Social Network Analysis of Team Safety and Closeness in Engineering and Computer Science Courses

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 1:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Bridging Social and Technical Dimensions: Enhancing Diversity, Safety, and Inclusion in Engineering and Computer Science Education (Table 13)

Abstract

While there is research on team formation in engineering and computer science, less is known about diverse team members’ experiences of safety and closeness, which are prerequisites to innovation; the positive impact diversity can have on innovation depends on members feeling safe enough to contribute. We surveyed students enrolled in upper division undergraduate/graduate engineering and computer science courses about their experiences of safety and closeness with their teammates and used social network analysis to investigate differences across teams and across courses. While the engineering course used stable teams for a semester-long project, the computer science course used a sequence of teams for multiple small projects. Shifting teams may provide greater opportunities for diverse team members to locate allies.

Authors

• Tracy Wenzl, University of New Mexico

• Ruben D. Lopez-Parra, University of New Mexico

• Vanessa Svihla, University of New Mexico

• Tito Busani, University of New Mexico

• George Matthew Fricke, University of New Mexico