PERC 2015 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Community structure in introductory physics course networks |
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| Abstract: | Student-to-student interactions are foundational to many active learning environments, but are most often studied using qualitative methods. Network analysis tools provide a quantitative complement to this picture, allowing researchers to describe the social interactions of whole classrooms as systems. Past results from introductory physics courses have suggested a sharp division in the formation of social structure between large lecture sections and small studio classroom environments. Extending those results, this study focuses on calculus-based introductory physics courses at a large public university with a heavily commuter and nontraditional student population. I use community detection network methods to characterize pre- and post-course collaborative structure in several sections and consider differences between small and large classes. I will compare these results with expectations from earlier findings, and comment on implications for instruction and further study. |
| Abstract Type: | Contributed Poster Presentation |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Adrienne L. Traxler Wright State University 3460 Colonel Glenn Hwy Dayton, OH 45435 Phone: 937-775-3139 |
