Analysis of Online Collaboration among Undergraduate Engineering Technology Students in Green Energy Manufacturing

Abstract

Drexel and serves as a consultant for the US Department of Education DHSIP project-Fusing Green Energy into Manufacturing Engineering Education to Cultivate a Technical Success and Leadership Excellence Among Hispanic Engineering Students. In particular, she aids in the development and organization of a secure, web-based forum for student engagement for this project. Dr. Ruane's pedagogical and research interests include online learning, computer-mediated communication, computer supported collaborative learning, information exchange in online learning environments, online communities, communities of practice and practice fields, social network analysis, collaboration, peer mentoring, situated learning, curriculum theory and development. Dr. Ruane earned her doctorate from Drexel University in Educational Leadership and Learning Technologies in 2012. She completed her Master of Arts degree in Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University and her baccalaureate degree at Villanova University, where she studied education and philosophy. Dr. Ruane presents nationally and internationally on blended and online education, particularly online peer mentoring. This past April, Dr. Ruane presented her research at the American Educational Research Association's Annual Meeting.

Social Network Platforms in Educational Settings: A Network Analysis Approach to Analyze Online Student Interactions

“…This is because we believe that the instructor has a better insight on the weekly progress of students and their understanding of the subject based on which appropriate discussion boards can be initiated. Discussion on student class projects were also encouraged and observed in this group 11 . Interactions of the enrolled students in the Facebook group over the semester emerged into a student centric academic interaction network.…”

“…As a first step towards analyzing student interactions, some of the topics discussed upon in the group were 11 In order to map a network at the conclusion of the semester based on the discussions, posts, and comments observed in the group by both the students and moderators, Netvizz® a data extraction tool was used to extract data from Facebook group. This data was then imported into Gephi® software, an interactive network visualization platform.…”