The use of social network analysis in educational sciences studies

Abstract

Since social networks analysis in education offers valuable insights into social structures and social dynamics that shapes individuals behaviors and information storage and transmission, it has become a hot topic in educational science studies. The aim of this study is to examine the educational sciences studies conducted at higher education level in which social network analysis is used. The studies were analyzed based on journals, years, author countries, number of citations, models, theories, and concepts, research methods and target audience. Content analysis method was used in the study. The reliability of inter-coder agreement was calculated as .88. The findings were categorized under certain themes according to the research questions. According to the results, Internet and Higher Education (n=6) and Computers and Education (n=5) were the journals with the most publications, while 2019 was the year that the most studies (n=12) were conducted. The studies were mostly conducted by authors in the USA. "Seeing' the learning community: An exploration of the development of a resource for monitoring online student networking" was the most cited article. When the underlying models, theories and concepts in the studies were analyzed, six themes emerged: social paradigm, learning environments/tools, learning approaches/methods, feedback/assessment, informal approaches to teaching and individual characteristics. The most frequently used method was quantitative research, and the target group was undergraduate students. The target group size was mostly between 30-60, and convenience sampling was primarily employed for the target group selection. According to the findings and results of the study, suggestions for the use of social network analysis in the field of educational sciences were presented.