Characterizing a Community of Practice through Coauthorship of Curricular Materials: A Social Network Analysis of the Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists (IONiC)

Communities of practice in STEM education are important for promoting the improvement of teaching in the postsecondary curriculum. One community in particular is the Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists (IONiC). IONiC aims to advance inorganic chemistry education through the creation of curricular materials (i.e., learning objects). These learning objects can be created by a single author or a group of coauthors and then posted on the IONiC Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource (VIPEr) Website. One opportunity for coauthorship of learning objects is through IONiC workshops. Coauthorship of such learning objects provides insight into understanding the development of the IONiC community of practice. In this work, we address two research questions: (1) What are the characteristics of the IONiC community of practice throughout its evolution as measured by the number and coauthorship of learning objects published on the VIPEr Website? (2) What features of the coauthorship of learning objects published on the VIPEr Website support opportunities for IONiC community growth? We used social network analysis to address these research questions. Based on the centrality measures of the coauthorship networks, we found that influential members and grant funding supported the IONiC community’s growth. Leaders of similar communities could use social network analysis to evaluate the growth of their organization, including how funding awards are related to such growth. Additionally, community leaders might use social network analysis to identify emerging leaders and strengthen their communities. Future research should consider a longitudinal social network analysis of a community of practice and additional measures such as surveys and other self-reported measures of social connectedness.