The Use of Wiki in Teaching Programming

Abstract

This article explores the feasibility of employing cooperative program editing tools in teaching programming. A quasi-experimental study was conducted, in which the experimental group co-edited the programs with peers using the wiki. The control group co-edited the programs with peers using only the face-to-face approach. The findings show that the co-editing platform was effective in assisting collaborative learning of programming, especially for program implementation. By observing editing histories, students could compare programs and then reflect more deeply about programming. The use of the wiki history tool also helped to illuminate nonlinear and dynamic procedures utilized in programming. Students who engaged more in the collaborative programming or interacted more with partners on the wiki showed greater program implementation achievements. The major benefit of using the wiki was the enhanced ability to observe the dynamic programming procedure and to encounter programming conflicts, which contributed to the process of procedural knowledge acquisition and elaboration.