Social Networking as a Platform for Role-Playing Scientific Case Studies

Abstract

This work discusses the design and implementation of two online case studies in a face-to-face general chemistry course. The case studies were integrated into the course to emphasize the need for science literacy in general society, to enhance critical thinking, to introduce database searching, and to improve primary literature reading skills. An online social networking platform was chosen to take advantage of commonly used modes of conversation in the young adult population. Facebook was selected as the case study platform because of its functionality, popularity, and group capabilities. Details on the execution of the case studies on Facebook and corresponding student feedback are included.

Is Facebook still a suitable technology‐enhanced learning environment? An updated critical review of the literature from 2012 to 2015

“…In a similar vein, several authors reported that the use of Facebook as an LMS had the potential to engage students even in out‐of‐class discussion with instructors and to increase student motivation, peer learning and feedback (Albayrak & Yildirim, ; Bariş & Tosun, ; Geyer, ; Karal et al, ; Miron & Ravid, ; Musa et al, ; O'Bannon, Beard, & Britt, ; O'Bannon, Britt, & Beard, ; Omar, Embi, & Yunus, ; Öztürk, ; Rachtam, Kaewkitipong, & Firpo, ; Rubrico & Hashim, ; Shih, ; Shraim, ; Souleles, ; Staines & Lauchs, ; Stankov, Glavinić, & Krpan, ; Varol, ; Vincent & Weber, ; Wang, Leng, & Lee, ).…”

“…More than one‐third of the studies ( N = 26; 37.7%) leveraged on the opportunity to mix instructional content with information and resources, generated in outside settings and disseminated through different platforms (Akbari et al, ; Albayrak & Yildirim, ; Alias et al, ; Dogoriti et al, ; Geyer, ; Hurt et al, ; Karal et al, ; Kent, ; Lin et al, ; Miller, ; Omar et al, ; Öztürk, ; Parmaxi & Zaphiris, ; Penman & Thalluri, ; Prichard, ; Rachtam et al, ; Rambe, , , ; Shraim, ; Singh, ; Wang et al, ; Wang et al, ; Wang & Vasquez, ; Yen et al, ; Yunus et al, ).…”

“…Only six studies (8.7%) took advantage of the expertise of external contributors including peers, such as students of a higher level of knowledge and skills in a domain, and professionals (Geyer, ; Penman & Thalluri, ; Rambe, , , ; Karal et al, ).…”

Chemical Anthropomorphism: Acting Out General Chemistry Concepts in Social Media Videos Facilitates Student-Centered Learning and Public Engagement

“…Early adopters of social media in the chemistry classroom primarily utilized YouTube as a vehicle for students to make or watch videos that explain chemical concepts, real-world phenomena using chemical principles, [6][7][8][9] lab techniques and lab experiments, [10][11][12][13][14] and even music videos with chemistry-themed lyrics. 15,16 Newer social media apps such Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok have been utilized to create study aids 17,18 and case study activities 19 , and videos based on the academic research experience 20 or at-home experiments. 21 In this Article, we find that videos based on chemical anthropomorphism-where students physically act out chemical principles, concepts, and behaviors-are particularly potent agents for both student-centered learning and public engagement of chemistry.…”

Research trends in social network sites’ educational use: a review of publications in all SSCI journals to 2015

“…The most frequently used SNS in the studies was Facebook (34%). The most important reason for the selection of Facebook is its popularity (Hargittai, ; Cain et al ., ; Madge et al ., ; Kabilan et al ., ; Wang et al ., ; Geyer, ). Other reasons include Facebook's functionality (Lawson et al ., ; Geyer, ), its suitability for collaborative activities (Lampe et al ., ), its facilitation of communication and interaction (Shih, ), students’ familiarity with it (Dabner, ), and its usability as an LMS (Wang et al ., ).…”