- Year 2024
- NSF Noyce Award # 2230997
- First Name Adem
- Last Name Ekmekci
- Registration Faculty/Administrator/Other
- Discipline STEM Education (general)
- Role Co-PI
- Presenters
Jenna Porter, California State University, Sacramento; Stephanie Salomone, University of Portland; Mahtob Aqazade, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi
Need
Regional conferences typically aim to serve several purposes including professional development, community building, networking, identity development, skills development in presentational, pedagogical, content and more teaching related areas, so on and so forth. One of the central focus areas of this WRNN cycle (2023-2025) is the social networks. Therefore, it is important to explore the impact of regional conferences on Noyce teachers’ social ego networks. In addition, longitudinal social network analysis is scarce in the research literature. Looking at social networks over a year of length fill in this gap as well as fulfilling the need for the impact study of one of the main goals of WRNN.
Research Questions
To what extent does WRNN Conference expand Noyce scholars’ professional social networks related to teaching and/or education? If there is any expansion of social networks on average, to what extent are these expanded networks sustained 10 months after the conference? What topics do Noyce scholars discuss in these networks? To what extent racial and social justice issues are discussed in these networks? In what ways and to what extent do these networks support Noyce scholars’ development as a teacher?
Approach
The sampling of WRNN conference participants for studying its impact on teaching and education network is a convenience sampling. The social network analysis (SNA) survey is adapted from previously developed and validated instruments (e.g., Polizzi et al., 2019). Self-reported data was collected from Noyce recipients in pre-post and follow up- fashion to define their teaching networks (i.e., professional social networks related to teaching content and/or pedagogy). The network of interest is a teacher centered one (i.e., ego-centric and focuses on K-12 teaching and/or education). As a standard practice in SNA, structural properties of the networks (e.g. size, bridging) were gathered from the data on interactions between network connections. To what extent these structural features change and are sustained after participating in ARN conference events were explored. The target population for the study were in-service and prospective teachers. Out of 230 people (faculty, staff, and scholars) who registered for the 2023 WRNN conference, 154 were eligible (i.e., Noyce teachers—in-service and pre-service) to take the survey. Out of the 154 invited Noyce recipient, 119 completed the pre-survey; 61 completed both the pre- and-post surveys; and 33 completed all three survey including the follow-up survey. For the 2024 conference, out of more 300 conference participants, 223 were eligible; 170 completed the pre-survey and 99 completed both pre- and post-surveys.The Noyce scholars were asked to put the names of their contacts within their social network related to K-12 teaching and/or education with whom they interact regularly (at least a few times a year). They answered several Likert-scale questions regarding their teaching networks including. Change in network size and geographic proximity are analyzed through a paired-samples t-test. Remaining Likert-scale items are analyzed through percentage frequency distributions (Gravetter & Wallnau, 2007). The participants also responded to several open-ended questions, which were analyzed qualitatively through emerging common themes using thematic analysis (Braun, & Clarke, 2006)—”an interpretive process, whereby data is systematically searched to identify patterns within the data in order to provide an illuminating description of the phenomenon” (Smith & Firth, 2011, p. 55).
Outcomes
The number of contacts Noyce scholars had in their teaching network has increased significantly from 7.2 (S.D.=5.0) on average before the WRNN 2023 conference to 9.2 (S.D.=5.0) on average after the conference (p<.001, two-sided).This implies Noyce scholars teaching networks expanded from a local network towards a more state/nation-wide network.Data analysis for the 2023 follow-up survey and 2024 survey is in-progress and expected to be completed and ready for presentation at the summit.
Broader Impacts
The results inform us to develop strategies to support STEM teachers in effective ways that are responsive to the current needs of Noyce teachers, including targeted community-building activities.
