Idle chatter or compelling conversation? The potential of the social media-based #NGSSchat network for supporting science education reform efforts

Abstract

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) chat (#NGSSchat) is a social media-based professional network used to discuss topics related to the NGSS in the United States. While successful reforms involve and coordinate the work of multiple stakeholders, recent research points out a striking lack of coordination between the individuals working in different educational roles—to the detriment of intended changes in the system. In this study, we analyzed more than 7,000 posts from individuals participating in #NGSSchat on Twitter (n = 247) during two years of one-hour synchronous discussions. We studied the depth and types of conversations that took place, the extent to which the involvement of teachers, administrators, researchers, and organizations was balanced, and what explains participation in the network over time. Using a mixed-methods approach involving social network analysis, we found that conversations were primarily transactional, or social, and substantive, or providing opportunities for sense-making about the standards and for participants to transform their practice and that individuals from diverse roles participated, with teachers comprising the plurality of those involved. Additionally, researchers, administrators, and teachers were the most active in the network, with no differences in both initiating, or sending, and being the recipients of, or receiving, replies as a part of conversations. Finally, we found that being a teacher or administrator, as well as receiving replies from individuals who were important in the network, were positively related to sustained involvement in the network in the following year. We discuss how #NGSSchat—as a social media-based professional network—demonstrates similar features in other effective networks, and how social media-based networks invite new visions for how to implement ambitious, large-scale changes in science education.

Understanding Public Sentiment About Educational Reforms: The Next Generation Science Standards on Twitter

“…Notably, the #NGSSchat community on Twitter was initiated in 2012 as a professional learning network focused on the NGSS (Shelton & Ende, 2015), and this informal professional learning community has been a consistent feature of the broader landscape in which the NGSS was adopted and implemented through the present. Prior research has shown that #NGSSchat is a robust network (Carpenter et al, 2020) that functions like other, traditional networks, by facilitating substantive interactions among individuals in different professional roles (i.e., researchers, administrators, and teachers; Rosenberg, Reid, et al, 2020), and that networks on social media may play a role for teachers' professional development, and thus relations to their teaching practice (Fischer et al, 2019;Rosenberg, Reid, et al, 2020). Thus, professional networks organized around professional organizations may have supported the implementation of the NGSS and the #NGSSchat community may have shaped the conversation around the standards.…”

#Mathathome during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring and Reimagining Resources and Social Supports for Parents

“…Findings suggest that YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest, followed by Twitter are platforms that parents already use, and which therefore may be suitable targets for such invitations. Failing to involve parents may contribute to conversations about the evolution of mathematics education taking place without their input, as teachers and others increasingly use social media as a space for engaging in discussions about educational change and transformation efforts [52]. Additionally, continuing to talk at, rather than with, parents, in spaces like Twitter can be compared to how teachers withhold physical resources (e.g., textbooks) from Black families with low-income backgrounds due to racial stereotypes about families' interest in parental engagement and ability to care for materials [11].…”

What do COVID-19 Tweets Reveal about Public Engagement with Nature of Science?

“…Large-scale studies, like the one attempted in this study, have the advantage of exploring general trends but may not allow further scrutiny. Studies of dedicated chat sites permit the mapping of knowledge growth within prescribed social networks (as in Rosenberg et al, 2020 study), and allow for planned interventions, in-depth analysis, and follow-up.…”

“…A recent study in science education examined biweekly conversations taking place during one-hour synchronous sessions over a 2-year period (2014–2015 and 2015–2016) on #NGSSChat, a Twitter professional network site (Rosenberg et al, 2020 ). Using a mixed-method and social network analysis, Rosenberg and Colleagues noted how different conversations (transactional, sensemaking, and transformational) pertaining to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013 ) were distributed among participants.…”