A Social Network Analysis of Engineering Faculty Connections: Their Impact on Faculty Student-Centered Attitudes and Practices

Connections among faculty who might be potential resources for diffusion of learner-centered practices across STEM departments were examined at a major research university. Specifically, the research assessed the impact of these connections on learner-centered beliefs among faculty and the implement...

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Published inEducation sciences Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 108 - 121
Main Authors Middleton, James A., Krause, Stephen, Judson, Eugene, Ross, Lydia, Culbertson, Robert, Hjelmstad, Keith D., Hjelmstad, Kara L., Chen, Ying-Chih
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.02.2022
Subjects
Attitudes
Collaboration
College Faculty
Educational Improvement
Educational Sociology
Engineering
Faculty Development
first-year programs
Hypotheses
Innovations
Learning
Learning Strategies
Mathematics Achievement
Outcomes of Education
Pedagogy
Professional Development
Social network analysis
Social Networks
STEM Education
Student Centered Learning
Students
Teacher Attitudes
Teacher Collaboration
Teaching
Teaching Methods
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Summary:Connections among faculty who might be potential resources for diffusion of learner-centered practices across STEM departments were examined at a major research university. Specifically, the research assessed the impact of these connections on learner-centered beliefs among faculty and the implementation of learner-centered practices across the network. Participants were recruited from Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics departments, and from departments in the College of Engineering. A snowball sampling procedure began with 21 randomly selected faculty from each department engaged in the STEM instruction of engineering students. These faculties then identified the colleagues they utilize as resources for improving their instruction. Characteristics of faculty connectedness in the network consisted of number of connections and depth of connections for both individual faculty and within and across departments. Outcome measures consisted of a survey of learner-centered attitudes and classroom observations of faculty instructional practices. The results show that faculty exhibiting more learner-centered behaviors had deeper and more extensive social networks than their peers who were more instructor-centered. The results are discussed in terms of the need for intra- and inter-departmental faculty professional development experiences that build and support collaborative organizations of faculty working together to transform early engineering experiences.
ISSN:2227-7102
2227-7102
DOI:10.3390/educsci12020108