Sample Response to Text assignment with introduction and task.
Within each category individual skills
are listed. For example, within Chronological their thoughts in written form because this was
and Spatial Thinking, the first skill is that stu- the first time a wiki was used for collaborative
dents will explain how major events are relat- learning. Therefore, data analysis categories were
ed to one another in time. This was then coded broad. Examples of specific terms used to deterC1C being Chronological and Spatial Thinking mine if a student post demonstrated analysis inand 1 being the first skill within this category.
clude: over the years, cause and effect, change
Second, for the total of the 14 skills within over time, and is related to. Comprehension was
the C-R-H categories, seven intended student the next most frequent thinking skill evidenced
learning outcomes were identified: framing in the student responses. Common terms used
questions, cause and effect, context of historical to determine comprehension include: found
period, points of view, time-space continuum, pat- out, how, why, and for example. When students
terns, contributions, and change over time. These clarified or elaborated their posts, it was categolearning outcomes were identified because they rized under comprehension. Student learning
aligned with concepts that are traditionally used outcomes were used to triangulate coding based
within the discipline of history. For the purpos- upon category, skill, and which level of Blooms
es of this study, not every skill was aligned to a taxonomy they represented.
student-learning outcome, because some lacked
Frequency of each category, skill, and Blooms
relevance to the content and assigned tasks or taxonomy representation were recorded in a
was not grade level appropriate. For example, for spreadsheet program. One sheet specifically fothe student learning outcome framing questions, cused on historical analysis skills with the catdepending on the terminology used, students egories and skills (e.g. C3, R2) serving as colcould have shown evidence of sub-skill R1 (Re- umns and the rows were frequency of student
search, Evidence, Point of Viewframe ques- responses. The second sheet used the levels of
tions), R2 (Research, Evidence, Point of View Blooms taxonomy as the columns and frequendistinguish fact or opinion), or R3 (Research, cy of student responses as the rows. Student reEvidence, Point of View - distinguish relevant sponses were aggregated according to the three
from irrelevant information).
subgroups: GATE, AVID, and RSP. Using the
A third coding, Blooms taxonomy (knowl- spreadsheet program, graphs were created for
edge, comprehension, application, analysis, syn- visual representation of data.
thesis, and evaluation) (Bloom, 1956) was also
implemented because educators associate this Results and Discussion
taxonomy with the various levels of thinking
This study sought to examine the impact of inskills. This coding has relevance to the study
tegrating the use of wikis in the world history class
because the main focus was on student practice
on student ability to process academic content and
with higher order thinking skills. However, bethink critically. Specifically, we examined:
cause this study took place in a history class, the
focus was specifically looking for evidence of What is the impact of online discourse on
student use of historical analysis skills. For exstudent ability to demonstrate higher order
ample, if a student used the phrase I think that
thinking skills?, and
its greatbut I dont think that its fair it was How can the use of wikis promote historical
coded as evaluation.
analysis skills in middle school students?
It was assumed that students would not be
We analyzed student wiki contributions in
able to use expressive language to explicitly state
three ways: demonstration of general History
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43

classroom activities to support the

collaborative learning process. Additionally, students are often given the
option to choose the Thinking Tools
(Depth and Complexity and Content
Imperative icons) to use when examining a primary or secondary source.
What the wiki added was a more
public forum for students to demonstrate understanding of material an
environment that for shy students
can be intimidating was in fact, not
intimidating. Students were already
comfortable using analysis and were
less afraid to put it on the public forum. This is refreshing because as the
teacher-researcher, the concern was
that by making their thoughts more
public, students would use lower level
thinking skills because that is their
comfort level, when in fact, the oppoFigure 3. Graph showing the breakdown of student responses by sub-groups. Vertical axis indicates
the number of responses. Horizontal axis indicates the six levels of Blooms Taxonomy.
site was true. Further, the use of the
wiki allowed time for all students to
Social Science Analysis Skills, addressing of spe- have a voice in the class discussion, as opposed
cific student learning outcome behaviors, and to a traditional classroom where student particiapplication of the levels of Blooms taxonomy. pation is often cut short by the bell.
Results and discussion of our data analysis is
An additional explanation for student use of
presented by research question. We conclude a public forum to demonstrate learning may be
with a general discussion on broader implica- that for students the wiki, when informed that it
tions of the study.
was accessible across all six World History classes, established a community of learners with a
Wikis and Higher Order
broader audience than simply working alone or
within the one group of classmates. The public
Thinking Skills
nature of the wiki may in fact have encouraged
Research question one examined the im- more participation, participation that was initipact of using the wiki on a students ability to ated by the excitement of working with students
apply higher order thinking skills. Higher or- who may or may not be from the same class
der thinking skills were represented by specific period. Furthermore, the fact that all 7th grade
phrases identified within each level of Blooms students have access to the wiki may have led to
taxonomy. Figure 3 shows student responses on an established comfort level because they can all
the wiki categorized by subgroups and think- see each others work and growth in progress.
ing skills.
Additionally, we are aware that the nature
This graph is an aggregate of responses from of the Think like a Disciplinarian (TLAD) asall six participants based on sub-group (GATE, signment was developed in order to promote
AVID, RSP). The bars refer to the frequency of inquiry-based learning. The fact that student reuse of higher order thinking skills for both the sponses represented high frequency of analysis
TLAD and Sum it UP! homework assignments. (initial questions), and analytical and evaluation
It is clear from Figure 3 that Analysis was the contributions (during collaboration and in remost frequent level of Blooms taxonomy ap- sponse to peers), confirms for us that the pedaplied by the students. This was not surprising gogy that occurs when teachers integrate wikis
because the classroom culture fosters analysis. into the classroom environment is conducive to
In this classroom, the expectation is for students promoting higher order thinking.
to delve deep into the information and formuWhat is most noteworthy about student aplate their own interpretation of historical events. plication of higher order thinking skills is that
Non-wiki assignments such as Socratic semi- eight out of 37 total posts came from RSP stunars, Constructing Meaning discussion cards, dents who traditionally do not volunteer opinand Thinking Maps are incorporated in daily ions in class. Looking at the frequency with
44

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which students applied the Evaluation

level, we can see once again that the
RSP students contributed eight of 24
posts. This further confirms that using a wiki gives normally shy or reticent students the venue within which
to voice their thoughts and opinions
(Wellman, 2002).

Wikis and Historical

Analysis Skills
Specifically looking at historical
analysis skills revealed similar trends
in higher order thinking. Figure 4
displays the frequency of student responses by academic group for the
three categories of historical analysis skills: Chronological and Spatial
Thinking (C); Research, Evidence and
Point of View (R); and Historical Interpretation (H).
Figure 4. Graph showing breakdown by sub-group. Vertical axis indicates frequency of responses.
From Figure 4, we can see that Horizontal axis indicates the categories of historical analysis skills (C-Chronological, Spatial;
GATE students used all three cat- R-Research, Evidence, Point of View; H-Historical Interpretation.
egories of historical analysis skills;
whereas, the AVID students used only two of the sources (Dutt-Doner et al., 2010), which may
categories, and the RSP students only one. The explain the lack of responses from the AVID
differing levels of engagement with the histori- and RSP students. As Social Studies teachers,
cal analysis skills may be attributed to student this highlights the importance of being mindful
comfort level in using historical analysis skills. of the cognitive developmental level of students
Once again, it is important to highlight the re- and providing appropriate scaffolding.
sponses of the RSP students who actually used
To consider more individual skills in each
R (Research, Evidence, Point of View) more fre- category, we see that GATE students showed a
quently than the AVID students and only slight- broader range of skill application, yet RSP and
ly less frequently than the gifted students.
AVID students differed from each other only
We can see from Figure 4 that GATE sub- slightly. Table 1 shows the frequency of individgroup clearly made more Historical Interpreta- ual skills by academic group/sub-group.
tion (H) posts than Chronological and Spatial
For all sub-groups, R1 (framing questions)
Thinking (C) and Research, Evidence and Point was one of the highest or one of the most freof View (R) posts. A possible explanation for quent forms of responses used. This is not surthis might be the fact that gifted students tend prising because the TLAD assignment required
to think outside of the box and therefore, ask big students to develop a research question to post
picture questions and through inquiry-based on the wiki. Students were required to post
learning come to their own conclusions as drawn only one question for research. Therefore, there
from the facts. AVID students also engaged in should have been a minimum of two R1 posts
using historical analysis skills, but to a much per sub-group. However, for the GATE students,
lesser degree than their gifted counterparts.
the high frequency of responses was a result of
Figure 4 also highlights the disparity in them posing or clarifying research questions for
student responses for the category Chronologi- their peers for the TLAD assignment, but it was
cal and Spatial Thinking. GATE students were also a result of using R1 as an option for the Sum
the only sub-group to respond within the cat- it UP! assignment (an optional use for the wiki).
egory in which students needed to exhibit being A similar explanation applies to AVID and RSP
able to make connections between people and students. Not only did both RSP students post
events across a time-space continuum. We are an R1 response for the TLAD assignment, but
reminded, however, that not all middle school they also used R1 as an option for the Sum it
students are cognitively able to think in the ab- UP! assignment. An interesting discovery in exstract when looking at primary and secondary amining the frequency of R1 responses revealed

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45

Table 1. Student responses by sub-groups and historical analysis categories and sub-skills.

Gate
Avid
Rsp

46

C1
4

C2
2

C3

R1
10
4
7

R2

R3
2
1
1

R4
1
1

R5

that both AVID and RSP students edited their

R1 posts either due to a peers suggestion or the
fact that they reviewed their own post and decided to reword the research question on their
own. This supports the notion that wikis not
only support the collaborative process, but also
encourages students to review their own work
since a wiki is a public forum.
GATE students demonstrated a high frequency of responses for H1 (time/space continuum) and
H2 (cause/effect, sequence, correlation). Though
some of those posts were in response to the TLAD
assignment, almost half were in response to the
Sum it UP! homework assignment. This is consistent with data from R1 for GATE students, which
suggests that GATE students were more apt to use
the wiki for homework assignments because of either comfort or convenience.
Both GATE and AVID students used H5
(change over time) whereas that sub-skill was
noticeably absent for RSP students. H5 is a
sub-skill that is supported by the TLAD assignment in which students were to revise their initial findings in light of peer responses and own
research. Therefore, if students completed the
TLAD assignment, H5 is an expected response.
However, it is interesting to note that one AVID
student utilized H5 as part of the Sum it UP!
assignment which supports the notion that the
public forum of the wiki was not a deterrent for
students to practice using higher order thinking
skills. Another important point to consider is
that anecdotally, RSP students did not traditionally participate in class discussions as much as
when given the opportunity to post responses
on the wiki. Perhaps the idea of being able to
demonstrate their learning in an environment
that allowed them ample think time provided
the safety net that RSP students need in order to
feel confident and successful when sharing their
work with peers.
Table 1 shows that only seven of the 13
AVID responses fell within the Historical Interpretation category. However, because Historical Interpretation requires students to make
connections across space and time as well as
use interpretative skills to understand historical concepts, it is a difficult skill for students to

H1
11

H2
9

H3
3

H4

H5
5
7

H6

master and use comfortably. Due to the level of

difficulty, it is no surprise that the RSP students
did not use Historical Interpretation at all.
It is clear that gifted learners benefit from an
interactive, collaborative learning environment
(Gregory & Chapman, 2002). Their voices are not
silenced with the bell at the end of class. Gifted
students can continue the learning and sharing
process well beyond the traditional school day.
From Table 1 we can see that GATE students had
the most breadth of responses with eight skills
being addressed. However, when we compare
RSP and AVID students, with the exception of
H5 (recognizing that interpretations of history
can change over time), RSP students posted as
frequently, if not more than AVID students. A
possible explanation is that the wiki allowed for
additional wait time for those students. RSP students tend to shy away from in class discussion
whether it is due to the overwhelming participation by gifted and high achieving students or
because RSP students simply need the additional
think or wait time in order to come up with a viable response. We interpret that the RSP student
responses in R1 (framing questions) were more
frequent than the AVID student responses to
support the necessity of using of asynchronous
communication tools to meet the learning needs
of all students and in particular special education students. This supports similar findings
from a 2005 NCREL report (NCREL, 2005).

Implications for practice

This study examined student use of higher
order thinking skills when completing class assignments using wikis. We found that students
were engaged with and practiced historical
analysis skills when posting responses on the
wiki regardless of their academic sub-group.
Whether students posted an initial response or
responded to a peer, it is clear that they choose
to use thinking skills that align with the study of
history. What this confirms is that wikis foster
collaborative learning, interaction, and inquisition with and of peers. As social studies educators, this is a reminder that educational technology tools (such as, wikis) can help foster student-

TechTrends November/December 2013

Volume 57, Number 6

centered learning, which gives all students the

opportunity to practice and demonstrate higher
order thinking skills that are necessary for historical understanding and analysis. Educational
technology tools allow students to be directly in
control of their learning rather than solely relying on the teacher.
Perhaps one of the most pertinent outcomes
of the wiki assignment is that students were
given the option of using lower order thinking skills, but that they chose to use options on
the higher end of the scale. This could be due
to the fact that since their responses were publicly viewable, students were purposeful in making responses to appeal to their peers. Further,
students worked with peers to co-construct
knowledge (Heafner & Friedman, 2008; Lin &
Kelsey, 2009) as they interpreted information
found in primary and secondary sources. Moreover, the wiki environment provided students
the platform within which to interact with peers
in an academic setting beyond the confines of
a traditional class period (Jonassen et al., 2008;
Larusson & Alterman, 2009). The flexible environment of a wiki supports collaborative learning which can have a positive impact on student
learning (Thomas, et al., 2009). The integration
of a wiki into the curriculum allowed to not only
offer students time for extended learning, but
also the opportunity to go in-depth into concepts that could not and would not be covered
during a typical class period simply because of
time restrictions. Wikis allow for enrichment
opportunities that benefit all students.
The benefits of using a wiki in the context of
a social studies middle school course evidenced
in this study include the opportunity for all students to have an opportunity to engage in rich
discourse in a non-intimidating environment.
Further, the use of the wiki to promote higher
order thinking skills in students was evident in
the way students chose to post initial and follow
up contributions to the wiki. The wiki environment allowed for the creation of a community
of learners that go beyond the 36 peers in the
class. In fact, the wiki was open to all six classes
of students enrolled in World History during the
same semester.
We are not claiming that the use of wikis
taught students historical analysis skills. However, through the use of the wiki, students had the
opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the content through the use of historical
analysis skills. Furthermore, students were given
the opportunity to practice using a collaborative
learning tool that aligns with CCSS pedagogy,
NCSS, and the Partnership for 21st Century
Volume 57, Number 6

Skills (P21). A goal of education is for students

to come away from school not only demonstrating content understanding and knowledge, but
also college and career readiness skills such as
critical thinking and problem-solving. The use
of wikis as a learning tool is but one way, we as
teachers can move towards meeting this educational goal, stay true to addressing standards
and meet individual student learning needs.
Catherine Cabiness earned an M.S. in Educational Technology from California State University, Fullerton in
2010. She has taught world history in Garden Grove Unified School District for 18 years.Catherine also works for
the Orange County Department of Education as an online facilitator for the Leading Edge Certification courses
and Web 2.0 tools.Her research interests focus on ways to
integrate technology, more specifically Web 2.0 tools, in
K12 and teacher education.
Loretta Donovan, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the
Department of Elementary and Bilingual Education at
California State University, Fullerton where she co-facilitates and teaches in the Educational Technology graduate
program. Dr. Loretta Donovan has been formally involved
in Educational Technology since earning her Ph.D. from
the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2005. Prior to joining the faculty at California State University Fullerton, she
was a K12 teacher. As a teacher educator and technology
specialist, she continues to share her passion for authentic technology integration with pre-service and in-service
teachers across the United States. She consults with school
districts and departments of education on planning, implementing, and promoting technology initiatives.
Tim Green, Ph.D., a former K12 teacher, is a professor
of educational technology and teacher educator at California State University, Fullerton where he co-directs the
Educational Technology graduate program. He is author
of numerous articles and books, as well as a presenter, on
the integration of educational technology, instructional
design, and online distance education. He is passionate
about working with schools and districts on visioning
and implementing technology initiatives. He regularly
consults with and provides professional develop to schools
and districts. He received his PhD in Instructional Systems
Technology from Indiana University.

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