PERC 2021 Abstract Detail Page
Previous Page | New Search | Browse All
| Abstract Title: | What students gain outside the classroom: Using Social Network Analysis to understand the role of affinity-based professional groups |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | Student chapters of affinity-based, professional societies provide students from minoritized and marginalized groups with a number of benefits, including an opportunity to network with other students who share socio-demographic identities and disciplinary interests. When these programs provide summer bridging opportunities for students transitioning into college, it is especially helpful to first year students who might otherwise know few, if any, of their peers at the beginning of their collegiate journey. This may ease the transition to college for students who are underrepresented at the institution due to their sociocultural and sociopolitical identities. In particular, research suggests that peer relationships are important for first-generation college students and students identifying as African American or Hispanic/Latinx (Martin, 2015; AIP TEAM-UP, 2020). In our study, we investigated the relationship between participation in student chapters of affinity-based, professional societies and centrality in a classroom network. In our first data set, centrality is based on student interactions with their peers as reported by students in a survey administered at the end of the second semester of a two-semester sequence introductory physics course for engineering students. In the second data set - collected during a different academic year - centrality was based on student reports of which of their classmates they knew by name in the second week of the first semester of a two-semester sequence introductory physics course. We found that in both cases, students who participated in affinity-based professional societies had higher centrality measures. Additionally, we examined the relationship between centrality and course performance as determined by final course grade. Preliminary results will be presented. |
| Abstract Type: | Contributed Poster Presentation |
| Session Time: | Poster Session 2 Room D |
| Poster Number: | 2D-20 |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Liam McDermott Rutgers University Highland Park, NJ 08904 Phone: 7326741294 |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Geraldine Cochran, Rutgers University |
