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Culture, role and group work: A social network analysis perspective on an online collaborative course
Author(s) -
Stepanyan Karen,
Mather Richard,
Dalrymple Roger
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
british journal of educational technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.79
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-8535
pISSN - 0007-1013
DOI - 10.1111/bjet.12076
Subject(s) - homophily , social network analysis , social network (sociolinguistics) , perspective (graphical) , collaborative learning , set (abstract data type) , online discussion , exploratory research , psychology , computer science , knowledge management , social psychology , sociology , world wide web , social media , artificial intelligence , social science , programming language
This paper discusses the patterns of network dynamics within a multicultural online collaborative learning environment. It analyses the interaction of participants (both students and facilitators) within a discussion board that was established as part of a 3‐month online collaborative course. The study employs longitudinal probabilistic social network analysis ( SNA ) to identify the patterns and trends within the network. It conjectures and tests a set of hypotheses concerning the tendencies towards homophily/heterophily and preferential attachment. The paper presents identified interaction network patterns in relation to cultural differences. It also evaluates network dynamics by considering participant roles and group work in the course under study. Results of social network analyses are reported along with measures of statistical confidence in findings. The potential for extending exploratory SNA methods and visualisation techniques in educational research are discussed here.