Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This article presents an experiential exercise where students learn the basics of social network analysis, relate social networks to social capital, and analyze their own networks in the classroom. Instructors of all types of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels can use this activity to teach students about social networks and build a greater sense of community in the classroom. This article provides instructions for collecting students’ social network data, teaching students about social networks as the basis for social capital, guiding students through basic social network analyses, and facilitating a discussion about ways to increase social capital for individuals and collectives. While engaging in this activity, students have opportunities to interact with other students and build high-quality relationships. In doing so, this exercise can facilitate a greater sense of community in the classroom, enrich the social capital for the collective, and promote students’ learning.

Keywords

social network analysis social capital collaborative learning measuring classroom cohesiveness learning communities classroom exercises MBA

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adler

P. S.

Kwon

S. W.

(2002). Social capital: Prospects for a new concept. Academy of Management Review, 27(1), 17-40.

Arbaugh

J. B.

Benbunhan-Fich

(2006). An investigation of epistemological and social dimensions of teaching in online learning environments. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 5, 435-447.

Borgatti

S. P.

(2002). Netdraw: Network visualization software. Harvard, MA: Analytic Technologies.

Borgatti

S. P.

Everett

M. G.

Freeman

L. C.

(2002). Ucinet for Windows. Natick, MA: Analytic Technologies.

Borgatti

S. P.

Molina

J. L.

(2003). Ethical and strategic issues in organizational social network analysis. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 39, 337-349.

Burt

(1992). Structural holes: The social structure of competition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Coleman

(1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95-S120.

Coleman

(1990). Foundations of social theory. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Dumont

R. A.

(1996). Teaching and learning in cyberspace. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 39, 192-204.

10.

Dutton

(2003). Energize your workplace: Building high quality connections at work. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

11.

Gargiulo

Benassi

(1999). The dark side of social capital. In Leenders

R. T. A. J.

Gabbay

S. M.

(Eds.), Corporate social capital and liability (pp. 298-322). Boston, MA: Springer.

12.

Granovetter

(1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1360-1380.

13.

Granovetter

(1974). Getting a job. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

14.

Granovetter

(1983). The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited. Sociological Theory, 1, 201-223.

15.

Konrad

A. M.

Seidel

M. D.

Bhardwaj

Qureshi

(2015). Variety, dissimilarity, and status centrality in MBA networks: Is the minority or the majority more likely to network across diversity? Academy of Management Learning and Education, 16(3). doi:10.5465/amle.2015.0256

16.

Lin

Laffey

(2008). Building a social and motivational framework for understanding satisfaction in online learning. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 38(1), 1-27.

17.

Methot

Lepine

Podsakoff

Christian

(2016). Are workplace friendships a mixed blessing? Exploring tradeoffs of multiplex relationships and their associations with job performance. Personnel Psychology, 69, 311-355.

18.

McPherson

J. M.

Smith-Lovin

Cook

J. M.

(2001). Birds of a feather: Homphily in social networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 415-444.

19.

Oldroyd

J. B.

Morris

S. S.

(2012). Catching falling stars: A human resource response to social capital’s detrimental effect of information overload on star employees. Academy of Management Review, 37, 396-418.

20.

Putnam

(1995). Tuning in and tuning out: The strange disappearance of social capital in America. Political Science & Politics, 28, 664-683.

21.

Rovai

(2002). Development of an instrument to measure classroom community. Internet and Higher Education, 5, 197-211.

22.

Shedletsky

L. J.

Aitken

J. L.

(2001). The paradoxes of online academic work. Communication Education, 50, 206-217.

23.

Swan

(2002). Building learning communities in online courses: The importance of interaction. Education Communication & Information, 2(1), 23-49.

24.

Wasserman

Faust

(1994). Social network analysis: Methods and applications. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.38 MB

0.02 MB

3.98 MB

Using Social Network Analysis in the Classroom: An Experiential Activity and Tool to Enhance a Sense of Community

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material