Post-secondary science students’ use of GroupMe messaging app: A visual ethnography

Abstract

GroupMe is a popular group messaging app used by students to bond quickly and provide support to one another during a course. While GroupMe channels can provide feelings of inclusion and connectedness to peers, particularly in online course delivery, the app has been under criticism due to students cheating. As a fellow student enrolled in science courses, I conducted a quantitative and qualitative content analysis to determine what types of content was being shared and discussed over four course’s channels. Group messaging provided the frequent, asynchronous, low-stakes interactions that a twice-weekly course may not provide, especially during an online course, where "chatter" and bonding is not as easy to share before class or during breaks. Professors may consider revisiting the ideas of collaboration and corroboration in the science classroom when it comes to knowledge creation and having those discussions with their students.