The Influence of Teaching Methodology on Student Social Interaction

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the effects of various teaching methodologies on the social interactions reported by university students in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver. Specifically, we will answer the question: How do different teaching methodologies affect the formation of network ties among students in a university classroom? We implement a novel research design, in which we operationalize the impact of alternative teaching methodologies on social interactions, specifically the number and quality of dyadic relationships between students in university classrooms. We find that online classes tend to have fewer, but more frequent interactions among students, more diversity among interactions, and greater likelihood that students perceive other students as influential to their learning. In primarily lecture classes, students reported fewer connections, but similar to online students’ interactions, the interactions were frequent and influential. We conclude that teaching in an online environment has its own strengths in terms of student relationships; that working in groups offers fewer positive relational outcomes than expected; that the experience of the lecturer has a surprising influence on relationships among students; and that student types affect relationships in fairly predictable ways.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Danielle Varda

Danielle M. Varda is an assistant professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver. She studies collaborative governance through system science methodologies. She is the creator of PARTNER (www.partnertool.net), a social network analysis tool that measures the nature and quality of interorganizational relationships.

Jessica Haxton Retrum

Jessica H. Retrum currently serves as a research associate at the University of Colorado Denver, School of Public Affairs. She provides support to the PARTNER project through community outreach and education, training and technical assistance, data management and analysis, scholarly work, and grant writing. Dr. Retrum assists with the implementation of new and ongoing PARTNER-related social network analysis research.

Kerry Kuenzi

Kerry Kuenzi is a PhD student and research assistant in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver. She studies multiple aspects of public sector networks, including nonprofit-public sector collaboratives.