Student perception of a wiki in a pharmacy elective course

Objective: Third professional year pharmacy students enrolled in an elective on landmark trials were surveyed to describe student and course facilitator experiences with using a wiki, student satisfaction with wiki collaboration, and to evaluate whether level of involvement on a wiki was associated with student-reported performance or satisfaction. Course facilitators were also surveyed. Method: Pre- and post-surveys were used to evaluate experiences and satisfaction with wiki collaboration. Level of involvement was compared with student-reported course performance and wiki satisfaction. An e-mail survey with open-ended questions was sent to course facilitators asking them to describe their experience with a wiki. Statistical analysis consisted of descriptive statistics and use of the Kruskal-Wallis test (a priori alpha < 0.05). Results: Based on responses from the pre-survey, 50% (14/28) of the students had previously accessed a wiki; none reported previously collaborating in a wiki. On the post-survey, the overall satisfaction with collaborating on the course wiki was neutral. A majority of students (63%) highly recommended or recommended using a wiki in future landmark trial classes. No difference between student level of involvement and student-reported final grade (p = 0.5) or level of satisfaction (p = 0.2) were noted. Course facilitators favored using a wiki because it accommodated an increase in class size and provided another way to engage students. Conclusion: Students that collaborated in the course wiki, and course facilitators, had positive attitudes toward the use of a wiki. Students also felt that the course wiki provided further clarification and knowledge about course content. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.