Use and future of wiki systems in veterinary education? – A survey of lecturers in German-speaking countries

Objectives: Wiki systems are becoming increasingly important in university teaching. Not much is known about the opinion of lecturers of veterinary medicine regarding the active participation of students in teaching, their opinion on wiki systems and their motivation to use them in courses and to improve the quality of information. The objective of the present study was to evaluate how lecturers of veterinary medicine estimate learning management systems and the production of text or material by students in courses, if they rate wiki systems as an appropriate tool for teaching, if they would use wiki systems for their courses and if they are willing to improve the quality of information. Methods: The data collection was carried out as an online survey using a five-point Likert scale. Lecturers of veterinary medicine in Germany, Austria and Switzerland were contacted (n=approx. 1700) out of which 139 completed (8.2%) the survey. Results: Most lecturers use LMS and consider it to be suitable for providing course material. Half of all respondents indicated that they believe that students achieve greater learning success by developing their own learning material. In courses 23.0% of their students develop own materials. The majority of lecturers considered wiki systems as an appropriate and complementary tool for teaching (53.6%). A collection of wiki articles is seen as useful (56.6%), particularly when experts review the contents. One third of the lecturers would use wiki systems for the creation of material by students, but 82.5% have not yet used them in teaching. One third is willing to participate in the review of articles with regard to their quality. Conclusion: The results show that many lecturers are willing to use veterinary wiki systems and that they regard them useful for teaching. According to the opinion of the majority of lecturers, the creation of material by students can lead to greater learning success and wiki systems are suitable for this purpose. We are about to develop strategies to support the implementation of wiki systems into veterinary education and a peer review system supported by lecturers. In a further project the actual learning success provided by the active use of wiki-systems by students will be evaluated.