Using Social Network Analysis to Evaluate the Functioning of a Class With Multiple Collaborating Groups

Abstract

This study uses Social Network Analysis (SNA) to evaluate the Communities of Practice (CoPs) formed around a multidisciplinary graduate course in which students work in small teams to complete a class project. Each team has an assigned subtask for the larger project. Students must collaborate within teams to produce their designated component and coordinate across teams to integrate the larger project. Coordination and communication within and across teams were done through the Slack platform. We analyzed messages sent on Slack via SNA, allowing us to evaluate the class participation, communication, and interaction. In this analysis, we identified the three types of group-group interactions described by CoP theory: overlaps, boundary practices, and peripheral connections. We also used the message dates to analyze how group-group interactions and communication changed throughout the course. Researchers can use this methodology to analyze and evaluate courses with multiple collaborating groups and instructors to monitor and improve their classes.