Temporal Network Analysis of Small Group Discourse

ikit.org

Abstract: In the classroom, the knowledge building is represented as emergent collaborative learning on ill-structured tasks. It is difficult to capture group dynamics of knowledge advancement by using our currently available methodological approaches. The study is aimed at developing the network structure analysis of discourse for capturing such a dynamics. We analyzed discourse from two groups of secondary school students that were engaged in different modes of collaborative learning, knowledge-sharing and knowledge- ...

ETS Research Report Series, 2017

In this paper, we examine the student group discussion processes in a scenario‐based assessment of engineering professional skills called Engineering Professional Skills Assessment (EPSA). In the assessment, the students were evaluated through a discussion on a scenario related to an engineering problem with no clear‐cut solution. We applied various social network analysis (SNA) techniques and constructed 2 types of networks to model the patterns of the communication process in the student discussion and the connections among engineering professional skills (EPS) during the discussion process. We found that some network statistics were statistically related to team scores (or performance), such as the density of the EPS networks. We also investigated the temporal pattern of the discussion process by comparing the network statistics across 3 different time points. Results showed that the middle and end of the discussion processes differed significantly on 2 network measures: communic...

2011

Abstract: In this paper, we explore a number of techniques for two-dimensional visualisation of temporal social network data, with the goal of providing feedback on the group dynamics of government planning workshops. These techniques include the use of position and colour for displaying temporal information, as in colour-coded bar charts or sequence diagrams.

International Journal of Research & Method in Education

The Journal of Experimental Education, 2019

Research around problem solving in collaborative groups has made progress, but several conceptual and methodological issues remain. These issues include the appropriate choices of units of analysis; the ability of current theoretical sets of macrocognition codes to capture group dynamics; detection and identification of potentially emergent phenomena within groups; and the extent to which multiple dynamics are integral to understanding groups. Using data from a complex engineering challenge, we applied methods drawn from complex-systems analysis to offer insight into each of these issues, showing the need for multiple dimensions when studying group dynamics and highlighting methodological difficulties when dealing with emergent phenomena. We suggest future research to improve the understanding of the complex dynamics of collaborative groups.

The aim of this study was to examine and model changes in communication network structures during online discussions in a virtual course at the university level. Two small groups of Finnish students (N=46) from different universities attended a national virtual course concerning a specific topic in the history of science. The course assignment consisted of participating into seven different discussion topics using Optima, an asynchronous learning environment. The discussions were used to examine communication networks during the course. Social network analysis techniques were used to explore communication networks and changes in these networks at structural and dyadic levels in four discrete time points with the effects of degree, reciprocity, transitivity and 3-cycles modeled by using the conditional method of moments. The results of the study suggest that during a virtual course the participants tend to form subgroups and hierarchical structures as in the same way as any other social community.

Journal of Latin American Communication Research, 2011

This article analyses an experience in collaborative learning in an asynchronous writing environment through discussion forums on a WebCt platform of the University of Huelva’s virtual campus, and was part of an innovative teaching project in 2007-08. The main objectives are to describe the processes of collaborative knowledge construction and the relevance of many-to-many communication in collective case resolution in asynchronous writing contexts. Two cases were selected for the experience, and two analytical approaches were adopted: discourse analysis and social network analysis. The results show that in the Case A group, where speech occurrence was less prevalent, the social network analysis markers show considerable cohesion and low levels of network centrality. By contrast, speech prevalence was greater in the Case B group and the network centrality markers were higher, although the group was less cohesive. These results lead to the hypothesis that many-to-many communication is more important in collective knowledge generation processes than dyadic or triadic communication.

Software Designers in Action: A Human-Centric Look at Design Work, 2013

In this chapter, we explore the use of network analysis in the understanding of conversations. Network analysis has often focused on the social structure of groups and on how individual people connect to others (otherwise known as social network analysis). In this exploratory study, we do not look at a person’s social network, instead we look at the interrelationships of objects (within conversations) with each other. To do this with professional software design activities, the actors in question are not the designers themselves but the objects that are referred to (such as the “car” or the “intersection”). Essentially, we have taken the techniques of social network analysis and applied them to nonhuman objects that are the references that software designers make. We do this with the same intent with which a social network study would try to understand social group behaviors, as we aim to appreciate the groupings of conversational objects. We attempt this approach because of an underlying belief that communication patterns are intertwined with that which is produced (Herbsleb and Grinter, 1999) and that dialog is embedded within code (Mahendran, 2002). Previous studies of design practice as it takes place have shown that conversations that revolve around objects during the early stages of design reveal insights that help the participants’ understanding of the design problem (Luck and McDonnell, 2006). Moreover, the analysis of designer-to-designer conversations has been shown to be an appropriate method of analysis for revealing spoken interactional behaviors around the use of objects, as well as revealing knowledge that is embedded in the objects themselves (Luck, 2007). Dong et al. (2005) have shown that designers articulate their individual knowledge and design perspectives through language when they are expressing their concepts that enable the design team to bridge the relations among object ideas stored in each designer’s mind. Lawson and Loke (1997) go further when they state that more work needs to be done on how we hold conversations about design. They suggest that we should concentrate less on pictures and more on words. Subsequently, Lawson (2004) has suggested that to understand design expertise, we need to recognize that design practice includes the roles of teams, communication, and shared experiences and understandings, and research needs to concentrate on conversations and memories as much as on drawings.

Dr. Kathleen Quardokus Fisher is a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University. She is currently participating in a project that supports the use of evidence-based instructional practices in undergraduate STEM courses through developing communities of practice. Her research interests focus on understanding how organizational change occurs in higher education with respect to teaching and learning in STEM courses.

Journal of Science Education and Technology, 2019

According to the National Research Council, the ability to collaboratively solve problems is of the utmost importance in scientific careers, yet students are not exposed to learning experiences that promote such expertise. Recent studies have found that interdependent roles used within collaborative mobile games are an effective way to scaffold collaborative problem solving. School Scene Investigators: The Case of the Mystery Powder, a collaborative mobile game, incorporated interdependent roles in order to foster collaborative problem solving and promote scientific practice. Using epistemic network analysis (ENA), this study examined the conversational discourse of game teams to determine what connections exist between communication responses, language style, and scientific practice. Data included audio transcripts of three teams that played through the game. Transcripts were qualitatively coded for five types of scientific practice aligned to the National Research Council framework for K-12 science education, three types of communication responses (accept/discuss/reject), and an emergent language style (communal). ENA revealed that students developed scientific practices during gameplay. ENA also identified engaged communication responses and communal language style as two types of collaborative discourse used within School Scene Investigators: The Case of the Mystery Powder that fostered key linkages to effective data analysis and interpretation.