SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS (SNA) IS BECOMING A POPULAR THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROXIMATION FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHERS. SNA ENABLES A DEEP EXPLORATION OF LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT AS A BY-PRODUCT OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS. RESEARCH FINDINGS FROM SOCIAL NETWORKS FOR CREATIVITY HAS FOUND SPECIFIC SOCIAL STRUCTURES THAT EASE KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AND THE EMERGENCE OF CREATIVE IDEAS IN A VARIETY OF CONTEXTS. THIS WORK LINKS THE RESEARCH FINDINGS IN SOCIAL NETWORKS AND CREATIVITY WITH EDUCATION AND CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES, TO PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FROM WHICH TO UNDERSTAND SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN THE CLASSROOM AND TO INFORM EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. BY CONCEPTUALIZING LEARNING AND PROBLEM SOLVING AS THE CREATIVE OUTCOME OF BOTH COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL PROCESSES, THIS PAPER DESCRIBES HOW DIFFERENT FORMS OF COLLABORATION AND SOCIAL STRUCTURES MIGHT EMERGE BASED ON TEACHING AND LEARNING PRACTICES ENACTED IN THE CLASSROOM THROUGH THE LENS OF SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS. IN ADDITION, ATTENTION TO THE CLASSROOM NETWORK SHOULD INFORM TEACHERS ON AREAS FOR PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION. SUBSEQUENTLY, I PROPOSE GUIDELINES ON HOW TO ADVANCE PEDAGOGICAL DECISION-MAKING FOR LEARNING AND CREATIVITY BASED UPON STUDENTS? SOCIAL NETWORKS. THIS WORK IS DESIGNED TO FACILITATE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FOR EDUCATORS AND RESEARCHERS TO MAKE EVIDENCE-BASED DECISIONS IN THE PURSUIT OF CREATIVITY IN THE CLASSROOM.

THIS CHAPTER ADDRESSES THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING PROGRAMS THAT INTEGRATE STEM CONTENT THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN MULTIPLE EDUCATION SECTORS. STEM PARTNERSHIPS INCLUDE AT LEAST TWO STEM DISCIPLINES AND AT LEAST TWO INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED IN PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION. THE FIRST PART OF THE CHAPTER ISOLATES THREE KEY DECISION POINTS: OUTCOME GOALS, PARTNERS, AND STEM TOPICS, AND TACKLES EACH THROUGH MULTIPLE MODELS FOR HOW DISCIPLINES ARE INTEGRATED, AND MODELS FOR HOW INSTITUTIONS COORDINATE THEIR WORK TOGETHER. WE ILLUSTRATE THE VARIED WAYS THESE MODELS WORK TOGETHER WITH EXAMPLES OF STEM PARTNERSHIPS IN PRACTICE AND CLOSE BY DISCUSSING HOW PARTNERSHIPS FORM AND EVOLVE.

SOCIAL LEARNING, THE ABILITY TO PERCEIVE, INTERPRET, AND ASSESS THE BEHAVIOR OF ONE?S PEERS, IS CRUCIAL FOR FORMING MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS AND SUCCEEDING IN VARIOUS LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. YET, THE RISE OF ONLINE AND HYBRID SETTINGS POSES NEW CHALLENGES TO SOCIALIZATION. HERE, WE STUDY THE SOCIAL INTERACTIONS AMONG 191 HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICS STUDENTS IN CHILE, COMPARING ONLINE AND HYBRID CLASSROOMS THAT WERE ASSIGNED IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC CONTEXT. WE FOUND THAT STUDENTS IN HYBRID SETTINGS WERE MORE CONNECTED AND MORE LIKELY TO FORM CASUAL RELATIONSHIPS OUTSIDE THEIR IMMEDIATE FRIEND GROUPS, WHICH ALLOWED THEM TO GATHER NEW INFORMATION FROM DIVERSE SOURCES. ALONG THE SAME LINES, IN ONLINE CLASSROOMS, STUDENTS WHO EXCELLED IN PHYSICS OCCUPIED MORE CENTRAL POSITIONS IN SOCIAL NETWORKS. THIS TREND WAS NOT EVIDENT IN HYBRID SETTINGS, SUGGESTING THAT WHEN SOCIAL CUES ARE LIMITED, ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE GAINS GREATER IMPORTANCE IN ESTABLISHING SOCIAL HIERARCHIES AND POTENTIALLY LIMITING ACCESS TO DIVERSE INFORMATION. OUR STUDY HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS AND RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT THE IMPACT OF RELATIONAL INACCESSIBILITY ON VIRTUAL LEARNING.

THE PRESENT RESEARCH EVALUATES THE USE OF COGNITIVE STRATEGIES IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WITH THE AIM OF ESTABLISHING THE COGNITIVE PROFILE OF FRESHMEN CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS IN UNIVERSIDAD DEL BÍO BÍO, CONCEPCIÓN, CHILE, AS A FUNCTION OF THEIR LEARNING STRATEGIES AND SCIENTIFIC REASONING. IT’S EXPECTED TO OBTAIN A WAY TO CLASSIFY STUDENTS DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF LEARNING THEY SHOW ONCE ENTERING UNIVERSITY, AND DETERMINE A MODEL TO PREDICT ACADEMIC SUCCESS. THIS MODEL WOULD ALLOW US ANALYZE THE CONDITIONS WHICH CHARACTERIZED STUDENTS WHO SUCCEED AND FAILED IN THE SUBJECT PHYSICS I AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER. FINALLY, IT’S EXPECTED DELIVER RECOMMENDATIONS AND ADVICES TO CREATE NEW INTERVENTION PROGRAMS FOR DEVELOPING THE ACCEPTABLE LEARNING STRATEGIES IN ORDER TO BUILD MEANINGFUL LEARNINGS AND ACHIEVE ACADEMIC SUCCESS. THE RESULTS SHOW THAT A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF FRESHMEN STUDENTS PRESENT CONDITIONS FOR: 1. MECHANICAL LEARNING (MCHL) AND CONCRETE REASONING; AND 2. STRATEGIC LEARNING (SL) AND PRE-FORMAL REASONING, THUS LOW PROBABILITIES FOR ACHIEVING ACADEMIC SUCCESS. IN CONSEQUENCE, ONLY A LOW PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS SHOW CONDITIONS FOR MEANINGFUL LEARNING (ML) AND FORMAL REASONING, AND THEREFORE, REACH GOD SCORES IN PHYSICS I.

COOPERATION AND BULLYING HAVE A SUBTLE YET IMPORTANT INTERACTION THAT INFLUENCES THE SOCIAL DYNAMICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOMS. WE INVESTIGATE THIS INTERPLAY IN A LARGE SAMPLE OF 1112 STUDENTS ACROSS 47 PUBLIC PRIMARY CLASSROOMS IN CHILE. USING A VIDEO GAME INTERFACE TO CREATE A DYADIC, NON-ANONYMOUS SOCIAL DILEMMA, WE MAP THE COOPERATIVE SOCIAL NETWORK WITHIN EACH CLASSROOM. IN ADDITION, WE COLLECT PEER NOMINATION DATA AND USE THE ILLINOIS BULLYING SCALE TO CATEGORIZE STUDENTS AS BULLIES, VICTIMS, OR BULLY VICTIMS. OUR RESULTS INDICATE THAT LOW LEVELS OF RECEIVED COOPERATION SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF STUDENTS BEING IDENTIFIED WITH THE DUAL ROLE OF BOTH BULLY AND VICTIM, KNOWN AS THE BULLY-VICTIM PROFILE. THIS NEGATIVE RELATIONSHIP REMAINS ROBUST EVEN AFTER CONTROLLING FOR DEMOGRAPHIC AND CLASSROOM CONTEXT VARIABLES USING MULTILEVEL REGRESSION MODELS AND IS CONSISTENT WHEN EMPLOYING CAUSAL INFERENCE TECHNIQUES SUCH AS STATISTICAL MATCHING. WE PROPOSE THAT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RECEIVED COOPERATION AND THE BULLY-VICTIM PROFILE STEMS FROM THE CAPACITY OF RECEIVED COOPERATION TO CAPTURE KEY FACTORS INFLUENCING SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AMONG STUDENTS, SUCH AS POPULARITY, PROSOCIALITY, GPA, AND AGGRESSIVENESS. OUR STUDY CONTRIBUTES TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN INTERACTION IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS AND IT OFFERS A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR TARGETED INTERVENTIONS IN PRIMARY EDUCATION, PROVIDING INSIGHTS FOR FUTURE EDUCATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES.

THE PRESENT WORK AIMS TO SHARE THE EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS THAT ARISE WHEN IMPLEMENTING A PROGRAM OF METHODOLOGICAL RENEWAL, WHICH CONSIDERS THE USE OF CONCEPTUAL MAPS AND GOWIN'S V DIAGRAMS TO TEACH AND LEARN THE CONTENTS OF A GENERAL PHYSICS COURSE FOR FRESHMEN OF THE CIVIL ENGINEERING MAJOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BÍO BÍO IN CONCEPCIÓN, CHILE. THE IMPACT OF THE INTERVENTION PROGRAM ON LEARNING STRATEGIES, INTERESTS AND CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENT AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE ARE ANALYZED. THIS RESEARCH IS QUASI EXPERIMENTAL WITH THREE INDEPENDENTS GROUPS AND PRE AND POST TESTS. THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP WAS INVOLVED WITH ACTIVE METHODOLOGIES AND HEURISTICS (GOWIN'S V AND CONCEPT MAP), WHILE THE CONTROL GROUPS WORKED THROUGH PROBLEM SOLVING GUIDES AND TEACHING ASSISTANTS. THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP OBTAINED BETTER RESULTS IN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND DEVELOPED DEEP PROCESSING STRATEGY

TRADITIONALLY, SCHOLARS IN PHYSICS EDUCATION RESEARCH HAVE FOCUSED ON STUDENTS SOLVING WELL-STRUCTURED LEARNING ACTIVITIES AT THE UNIVERSITY. HOWEVER, DUE TO THEIR CONSTRAINED NATURE, THESE PROBLEMS HINDER COLLABORATION AND IDEA GENERATION. IN ORDER TO ENCOURAGE STUDENT COLLABORATION AND DECISION MAKING DEMANDS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN AN INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS COURSE, WE UTILIZED A REAL-WORLD PROBLEM WHERE GROUPS WERE ASKED TO COMPOSE A WELL-STRUCTURED PHYSICS PROBLEM FOR YOUNGER LEARNERS. IN THIS STUDY WE EXPLORED HOW THEY COLLABORATED IN COMPOSING PHYSICS PROBLEMS. DATA COLLECTION CONSISTED OF AUDIO RECORDING OF THE GROUP DISCUSSIONS WHILE THEY WERE COLLABORATING TO DEVELOP THEIR PHYSICS PROBLEMS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE PROBLEM SOLUTIONS. THROUGH INTERVIEWS, WE ACCESSED PARTICIPANTS PERCEPTIONS OF THE TASK AND RELATED CHALLENGES. RESULTS SUGGEST THAT COMPOSING PROBLEMS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PARTICIPANTS TO PROPOSE IDEAS AND MAKE DECISIONS REGARDING THE GOALS OF THE PROBLEM, CONCEPTS AND PROCEDURES, CONTEXTUAL DETAILS, AND MAGNITUDES AND UNITS TO INTRODUCE IN THEIR ACTIVITIES. FURTHER, PARTICIPANTS VALUED THE OPEN-ENDED NATURE OF THE TASK AND RECOGNIZED ITS BENEFITS IN UTILIZING PHYSICS IDEAS INTO CONTEXT, WHICH IN TURN ENABLED COLLABORATION IN A WAY NOT EXPERIENCED BY THEM WITH TRADITIONAL WELL-STRUCTURED PROBLEMS. THESE FINDINGS SHED LIGHT ON THE NATURE OF COMPOSING PHYSICS PROBLEMS IN UNDERGRADUATE COURSES, WHERE PARTICIPANTS ASSUME A DIFFERENT ROLE BY FACING A REAL-WORLD ACTIVITY THAT ENCOURAGES EXPERTISE THROUGH PHYSICS-RELATED COMMUNICATION AND WRITING.

COLLABORATION AMONG STUDENTS IS FUNDAMENTAL FOR KNOWLEDGE BUILDING AND COMPETENCY DEVELOPMENT. NONETHELESS, THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STUDENT COLLABORATION DEPENDS ON THE EXTENT THAT THESE INTERACTIONS TAKE PLACE UNDER CONDITIONS THAT FAVOR COMMITMENT, TRUST, AND DECISION MAKING AMONG THOSE WHO INTERACT. THE WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC DUE TO COVID-19 AND THE TRANSITION TO EMERGENCY REMOTE TEACHING HAVE ADDED NEW CHALLENGES FOR COLLABORATION, MAINLY BECAUSE NOW STUDENTS? INTERACTIONS ARE WHOLLY MEDIATED BY INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES. THIS STUDY FIRST EXPLORES THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS OVER PERFORMANCE IN PHYSICS FROM A SAMPLE OF SECONDARY STUDENTS FROM TWO SCHOOLS LOCATED IN RURAL AND URBAN AREAS IN SOUTHERN CHILE (EXPLORATORY STUDY). WE USED SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS TO MAP ACADEMIC HIERARCHIES AS IN THE NOMINATIONS FOR PROFICIENT PEERS IN PHYSICS (I.E., PHYSICS PRESTIGE), COLLABORATION, AND FRIENDSHIP TIES. WE DEFINE A STRONG ASSOCIATION IF TWO STUDENTS WHO COLLABORATE SHARED A FRIENDSHIP TIE. USING ORDINARY LEAST SQUARES MULTIPLE LINEAR REGRESSION MODELS ON PHYSICS GRADES, WE FOUND POSITIVE EFFECTS OF COLLABORATION OVER GRADES, PARTICULARLY AMONG STUDENTS WORKING WITH FRIENDS (STRONG TIES). TO TEST WHETHER THE EFFECTS OF COLLABORATION FOUND IN THE FIRST STUDY WERE STABLE THROUGHOUT TWO SEMESTERS, THE FOLLOWING YEAR WE DESIGNED A QUASIEXPERIMENT IN FOUR CLASSES FROM THE SAME URBAN SCHOOL IN THE EXPLORATORY STUDY. HERE, STUDENTS ATTENDED HYBRID SCHOOL SESSIONS WHERE RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS WERE EITHER IN THE CLASSROOM OR PARTICIPATED REMOTELY. THE TEACHER COLLECTED THE SAME SOCIAL NETWORKS DESCRIBED IN THE FIRST STUDY AT THE END OF SEMESTER 1, AND TWO TIMES DURING SEMESTER 2. IN ADDITION, WE FOLLOWED THE SAME PROCEDURES TO IDENTIFY STRONG AND WEAK COLLABORATION FROM THE NETWORK DATA ON EACH WAVE OF DATA COLLECTION. AFTER FITTING ORDINARY LEAST SQUARES MULTIPLE LINEAR REGRESSION MODELS, WE FOUND THAT COLLABORATIVE VARIABLES NEGATIVELY

A NIVEL GLOBAL, SE HA EVIDENCIADO EN LA POBLACIÓN, UNA NOTORIA DISMINUCIÓN DEL INTERÉS DE ESTUDIANTES POR INVOLUCRARSE EN TEMÁTICAS RELACIONADAS CON LAS CIENCIAS, TECNOLOGÍAS, INGENIERÍAS Y MATEMÁTICAS (STEM POR SUS SIGLAS EN INGLÉS), DONDE LA PROPORCIÓN DE ADOLESCENTES HOMBRES DESINTERESADOS EN ESTAS TEMÁTICAS HA AUMENTADO CONSIDERABLEMENTE (DEL 65% EN 2017 AL 74% EN 2018), MIENTRAS QUE ESTA PROPORCIÓN SE MANTIENE SIGNIFICATIVAMENTE BAJA AÑO TRAS AÑO EN ADOLESCENTES FEMENINAS CON UN 89% DE DESINTERÉS (JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT USA, 2018). ESTA SITUACIÓN CONSTITUYE UN PROBLEMA FRENTE AL CONSTANTE AUMENTO DE OPORTUNIDADES DE EXPLORACIÓN PROFESIONAL E INNOVACIÓN EN STEM A NIVEL GLOBAL Y SU RESPECTIVOS IMPACTOS EN LA ECONOMÍA NACIONAL.

FOR SEVERAL DECADES, SCHOLARS HAVE STUDIED THE ROLE OF COOPERATION AND ITS OUTCOMES IN EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS. YET WE LACK A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW DIFFERENT INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES IMPACT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COOPERATION AND LEARNING. IN THIS PAPER WE PRESENT RESULTS FROM A FIELD EXPERIMENT WITH 82 FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS IN AN INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS COURSE SHOWING HOW DIFFERENT INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES LED TO DIFFERENT SOCIAL CONFIGURATIONS IN THE CLASSROOM AND TO DIFFERENCES IN INDIVIDUAL ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. SURPRISINGLY, WE FOUND THAT STUDENTS WHO ACTIVELY SOUGHT OUT INFORMATION FROM MULTIPLE PEERS WERE LESS LIKELY TO PERFORM WELL ON WELL-STRUCTURED PROBLEMS AS COMPARED TO THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK HELP, WHEREAS, FOR ILL-STRUCTURED (REAL-WORLD-LIKE) PROBLEMS, THIS EFFECT DEPENDED ON THE FEATURES OF THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT. WE OBSERVED THAT GOOD PERFORMANCE ON ILL- AND WELL-STRUCTURED PROBLEMS WAS SENSITIVE TO DIFFERENT SOCIAL NETWORK CONFIGURATIONS. IN A HIGHLY CLUSTERED NETWORK (WHICH CONTAINS REDUNDANT INFORMATION), STUDENTS PERFORMED BETTER ON WELL-STRUCTURED PROBLEMS THAN ILL-STRUCTURED PROBLEMS. BY CONTRAST, STUDENTS WITH ACCESS TO NETWORK STRUCTURAL HOLES (WHICH ENABLE ACCESS TO MORE DIVERSE INFORMATION) PERFORMED ILL-STRUCTURED PROBLEMS BETTER THAN WELL-STRUCTURED PROBLEMS. FINALLY, ILL-STRUCTURED PROBLEMS PROMOTED CREATIVE THINKING, PROVIDED THAT INSTRUCTORS GUIDED THE PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS AND MOTIVATED STUDENTS TO ENGAGE IN THE APPROPRIATE COGNITIVE DEMANDS THESE PROBLEMS ENTAILED. OUR RESULTS SUGGEST THAT TEACHING AND INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN COOPERATIVE LEARNING; THEREFORE, EDUCATORS IMPLEMENTING COOPERATIVE LEARNING METHODS HAVE TO ACCOMPANY THEM WITH ADEQUATE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY.