PERC 2016 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | CourseNetworking and community: Linking online discussion networks and course success |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | We report on connections between student participation in an online course forum and their grades in an introductory physics class. Discussions started before the semester, ended after finals, and continued well beyond the level incentivized by extra credit. We collect all posts and replies and construct a bipartite network of actors (students) and events (threads) in the forum. The actor projection of this two-mode network is a weighted representation of students' mutual participation in discussion threads, and shows whether they are central or peripheral participants in the semester-long discussion community. We look for significant links between network centrality and final grades, as part of a larger investigation of the CourseNetworking software as an online community-building tool. These questions are especially relevant for institutions with many commuter and non-traditional students, where asynchronous forum talk is a key way for students to engage with their peers outside of class time. |
| Abstract Type: | Symposium Poster |
| Parallel Session: | Network Analysis in Physics Education Research |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Adrienne L. Traxler Wright State University 3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy Department of Physics Dayton, OH 45435 |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Andy Gavrin and Rebecca Lindell |
Invited Presentation | |
| Invited Presentation: | Download the Invited Presentation |
