Students' Network Integration as a Predictor of Persistence in Introductory Physics Courses

Autor/inn/en	Zwolak, Justyna P.; Dou, Remy; Williams, Eric A.; Brewe, Eric
Titel	Students' Network Integration as a Predictor of Persistence in Introductory Physics Courses
Quelle	In: Physical Review Physics Education Research, 13 (2017) 1, S.010113-1 (14 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2469-9896
DOI	10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010113
Schlagwörter	Physics; Introductory Courses; School Holding Power; Academic Persistence; Predictor Variables; Network Analysis; Social Networks; Undergraduate Students; Models; Graduation Rate; STEM Education; Regression (Statistics); Florida (Miami) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Physik; Einführungskurs; Prädiktor; Netzplantechnik; Social network; Soziales Netzwerk; Analogiemodell; STEM; Regression; Regressionsanalyse
Abstract	Increasing student retention (successfully finishing a particular course) and persistence (continuing through a sequence of courses or the major area of study) is currently a major challenge for universities. While students' academic and social integration into an institution seems to be vital for student retention, research into the effect of interpersonal interactions is rare. We use network analysis as an approach to investigate academic and social experiences of students in the classroom. In particular, centrality measures identify patterns of interaction that contribute to integration into the university. Using these measures, we analyze how position within a social network in a Modeling Instruction (MI) course--an introductory physics course that strongly emphasizes interactive learning--predicts their persistence in taking a subsequent physics course. Students with higher centrality at the end of the first semester of MI are more likely to enroll in a second semester of MI. Moreover, we found that chances of successfully predicting individual student's persistence based on centrality measures are fairly high--up to 75%, making the centrality a good predictor of persistence. These findings suggest that increasing student social integration may help in improving persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01