Network positions in active learning environments in physics
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
This study uses positional analysis to describe the student interaction networks in four research-based introductory physics curricula. Positional analysis is a technique for simplifying the structure of a network into blocks of actors whose connections are more similar to each other than to the rest of the network. This method describes social structure in a way that is comparable between networks of different sizes and densities and can show large-scale patterns such as hierarchy or brokering among actors. We detail the method and apply it to class sections using Peer Instruction, SCALE-UP, ISLE, and context-rich problems. At the level of detail shown in the blockmodels, most of the curricula are more alike than different, showing a late-term tendency to form coherent subgroups that communicate actively among themselves but have few inter-position links. This pattern may be a network signature of active learning classes, but wider data collection is needed to investigate.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 020129 |
Journal | Physical Review Physics Education Research |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 2 |
Number of pages | 20 |
ISSN | 2469-9896 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |
Externally published | Yes |
ID: 332624890