Unraveling Faculties’ Collaborative Research Community of Practice: A Social Network Analysis Approach Within an Educational Department

• In Event: Design Research Methods

Abstract

This study explores faculty research communities within a college department to address disparities in collaboration. Integrating the Community of Practices and Relational Expertise frameworks, the research uses Social Network Analysis to analyze faculty names and publications over five years. The community comprises 15 networks with 35 intra-department authors. The community exhibits a loosely connected structure, with limited interconnectivity. Top five interconnective groups align with departmental subareas, highlighting the importance of intra-subarea collaboration. Structural holes in cross-disciplinary collaboration are identified. The study emphasizes the role of key facilitators in promoting collaboration. The findings offer valuable insights for enhancing scholarly impact and strengthening research communities within educational departments. Future research should explore author-author connections and inter-departmental, inter-college, inter-university, and international research interconnectivity.

Authors

• Hoda Harati, Towson University

• Lauren Zizwarek, Towson University

• Yujian Huang, Northern Arizona University

• Catharyn Crane Shelton, Northern Arizona University

• Patricia J. Peterson, Northern Arizona University

• Chih-Hsiung Tu, Northern Arizona University