Understanding the relationship between idea contributions and idea enactments in student design teams: A social network analysis approach

Background

Existing research has demonstrated that student characteristics, such as race/ethnicity, sex, and personal beliefs about engineering knowledge, shape students' experiences in ill-structured problem-solving, such as engineering design, where ideas must be communicated, negotiated, and selected in complex social processes.

Purpose

The purpose of this research was to examine the how student characteristics, such as race/ethnicity, sex, and epistemological beliefs, are associated with patterns of idea contributions and ideas enactments in collaborative project teams.

Method

In this article, I use the multilayer exponential random graph model (ERGM) for examining multiple complex social relationships simultaneously. Drawing on survey data from a study of engineering student teamwork, this research examines the relationship perceptions of idea contributions (layer 1) and idea enactments (layer 2) in collaborative project teams.

Results

Results indicated no sex differences in the perceptions of idea contributions and enactments in student design teams. However, underrepresented minority students and Asian America/Pacific Islander students were reported as less frequently having their ideas enacted. Further, epistemological beliefs similarity effects were a significant predictor on the idea contribution layer, and epistemological beliefs sociality effects were significant on the idea enactments layer.

Conclusion

Achieving equity in teamwork pedagogies requires understanding the dynamic social processes that shapes patterns of participation in student teams. This research demonstrates the power of social networks methodologies for modeling teamwork processes, pointing specifically to the ways that student characteristics are associated with perceptions shape idea contributions and enactments in student teams.