A Survey on Studying the Social Networks of Students

TL;DR

This survey reviews how social network analysis of students' interactions in educational settings can enhance understanding of behavioral dynamics, academic performance, and social phenomena to improve inclusive education and student development.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of research on students' social networks and their applications in educational improvement and behavioral analysis.

Findings

Social networks influence academic and behavioral outcomes.

Analysis helps identify isolated students and community structures.

Findings support inclusive and holistic educational strategies.

Abstract

Do studies show that physical and online students' social networks support education? Analyzing interactions between students in schools and universities can provide a wealth of information. Studies on students' social networks can help us understand their behavioral dynamics, the correlation between their friendships and academic performance, community and group formation, information diffusion, and so on. Educational goals and holistic development of students with various academic abilities and backgrounds can be achieved by incorporating the findings attained by the studies in terms of knowledge propagation in classroom and spread of delinquent behaviors. Moreover, we use Social Network Analysis (SNA) to identify isolated students, ascertain the group study culture, analyze the spreading of various habits like smoking, drinking, and so on. In this paper, we present a review of the research showing how analysis of students' social networks can help us identify how improved educational methods can be used to make learning more inclusive at both school and university levels and achieve holistic development of students through expansion of their social networks, as well as control the spread of delinquent behaviors.