Investigating Student Communities with Network Analysis of Interactions in a Physics Learning Center

TL;DR

This study uses social network analysis to quantify and visualize student interactions in a physics learning center, demonstrating that collaborative space fosters community without gender or ethnicity bias.

Contribution

It applies social network analysis to characterize student interactions and roles, revealing equitable participation and the importance of collaborative spaces in a physics learning community.

Findings

Gender and ethnicity do not significantly predict participation.

Collaborative spaces are vital for community formation.

The learning community is equitable across demographic groups.

Abstract

Developing a sense of community among students is one of the three pillars of an overall reform effort to increase participation in physics, and the sciences more broadly, at Florida International University. The emergence of a research and learning community, embedded within a course reform effort, has contributed to increased recruitment and retention of physics majors. Finn and Rock [1] link the academic and social integration of students to increased rates of retention. We utilize social network analysis to quantify interactions in Florida International University's Physics Learning Center (PLC) that support the development of academic and social integration,. The tools of social network analysis allow us to visualize and quantify student interactions, and characterize the roles of students within a social network. After providing a brief introduction to social network analysis, we use sequential multiple regression modeling to evaluate factors which contribute to participation in the learning community. Results of the sequential multiple regression indicate that the PLC learning community is an equitable environment as we find that gender and ethnicity are not significant predictors of participation in the PLC. We find that providing students space for collaboration provides a vital element in the formation of supportive learning community.