Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students
description
Transcript of Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students
![Page 1: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of
Sustainability-Engaged StudentsMatthew E. VerbylaEnvironmental Engineering, University of South Florida
Colleen C. NaughtonCivil Engineering, University of South Florida
Allan FeldmanScience Education, University of South Florida
Vanessa Vernaza-HernandezScience Education, University of South Florida
2014 ASEE International ForumIndianapolis, Indiana
June 14, 2014
Marilyn E. BrandtMarine Science, University of the Virgin Islands
Maya A. TrotzEnvironmental Engineering, University of South Florida
E. Christian WellsAnthropology, University of South Florida
James R. MihelcicEnvironmental Engineering, University of South Florida
![Page 2: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
International experiences and the global engineering/science skill set
“A Global Community of Scholars”
1. Core competencies in science & engineering
2. Higher cognitive levels in attitudes & identity outcomes
– Language & cultural skills
– Teamwork & group dynamic skills
– Knowledge of business and education cultures of other countries and international variations in practice
– Exposure to global concepts of sustainability
Sources: Bielefeldt et al. (2010); Hokanson et al. (2007); NRC (1999); Trotz et al. (2009)
![Page 3: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
But…Not everyone
can travel abroad!
![Page 4: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
4
Social Media: It’s not just for teens anymore… There is a broad audience for young professionals
• YouTube reaches more U.S. adults between 18-34 years than any cable network.
• More than half of U.S. adults between 45-54 years use a social networking site.
• The fastest-growing demographic on Twitter is 55-64 year-olds.
![Page 5: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
5
NSF PIRE Grant: Context-Sensitive Implementation of Synergistic Water-Energy
Systems
![Page 6: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Global network of professionals dedicated to understanding context-specific engineered systems that recover water, nutrients, & energy resources from “waste”.
Common research objectives
• NSF PIRE Grant
• USAID-NSF PEER Science Grant
• EPA Nutrient Management Center
![Page 7: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
• One-credit course run entirely with a blog, Twitter, & YouTube
• 25 students in Florida, U.S. Virgin Islands, Czech Republic
• Course Objectives:– Develop the global engineering/science skill set (slide 2)
– Learn about strategies that integrate social, engineered, and environmental systems for sustainable resource management
– Learn to use social media to discuss scientific research
Spring 2014 Graduate Course: Context Sensitive Implementation of Synergistic Water-Energy-Nutrient Systems
![Page 8: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Spring 2014 Graduate Course: Context Sensitive Implementation of Synergistic Water-Energy-Nutrient Systems
Students prepare video, select reading materials, and discussion questions
Participants watch video, read articles, prepare answers to questions
Next student group prepares video, etc.
Video, reading materials reviewed, posted to blog
Day 1
Hour-long Twitter discussion takes place
Day 6
![Page 9: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Research Question and Objectives of Study
• Research Question: Can Twitter, YouTube, and a blog be used to create a “global community of scholars” that are engaged in learning about the meaning of sustainability across multiple disciplines?
• Specific Objectives:1. Document how Reclaim’s YouTube channel is being used.
2. Measure the class participation in weekly Twitter discussions.
3. Describe the nature of participant diversity in the conversation strings that emerged during class discussions
4. Analyze the content of individual tweets during class discussions
![Page 10: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Methods(approved by University of South Florida IRB)
• YouTube Analytics
• TAGS software v5.1 with Microsoft Excel– Sample of tweets analyzed for content
– Sample of conversation strings categorized by ‘type of talk’ using a dialogical framework (Wegerif & Mercer, 1997)
– Inter-coder agreement strategy (Creswell 2013)
• Pre- and post-course surveys
![Page 11: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Convers. string codes
Disputation-al Talk
Cumulative Talk
Exploratory talk
Question & Answer
Twitter Discussion Content Analysis
Individual tweet codes
Question(Bloom’s
taxonomy)
Claim (no
premise)
Argument (claim with
premise)
Informative statement
Unintellig-ible
Agreeing / Disagreeing
Sources: Bloom (1994); Feldman (2006); Wegerif & Mercer (1997)
![Page 12: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
RESULTS
![Page 13: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
YouTube video viewers
![Page 14: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Average View Duration
![Page 15: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
• Sharing with non-participant friends, etc.
• Multiple views per viewer
• Repeated viewing of portions of video
• Familiarity with content
• Novelty of material
• Length of video(Pearson’s c = -0.32)
Possible explanations
YouTube Videos:Average percentage viewed (30 day avg.)
Florida U.S. Virgin Islands
![Page 16: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
16
Pace of Twitter Discussions
• Avg. tweets per discussion: 340• Avg. tweets per minute: 5.7• Avg. seconds per tweet: 10.6
![Page 17: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Participation in Twitter Discussions
![Page 18: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Participation in Conversation Groups(dialogue exchanges initiated by a single comment or question)
Anthropologists were conversationalists
![Page 19: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
Content Analysis of Individual Tweets(n = 318 tweets)
Participants agreed with each other more frequently
than they disagreed*
The majority of participants’ tweets were structured as claims with no premise**
* p < 0.01** p < 0.001
![Page 20: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
‘Types of Talk’ in Twitter Conversation Strings
(n = 54 conversation strings)
EXAMPLE: Exploratory talk in conversation string (5 turns):
P1: What are the challenges related to current water management strategies?
P2: They are energy intensive and wasteful since they focus more on meeting regulations than sustainability
P3: Metrics of sustainability can be differentially conceived in particular contexts though
P2: Agreed though according to … video, water management is very linear and throws away nutrients and energy
P3: Current centralized water management, yes
![Page 21: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Pre- and Post-Course SurveysWhat social networks do you use?
p < 0.002
p < 0.0001
p < 0.01
![Page 22: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
Pre-Course SurveyRank the reasons you use social networks (in order of importance):
1. Learning/Professional Development2. News/information3. Recreation and entertainment4. Research5. Connecting with friends6. Teaching
![Page 23: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
Post-Course SurveyRank the reasons you use social networks (in order of importance):
1. Learning/Professional Development2. News/information3. ▲ Research (p = 0.145)4. ▲ Teaching (p = 0.082)5. Connecting with friends6. ▼ Recreation and entertainment (p = 0.321)
* p-values calculated using Kendall’s rank correlation coefficient
![Page 24: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
42%* of students appeared to have changed their definitions of sustainability
17%* of those students (10%* of total) appeared to have broadened their definitions.
* alpha = 0.05
Pre- and Post-Course SurveysDefine sustainability in your own words…
![Page 25: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
Conclusions• Students and faculty learned together
• Student-driven conversations had a diverse group of participants
• Students’ definitions of sustainability changed and/or broadened
• Social media use patterns changed (more career-focused?)
• Twitter and YouTube allowed for global participation(but what about internet inequity? who pays for these costs?)
Perhaps still not enough evidence to confirm that the types of exchanges between course participants actually do signify the
development of a “global community of scholars” (but still more data to analyze)
![Page 26: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
26
Future Work• Code more tweets and conversation strings
• Analyze qualitative data from surveys
• Monitor post-course social network use patterns
• When course is offered again, make changes:– Platform for discussions (character limit, public/private sphere)
– Video length <5 min.
![Page 27: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
• This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant 1243510, as well as a Graduate Research Fellowship awarded to the lead author. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.
Acknowledgements
Thank you!
![Page 28: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
28
References• Slides 2, 10 and 11:
1. National Research Council. Engineering Education Tasks for the New Century: Japanese andU.S. Perspectives. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. 1999.
2. Bielefeldt, A.R., Paterson, K., Swan, C. 2010. Measuring the Value Added from Service Learning in Project-Based Engineering Education. International Journal of Engineering Education, 26(3), 535-546.
3. Hokanson, D.R., Phillips, L.D., Mihelcic, J.R. 2007. Educating Engineers in the Sustainable Futures Model with a Global Perspective: Education, Research and Diversity Initiatives. International Journal of Engineering Education, 23(2), 254-265.
4. Trotz, M.A., Muga, H.E., Philips, L.D., Yeh, D., Stuart, A., Mihelcic, J.R. 2009. Non-Traditional University Research Partners that Facilitate Service Learning and Graduate Research for Sustainable Development. Proceedings of the World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, S. Starrett, ed., American Society of Civil Engineers, Kansas City, MO, 2038–2048.
5. Wegerif, R. and Mercer, N. (1997) A Dialogical Framework for Investigating Talk. In Wegerif, R. and Scrimshaw, P. (Eds) Computers and Talk in the Primary Classroom, pp 49-65. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. ISBN: 1853593915
6. Bloom, B.S. (1994). Reflections on the development and use of the taxonomy. In Rehage, K.J., Anderson, L.W., Sosniak, L.A. "Bloom's taxonomy: A forty-year retrospective". Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Chicago: National Society for the Study of Education.
7. Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
8. Feldman, A. (1999) The role of conversation in collaborative action research, Educational Action Research, 7:1, 125-147
• Social Media Use slide:– http://ambergriscaye.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/443384/Internet_speeds_and_prices_in_.html
• Images on slides 4 and 5:– http://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/zcant-decide-where-to-go/– http://www.ministeriodesarrollosocial.gob.cl/noticias-lista-historico.php?page=205&texto2=&id_region=– https://www.yahoo.com/tech/when-should-you-buy-your-child-a-smartphone-80304155120.html
![Page 29: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
“GRAVEYARD” SLIDES
![Page 30: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
NOT CHANGED CHANGED BROADENED
Pre- and Post-Course SurveysDefine sustainability in your own words…
![Page 31: Using Social Media to Create a Global Community of Sustainability-Engaged Students](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022081515/56815ed2550346895dcd64a0/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
Content Analysis of Discussion Questions from Twitter Chats
(n = 65 questions)
Bloom’s Taxonomy