Levels of Social Network Analysis and Small Team Problem-solving in the Classroom

In a collaborative learning environment, transfer of knowledge depends strongly on sociocultural factors including the interaction among the learners as well as the interactions with the instructor. An understanding of some of the factors that affect the dynamics of learners and learning can be gleaned through the use of social network analysis (SNA). Even a single time-slice of the social network of a class, which shows the social ties between the students, can reveal much about a student’s position in the network, which may affect what and how a student learns and his/her problem solving ability. This paper presents a study of the levels of the social network of students in an engineering project course. The analysis is done in the context of a design task given to small teams of students. The quality of the final design is evaluated using a rubric that yields a quantifiable result. We relate the team members’ perceptions of their network with the problem solving ability of the team. We found significant correlations between a team’s project score and a team’s balance as well as with the individual student’s perception of their team balance, although the sample size was small. In this context, the balance of a team is the degree to which feelings are reciprocated, as discussed in Section 3. The perception of team balance, or the levels of the social network, is discussed in Section 6. The levels of social network analysis uncovers whether team members correctly perceive the relationships among their teammates. These initial findings open opportunities for future work on the role social network analysis can play in the analysis of collaborative learning.