Meta-analysis of the Lusophone Page of the Wikipedia in University Program: proposal of a methodological system based on MAECC®

Abstract

Under the motto “Wikipedia belongs to education”, the Wikimedia Foundation created in 2010 the Wikipedia in Education Program, which includes the Wikipedia in University Program. Having started in 2011 in Portuguese, we found it was important to map and meta-analyze the courses implemented since then, to answer the following main question: What do the courses in the Wikipedia in University Program on the Wikipedia’s lusophone platform tell us? Specifically, this is part of a descriptive and meta-analytical exploratory study, of a mixed nature, integrating a quantitative and qualitative approach. In this field of action, the MAECC®, Meta-model of Analysis and Exploration of Scientific Knowledge®, was adopted as an analytical-methodological instrument, supported simultaneously by document analysis and content analysis. 

Thus, the main goal of this paper is to describe the methodological framework that sustained the broader study carried out. So, after taking into account its specific questions and objectives, we consider the theoretical support of our methodological system of analysis, namely the MAECC®, the document analysis, the content analysis, as well as the context, the corpus and the instrument of analysis. Finally, we specify how the research questions can be perceived in the light of the MAECC®, within the implementation developed to meta-analyze the 92 courses of the lusophone community included in the Wikipedia in University Program between 2011 and 2018.