Study Habits and Attainment in Undergraduate Mathematics: A Social Network Analysis

Alcock, Lara; Hernandez-Martinez, Paul; Patel, Arun Godwin; Sirl, David

Abstract

In this paper, we argue that although mathematics educators are concerned about social issues, minimal attention has been paid to student-student interactions outside the classroom. We discuss social network analysis (SNA) as a methodology for studying such interactions in the context of an undergraduate course. We present results on the questions: Who studies with whom? What are students' study habits, and are these systematically related to the habits of those with whom they interact? Do individual and collaborative study habits predict attainment? We discuss the implications of these findings for research on undergraduate learning and on social issues in mathematics education, suggesting that SNA may provide a bridge between mathematics education researchers who focus on cognitive and on social issues.

Citation

Alcock, L., Hernandez-Martinez, P., Patel, A. G., & Sirl, D. (2020). Study Habits and Attainment in Undergraduate Mathematics: A Social Network Analysis. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 51(1), 26–49. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.2019.0006

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 2, 2018
• Publication Date: 2020-01
• Deposit Date: Sep 11, 2018
• Electronic ISSN: 1945-2306
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 51
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 26–49
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.2019.0006
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1068866
• Publisher URL: https://pubs.nctm.org/view/journals/jrme/51/1/article-p26_1.xml