Effects of Social Network on Students’ Performance: A Web-Based Forum Study in Taiwan

Abstract

This research investigates the effects of social networks on students’ performance in online education which uses networking as an adjunct mode for enhancing traditional face-to-face education or distance education. Using data from a 40-student course on Advanced Management Information Systems (AMIS), we empirically tested how social networks (friendly, advising, and adversarial) related to students’ performance. First, advising network variables are positively related to student performance both in the class and on the forum. Adversarial variables are negatively correlated with almost all students’performance. Second, advising and adversarial network variables are good determinants for overall academic performance; however, adversarial network variables are not influential on students’ performance on the forum. Friendship network variables are not determinants of students’ performance. Implications for the results are also discussed.

Academic performance and behavioral patterns

“…Here, proximity interactions displayed the strongest correlation among all channels. However, we found weak to moderate positive correlations in all social networks, in agreement with the existing literature [85][86][87][88][89][90].…”

“…Social Interactions. There is a growing interest in the relationship between social interactions (especially online social interactions) and academic performance [3,[74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92]. In the relevant literature there exist two dominant approaches.…”

A Review of Recent Papers on Online Discussion in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

“…Sixty-two papers met these criteria. Twenty papers appeared in the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks: Anderson et al [3], Aviv [4], Aviv et al [7], Biesenbach-Lucas [8], Brown [5], Campos [9], Curtis and Lawson [10], Graddy [11], Koory [12], Kumari [13], Meyer [14], Morse [15], Oliver and Shaw [16], Parker and Gemino [17], Picciano [18], Ross et al [19], Shaw and Pieter [20], Spiceland and Hawkins [21], Vandergrift [22], and Yang and Tang [23]. Nine papers were published in the British Journal of Educational Technology: Angeli, Valanides, and Bonk [24], Carswell et al [25], Collings and Pearce [26], Cunningham-Atkins et al [27], Lindblom-Ylänne and Pihlajamäki [28], Macdonald and Twining [29], Murphy [30], Salmon [31], and Wearmouth et al [32].…”

“…Several of these studies were centered upon case-based inquiry. For example, in Martinez et al [38] pairs of learners proposed a best fit solution for a computer system in a simulated commercial setting, and in Yang and Tang [23] learners worked in teams (usually three people) to prepare a case study on the implementation of a management information system. This approach required groups to set focus questions for other learners and respond to cases set by other teams.…”

“…Not surprisingly, the major point of reference within the sampled literature was education theory and that of social constructivism in particular, e.g., Collings and Pearce [26], Hawkey [45], Kear [35], Lindblom-Ylänne and Pihlajamäki [28], Macdonald and Twining [29], Mackinnon [60], and Maor [60]. The term social constructivism was used in a broad way and implied social interaction and active "meaning making" by learners (e.g., Yang and Tang [23] and Angeli et al [24]) often derived from principles developed by Vygotsky [65]. MacDonald and Twining [29] usefully saw social constructivism as a catchall term to which related concepts such as cooperative and collaborative group work, transactional distance, and community of practice-all of which regularly appeared in the literature-belonged.…”