A Social Network Analysis of a Teaching Science as Inquiry Online Learning Community
Abstract: A professional development series was analyzed for teachers’ use of an online learning community (OLC) embedded within four teaching science as inquiry modules. The interactions of teachers in the OLC were designed to foster extended discussion and sharing of inquiry science. We used social network analysis (SNA) to explore the structural patterns of online connections between actors on levels of importance. Raters coded the OLC comments (N = 492) and determined that 64% related to OLC activities, 35% were teacher to teacher, and 1% were technical. Teachers interacted with each other about 35% of the time when given free reign to do so. SNA revealed strong central figures within different OLC cohorts. In addition, the level of comfort that a teacher had on the internet was not strongly correlated to the frequency of posting messages. However, the time of exposure to the OLC did significantly increase teachers’ likelihood to continue to use the site to interact with other teachers.