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The influence of social network prestige on in-service teachers’ learning outcomes in online peer assessment

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Abstract

Online peer assessment has been widely applied in online teacher training. However, not all learners participate equally, detailed characterization and impact analysis of peer assessment is required. This study draws on a sociological term, social network prestige, to evaluate the participation gap of learners in online peer assessment. A teacher training course was offered to in-service primary and secondary school teachers, and 457 participants were ranked according to their prestige. Then, the top 30% of learners were considered the high-prestige group (142 participants) and the bottom 30% as the low-prestige group (128 participants). Social network analysis and behavioral sequence analysis were used to explore the differences in the learning outcomes of these two groups. The results showed significant differences in learning performance, social network structure and learning behaviors among learners with different prestige. High-prestige learners have better learning performance and are affected by their prior knowledge. Learners with different levels of prestige differ in social network structure and learning behavior. Based on these findings, this study suggests improvements to reduce the participation gap.
Computers and Education Open 3 (2022) 100087
Available online 27 April 2022
2666-5573/© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
The inuence of social network prestige on in-service teacherslearning
outcomes in online peer assessment
Ning Ma
a
,
b
,
*
, Lei Du
b
,
c
, Yao Lu
b
, Yi-Fan Sun
b
a
Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, Peoples Republic of China
b
School of Educational Technology, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, Peoples Republic of China
c
Shenzhen Longhua Songhe School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518109, Peoples Republic of China
ARTICLE INFO
Keywords:
distance education and online learning
teacher professional development
evaluation methodologies
informal learning
learning communities
pedagogical issues
ABSTRACT
Online peer assessment has been widely applied in online teacher training. However, not all learners participate
equally, detailed characterization and impact analysis of peer assessment is required. This study draws on a
sociological term, social network prestige, to evaluate the participation gap of learners in online peer assessment.
A teacher training course was offered to in-service primary and secondary school teachers, and 457 participants
were ranked according to their prestige. Then, the top 30% of learners were considered the high-prestige group
(142 participants) and the bottom 30% as the low-prestige group (128 participants). Social network analysis and
behavioral sequence analysis were used to explore the differences in the learning outcomes of these two groups.
The results showed signicant differences in learning performance, social network structure and learning be-
haviors among learners with different prestige. High-prestige learners have better learning performance and are
affected by their prior knowledge. Learners with different levels of prestige differ in social network structure and
learning behavior. Based on these ndings, this study suggests improvements to reduce the participation gap.
1. Introduction
With the rapid development of Internet technology, teacher training
is no longer limited to face-to-face formats and online teacher training
has emerged as an important avenue for teacher professional develop-
ment (TPD). Interaction is an important part of online teacher training
and there are a variety of interactive activities such as peer assessment.
Research has found that interaction behaviors have a positive impact on
training effectiveness [1]. Also, Tang [2] conrmed the importance of
interactions in online training and indicated it was the predictor of
whether teachers completed the course. Therefore, how to ensure the
quality of online interactions becomes an important concern.
Research on online interactions has addressed peer facilitation
strategies [3], the technical design of collaborative learning environ-
ments, interaction models [1], and collaborative community structures
[4]. Despite the extensive current research, a persistent problem with
online learning is the participation gap among learners. As early as
2013, Vaquero and Cebrian [5] described the participation gap as a "rich
club" phenomenon, meaning that high-achieving students are more
likely to have social interactions with each other, while low-achieving
students struggle to engage in such interactions. Participation gap is a
dynamic and complex social phenomenon reected in the unequal and
uneven nature of learners interactions in online learning [6]. Several
studies have reported the signicant damage of this gap on learning
performance, but further in-depth exploration of its impact is needed
[7].
Participation gaps change constantly and can be described in socio-
logical terms [6]. Social network prestige (‘prestige) is a sociological
term that captures the directionality and reciprocity of learners in-
teractions. In directed social networks, the connection between nodes
points from the sender to the receiver, prestige reects the degree to
which a participant successfully attracts the attention of peers relevant
to their activity level. It is an important indicator to measure the
participation gap [8]. However, current research lacks multidimen-
sional investigations of the effects of social network prestige on learning
performance an important aspect worthy of in-depth analysis.
2. Literature review
2.1. Online teacher training
Social participation is important for TPD. Interactions in online
* Corresponding author: Ning Ma, School of Educational Technology, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, Peoples Republic of China
E-mail address: horsening@bnu.edu.cn (N. Ma).
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
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journal homepage: www.sciencedirect.com/journal/computers-and-education-open
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeo.2022.100087
Received 29 September 2021; Received in revised form 25 April 2022; Accepted 25 April 2022
Computers and Education Open 3 (2022) 100087
2
teacher training can facilitate interaction and communication among
learners [9]. Interactive communities and information networks can
provide rich learning resources [10] and use group knowledge con-
struction to form a positive learning atmosphere that signicantly en-
hances training effectiveness (Ma et al., [11]). Despite the clear
advantages of interactions, many studies have reported problems with
it, especially social participation often varied among learners. In online
training courses for student teachers, some scholars found a signicant
participation gap (V´
asquez-Colina et al., 2017; [12]). Similar ndings
were also found in in-service teachers. For example, Zhang and Liu [13]
found in-service teachers in online professional learning communities
show differences in different aspects of participation. A literature review
indicated that in an Internet-based community, the participation gap
may exert a signicant impact on learnersemotional support and pro-
fessional development [14]. Thus, many scholars have called for more
research on the participation gap in online teacher training [15,16].
2.2. Peer assessment
Online peer assessment is an important part of online interaction
with many advantages such as convenience [17], reduced workload for
teachers [18], cost-effectiveness, exibility and self-sustainability [19]
in terms of activity design and technical implementation. Peer assess-
ment has also been gradually applied to teacher training [20], which
facilitates the development of teachers learning design skills and
teaching abilities (Ma et al., [21]). Peer assessment is not only a form of
evaluation but also a form of learning. Peer assessment supports
learners deeper understanding of teaching requirements while pro-
moting self-reection [22] and critical thinking [23]. In fact, promoting
learnersself-reection may be the most signicant advantage of peer
assessment [24]. Despite the advantages of online peer assessment, there
are also challenges, among which level of participation and participa-
tion gap are considered pressing issues for research [25,26]. Falchikov
[27] reported that learners were sometimes unable to accept peer
feedback and reluctant to provide comments to their peers in peer
assessment. Gao et al. [28] argued that the level of learner participation
in online peer assessment is uneven and that there are gaps in the gains
of learners with different levels of participation. This situation leaves
some students with little or no feedback, placing them at a disadvantage
in the interactive network [29]. Furthermore, their effectiveness in
participating in peer assessment is greatly reduced.
2.3. Social network prestige
Social network prestige comes from the level of recognition and
attention of peers and the range of inuence that a user radiates [30].
Sphere of inuence refers to individuals in the network who can be
reached through relational ties. Conceptually, social network prestige
refers to the proximity or reach of a person to the network, i.e., how
many peers are interested in becoming widely connected to that person
[31]. Based on the broad denitions in the literature and the charac-
teristics of peer assessment in this study, we argue that the social
network prestige of learners in online peer assessments refers to the
strength of a learners published work that triggers peer commenting
behavior, and that prestige is positively related to the number of
directed links received in the social network.
The concept of prestige allows researchers to explore the charac-
teristics of interactions and learning impacts generated by social net-
works from the detailed perspective of individual nodes. Atkisson et al.
[32] found that in learning communities, learners tend to acquire
knowledge from high-prestige learners. Learners with higher prestige
can enhance reciprocal social network connections, facilitate the sharing
of knowledge and experience among learning groups. Therefore, the
study of prestige contributes to probe the potential explanations of the
participation gap [33], suggesting ways to reduce the participation gap
and ultimately promoting effective online learning.
The algebraic form can express all the quantitative information in the
social network and thus support doing more mathematical analysis. The
most basic form of social networks that can be used for mathematical
analysis is the matrix. In a social network generated by an online peer
assessment of learners with n nodes, X (n, n) denotes a social matrix X
with n rows and columns, and xij denotes the value of the i-th row and j-
th column of this matrix (both i and j are from 1 to N), that is, the fre-
quency of interactions sent from node i to node j. Prestige is calculated as
follows [34,35].
prestige (for node i) = n
j=1xji
n1
2.4. Research questions
Learning is social in nature, and peer assessment in online courses
are important to learners. Many researchers have reported participation
gaps in online peer assessment and have conrmed that participation
gaps can directly undermine learners outcomes and learning mood.
Focusing on the participation gap in online learning, this study was
conducted from the perspective of social network prestige and explored
the differences in learning outcomes of learners with different levels of
prestige, specied as learning performance, social network structure and
learning behavior, with the following specic research questions:
1 Do learners with different prestige differ in learning performance? If
so, what are the differences?
2 Do learners with different prestige differ in social network structure?
If so, what are the differences?
3 Do learners with different prestige differ in learning behaviors? If so,
what are the differences?
3. Methodology
3.1. Experimental procedure
The experimental design is shown in Fig. 1. Participants were
recruited via the Internet and given pre-experimental training. Pre-test
data were collected, followed by a 5-week online course on ‘Project-
based Learning under Blended Concepts, which began with two weeks
of basic knowledge teaching, followed by 3 weeks of intensive lectures
and peer assessment. The peer assessment required each learner to up-
load their own assignment and freely select about 10 other learners
assignments to assess, giving specic scores and comments. The online
course was offered on the Learning Cell system (http://lcell.cn/), which
could automatically record learners interaction and learning data,
including online learning behavior, learning time, and activity access
sequence. At the beginning and end of the peer assessment phase, each
learner was required to submit a PBL design scheme for pre-test and
post-test as a basis of knowledge application ability. Finally, data from
the Learning Cell system were analyzed.
3.2. Participants
In order to recruit in-service teachers of various subjects from pri-
mary and secondary schools across China, we widely distributed posters
of this study on the Internet through various platforms, and 1438 can-
didates for the study were conrmed through voluntary registration.
Then, a total of 457 teachers who participated in 3 peer assessment
activities and provided complete data were selected as the study par-
ticipants. All 457 participants had clear learning goals and appropriate
learning intentions. Most teachers had bachelors or masters degrees.
All had online learning experience and were competent in their use of
information technology. To characterize the participation gap in
teachersonline peer assessment, 457 learners were divided into high
and low prestige groups based on prestige values, i.e., all learners were
N. Ma et al.
Computers and Education Open 3 (2022) 100087
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Fig. 1. Experimental design.
Fig. 2. The design of peer assessment activity.
N. Ma et al.
Computers and Education Open 3 (2022) 100087
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ranked in descending order of prestige, and the top 30% (142 learners
with high social network prestige values, dened as Group H) were
selected as the high-prestige group, and the bottom 30% (128 learners
with prestige values, Group L) were dened as the low-prestige group.
3.3. Course design and learning activity
The purpose of peer assessment in this study was to guide learners to
learn from others, reect on their own project-based learning (PBL)
design scheme, and nally independently create a PBL design scheme at
the end of the course. Each learner was free to choose the assignments
they wanted to evaluate. They were also advised to evaluate approxi-
mately 10 assignments and provide qualitative comments and quanti-
tative scores using the provided scale.
Three peer assessment activities were designed in conjunction with
the teaching objectives and learning contents. Each of the three peer
assessment activities followed the process below which contains three
stages: autonomous learning stage, evaluation stage and reection stage,
as shown in Fig. 2. First, learners studied the learning resources such as
videos and text materials, participated in the course activities, and
submitted their assignments. Then, they entered the evaluation stage,
where they could browse the assignments of others submitted in the
assignment display area, voluntarily selecting assignments that inter-
ested them, scored and commented using the scale provided. Finally,
learners proceeded to the reection phase, where they could view the
evaluation radar chart, read the comments and scores given by other
learners, and review their own assignment for reection. After the
reection stage, learners could review the learning materials again or
participate in other learning activities to ll in knowledge gaps.
During the evaluation stage, learners could see the basic information
of each assignment such as the title, author, upload time, and perform
operations such as checking, downloading and reviewing assignments,
as shown in Fig. 3. They could freely select the assignments they want to
review in the interface of assignment display.
Once the learner had selected the assignment to be evaluated, he or
she would come to the interface of assignment assessment, as shown in
Fig. 4. After browsing through the assignments uploaded by peers,
learners scored assignments based on the provided scale and wrote
comments. To improve the accuracy of scoring, we followed Browns
suggestion of using star scoring for each dimension [36], automatically
populating the scoring rules for the dimension at each scoring. Learners
did not have to evaluate an assignment after viewing it, they could
choose to return to the previous session and ignore the review of the
assignment.
The evaluation stage is followed by reection stage, where learners
could click on ‘My Assignments to enter the interface of assessment
result, as shown in Fig. 5. Learners were provided with a radar chart to
visualize the scores of their assignments in each dimension. They could
also see who give the comments, detailed scores and comments. In the
follow-up, learners could self-reect and further revise their assignments
based on the suggestions made in the comments.
3.4. Instruments
3.4.1. Evaluation of the level of knowledge application
In this study, a professor and two researchers whose research area is
PBL were invited to give each indicator and its related weight based on
the PBL evaluation index system proposed by Qiang and Zhang [37] and
the focus of this online teacher training course. The researchers of this
study implemented Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method using
yaahp 10.1 software to calculate the weightings of the indicators given
by these three experts (as shown in Table 1), and found that the con-
sistency coefcients of the matrices were all less than 0.1, satisfying the
consistency requirements of AHP, indicating that the weights assigned
by each expert were reliable. Then, these three experts scored and
evaluated the PBL design scheme submitted by the participants based on
the scale.
3.4.2. Learning behavior coding scheme
Lag Sequential Analysis (LSA) is a method proposed by Sackett [38]
to examine the signicance of behavioral sequences, which can capture
the underlying behavioral patterns of learners and explain the reasons
for technology-enhanced learning from a behavioral perspective, thus
effectively guiding the design and implementation of subsequent
teaching and learning activities. This method is widely used in the eld
of learning analysis [39,40] and is particularly applicable to the dis-
covery of behavioral patterns in online environments [41,42].
In this study, LSA was used to analyze learnersonline learning be-
haviors in peer assessment. Considering the basic learning activities in
the course, the main activities in the peer assessment, as well as the data
that could be recorded by the learning platform, the researchers of this
study developed a coding table for learning behavior (Table 2).
4. Analysis and results
4.1. Learnersparticipation gap in online peer assessment
Online network analysis was used to identify the social network
characteristics formed by peer assessment activities. Gephi 0.9.4 was
used to show the basic description of the whole social network generated
Fig. 3. The interface of assignment display
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Computers and Education Open 3 (2022) 100087
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Fig. 4. The interface of assignment assessment.
Fig. 5. The interface of assessment result.
Table 1
Scale of knowledge application ability
First-level indicators Second-level indicators Assessing Items Weights Scores
The selection of project
topic
Fit Consistent with current curriculum standards. 0.105 10
Situation Topic selection and driven issues are in combination with current events and hot issues or
real-life scenes.
0.135 13
interest The topic is interesting and challenging, which can stimulate lasting learning enthusiasm. 0.065 7
Project objectives knowledge Design teaching objectives based on subject knowledge content. 0.055 6
Ability Agree with the training goal for subject ability 0.069 7
competency Reect core competenciesrequirements. 0.069 7
Project implementation Feasibility The project content is feasible and in line with studentsdevelopment zone. 0.089 9
Project results Project results are of important theoretical and practical signicance. 0.107 10
Blended learning
environment
Construction of technical
environment
Support learners to better achieve their learning goals through the Internet, nancial
media and other technologies using blended learning.
0.069 7
the abundance of resources Provide learners with abundant learning resources 0.082 8
The tools and Strategies of project
implementation
Provide auxiliary tools such as timetable and function distribution table 0.057 6
Project evaluation Evaluation tools Provide clear, effective and operable evaluation tools 0.048 5
Evaluation method The evaluation method can truly reect the learning performance of learners 0.056 5
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Computers and Education Open 3 (2022) 100087
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by peer assessment activities. The whole social network was rst shown
in Fig. 6, followed by the explanation of some technical indicators. Then,
the commonly used tool UCINET was used for online network analysis
[43]. The specic values and descriptions of the indicators can be found
in Table 3. The peer assessment social network comprised 457 learners
(nodes) and 11,354 directed interactions (edges), so the average degree
of the social network is 24.84. The network density describes the overall
level of connectivity in the network and the value is 0.215, implying that
there is a relatively strong relationship between this network and the
interaction behavior of the learners, so the inuence of the network on
learning performance can be further explored. The average path length
of 1.933 indicates that the network is well linked, but the centralization
of 0.081 indicates that the network is quite scattered [44].
To explore the participation gap of learners in online peer assess-
ment, the prestige differences of learners in social networks were
explored. Learnersprestige was ranked from high to low according to
the prestige formula, and the top 30% were dened as Group H (n=142,
M=142, SD=3.69), the bottom 30% as Group L (n=128, M=19.47,
SD=2.88), as shown in Table 4. The two groups differed signicantly in
high effect size (t=23.875, p=.000<.001, d=0.87), indicating that the
difference in prestige between the two groups was sufcient for the di-
vision into groups H and L for further study.
To clearly show the position of learners in Group H and L in the social
network, a social network diagram (force-directed network) was drawn
to mark the prestige of learners. Due to the large sample size of this
study, selected representative data were used to indicate social network
position more clearly, as shown in Fig. 7 Each node represents a learner,
and each directed edge represents the evaluation from one learner to
another.
Force-directed network can be used to reect the frequency of
interaction (the higher the interaction frequency, the larger the nodes
and the closer the nodes to the center of the force-directed network).
Fig. 7 shows that some high-prestige learners are not in the core of the
force-directed network, while some low-prestige learners are in the core
of the social network center, indicating that prestige level is not always
consistent with the frequency of interaction. Force-directed network is
the commonly-used tool used for interactive visualization, but such a
network visualization tool cannot fully capture the prestige differences
found in this study.
4.2. Analysis of learning performance
To clarify the differences in learning performance among groups H
and L in online peer assessment, we collected the PBL design schemes
submitted by learners at the start and end of peer assessment. Three PBL
experts gave scores out of 100 using the scoring scale to evaluate pre-
and post-test knowledge application. To ensure the validity of the
scoring, 10 assignments were randomly selected and scored indepen-
dently by 3 experts. Kendalls coefcient of concordance was .787
(p=.000<.05). Therefore, the ratings of the experts were considered
consistent. Table 5 summarizes the pre- and post-test scores of the two
groups.
Considering the inuence of pre-test on statistical outcomes, one-
way ANCOVA was adopted. Nonetheless, the homogeneity test of
regression coefcients was violated, indicating a signicant interaction
effect between the independent variables and covariates (F=24.891,
p=.000 <.01). According to Huitemas [45] suggestion, the
Johnson-Neyman technique was conducted a resampling procedure to
nd the signicance between independent and dependent variables
under the inuence of covariates.
Fig. 8 presents the results for the two groups. The solid red line and
dashed blue line represent the regression slope of groups H and L,
respectively. The point of signicance of the two groups difference in
the pre-test is 49.40. When the pre-test score was below 49.40, the post-
test score of Group H was signicantly higher than that of Group L (t =
2.08, p<.05). When the pre-test score was higher than 49.40, there
was no signicant difference between the two groups. That is to say, if
learners prior knowledge level is too low, the difference in social
network prestige of learners in online peer assessment will not affect
their learning performance. For the vast majority learners with a certain
learning basis (such learners accounted for more than 87%), learners
with higher prestige have better performance.
4.3. Analysis of social network structure
4.3.1. Out-degree and in-degree
In online peer-assessment social network, out-degree is the number
of comments sent by learners, while in-degree is the number of com-
ments the learner receives. A high out-degree indicates that learners
actively participate in peer assessment and actively comment on others
assignments. A high in-degree denotes that the learners received more
comments from peers. Learners in Group H received 30.43 comments
from their peers on average, while Group L learners received about
19.65 comments from their peers. The average number of comments
received by Group H learners was 1.54 times that of Group L learners. It
can be seen that the two groups were signicantly different in terms of
in-degree (t=27.75, p =.000 <.001) and had a high effect size (d=0.87).
However, there was no signicant difference in the out-degree. Group H
learners gave 23.98 comments on average, while Group L learners gave
about 24.42 comments, showing no signicant difference (t=-1.95,
p=.25>.05).
Given that the two groups had the same level of out-degree, it ap-
pears that Group L achieved a lower level of in-degree. This was not
because Group L made less effort in establishing connections with peers,
but rather because low-prestige learners tend to receive unequal feed-
back in peer assessment activities. Table 6 provides an overview of
descriptive statistics and t-test results for the in-degree and out-degree of
the two groups.
4.3.2. Centrality
Centrality is a quantitative analysis of individual "power" in social
networks, generally including degree centrality, betweenness centrality,
closeness centrality, and eigenvector centrality (Table 7).
Degree centrality indicates the number of other nodes directly con-
nected to a node, which can directly reect the degree of interaction
between members [34]. T-test results indicated the degree centrality of
Group H was signicantly higher than that of Group L (t=22.38, p=.000
<.001, d=0.80), indicating that Group H experienced higher interaction
frequency in peer assessment.
Betweenness centrality measures the degree to which a node appears
on the shortest path between any two nodes in a network [34]. If a
Table 2
Coding table for learning behavior
Code Learning Behavior Description
SC Study course Browse the video, text and other learning
materials provided by the course.
MA Materials annotation Learners annotate the learning materials.
VE View evaluation
scheme and results
Learners enter the "evaluation scheme" to view
the scoring criteria and their own scoring results
on each learning content.
PD Participate in a
discussion
Learners express their views, ask questions or
answer others in the discussion board.
PA-
SA
Peer assessment-submit
assignments
Learners submit assignments required in peer
assessment activity.
PA-
RA
Peer assessment-review
assignments
After submitting their assignments, learners
click to view their work.
PA-
VA
Peer assessment-view
assignments
Learners click to view othersassignments in
peer assessment activity.
PA-
EA
Peer assessment-
evaluate assignments
Learners evaluate the assignments of others in
peer assessment activity, including scoring and
writing comments.
PA-
VR
Peer assessment-view
results
Learners check the marks and comments given
by others in peer assessment activity.
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Computers and Education Open 3 (2022) 100087
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learner always appears between the shortest path of the other two nodes
in the network, that learner can be seen to occupy an important position,
essentially controlling the communication between the other two
learners. When they refuse to communicate, it is then difcult for the
other learners to contact with each other. In this study, the betweenness
centrality of Group H was signicantly higher than that of Group L
(t=18.44, p=.000<.001, d=0.75). Learners in Group H are more likely
to serve as ‘bridgesin peer assessment, implying they have stronger
control of the interaction.
Closeness centrality requires calculating the sum of the shortest
distance between a node and all other nodes in the graph. Nodes with
higher closeness centrality are closer to the geometrically central posi-
tion in the network [46]. The higher the closeness centrality of a node,
the more independent it will be in transmitting information. In this
study, there was no signicant difference in closeness centrality between
Group H and Group L (t=1.04, p =.079 >.05), suggesting that learners in
both groups had a degree of independence in transmitting information
in peer assessment activities.
Eigenvector centrality of a node depends on the number and quality
of its connections. The more connected or important a learners neigh-
bors are, the higher the eigenvector centrality value of that learner [46].
In this study, the eigenvector centrality of Group H was signicantly
higher than that of Group L (t=24.04, p=.000 <.001, d=0.83), indi-
cating that high-prestige learners can interact and communicate with
other inuential learners.
4.3.3. Ego-network
Ego-network refers to the network structure centered on a node
(ego), consisting of his or her directly connected nodes and the in-
teractions between them. Unlike the whole network, ego-network
Fig. 6. The whole social network and the explanation of some indicators
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Computers and Education Open 3 (2022) 100087
8
measures the characteristics of interactions among members from a
micro perspective [47]. The differences between the two groups in
Ego-network are shown in Table 8.
First, the network size of the ego-network refers to the number of
other learners directly related to a node [48]. Group H is signicantly
higher than Group L in this index (t=22.38, p=.000 <.001, d=0.78). The
size of an ego-network is closely related to the acquisition of informa-
tion, with larger networks being more likely to access a greater variety of
information [49].
Second, the average distance of learners in Group H (t=-11.24, p
=.000 <.001, d=0.59) was lower than that in Group L. Because Group H
has a shorter average distance and larger network size in the ego-
network, the networks it belongs to will have a wider range and faster
information transmission [50].
Finally, network density refers to the network tightness of the ego-
network, and self-centrality is used to measure a learners inuence on
his ego-network. Learners with different prestige levels did not show
signicant differences in density (t=1.52, p =.104 >.05), although they
did in self-centrality (t=9.70, p=.000 <.001, d=0.58): Group H was
signicantly better than Group L. This indicates that Group H has a
strong inuence compared with Group L based on the premise that
network density is not signicantly different.
4.4. Analysis of learning behaviors
To further explore the differences in learning behaviors between
Group H and Group L, this study conducted lag sequence analysis on the
learning behavior of these two groups. The GSEQ5.1 developed by
Quera et al. [51] was used to perform the sequence analysis. Z-scores
exceeding 1.96 indicate that the sequence has statistical meaning [52].
Tables 9 and 10 are the adjusted residual tables for Groups H and L.
Table 9 shows that high-prestige learners have 10 signicant behavioral
sequences. Three repetitive behaviors were noted: SC (studying
course)SC, PD (participating in a discussion)PD and PA-VA(peer
assessment-viewing assignments)PA-VA. There were also 7
Table 3
Indicators and statistics of learnerswhole social network in peer assessment
Indicators Values Descriptions
Number of nodes 457 This indicator reects the number of nodes in the
online peer assessment network, i.e. the number of
participants involved in peer assessment.
Number of edges 11354 This indicator describes the number of interactions of
all the participants.
Average degree 24.84 This indicator is derived by dividing the number of
edges by the number of nodes, which reects the
average number of interactions per participant.
Network density 0.215 The network density refers to the ratio of the number
of actual edges to the number of all possible edges,
and its value varies from 0 to 1. [59] A higher
network density indicates a higher frequency of
learner interaction.
Average path
length
1.933 The average path length refers to the average distance
between any two nodes in the network [60]. A
shorter average path length indicates better network
connectivity and more efcient information
exchange.
Centralization 0.081 The centralization describes the differences of
degrees between nodes and its value ranges from 0 to
1. This indicator reects the concentration trend of
the network. [61]
Table 4
Descriptive statistics and t-test analysis of the two groupsprestige
Variable Group H (Top 30%, n=142) Group L (Bottom 30%, n=128) t df p d
Mean SD Mean SD
Prestige 142 3.69 19.47 2.88 23.87 254.56 .000*** 0.87
***
p<.001
Fig. 7. Social network diagram of prestige.
Table 5
Descriptive statistics of learning performance scores of two groups of learners.
Pre-TEST Post-TEST
Group H Group L Group H Group L
n 142 128 142 128
Mean score 58.32 57.73 82.71 78.40
Median 57 58 86 76.5
Standard deviation 8.63 6.89 8.23 6.45
Interquartile range 6.5 5 14 8
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Computers and Education Open 3 (2022) 100087
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Fig. 8. Illustration of the signicant difference in the learning performance of the two groups
Table 6
Descriptive statistics and t-test results of the two groupsin-degree and out-degree
Variable Group H (n=142) Group L (n=128) t df p d
M SD M SD
In-degree 30.43 3.74 19.65 2.58 27.75 251.72 .000*** 0.87
Out-degree 23.98 2.89 24.42 2.86 -1.95 268 .065
***
p<.001
Table 7
Summarizes descriptive statistics and t-test results for the centrality of the two groups.
Variable Group H (n=142) Group L (n=128) t df p d
M SD M SD
Degree 41.47 3.19 33.39 2.73 22.38 267.38 .000*** 0.80
Betweenness 0.61 0.11 0.40 0.07 18.44 268 .000*** 0.75
Closeness 44.02 1.21 42.99 1.03 1.04 268 .079
Eigenvector 14.16 1.00 11.29 0.95 24.04 268 .000*** 0.83
***
p<.001
Table 8
Descriptive statistics and t-test results of the two groups of learners ego-network.
Variable Group H (n=142) Group L (n=128) t df p d
M SD M SD
Size 38.93 3.71 28.60 3.31 22.38 267.37 .000*** 0.78
Average distance 1.86 0.03 1.92 0.04 -11.24 232.43 .000*** 0.59
Density 22.02 0.95 21.65 0.91 1.52 268 0.064
Self-centrality 12.90 2.32 10.60 1.40 9.70 204.54 .000*** 0.58
***
p<.001
Table 9
Adjusted residual table of Group H.
Z SC MA VE PD PA-SA PA-VA PA-EA PA-VR PA-RA
SC 8.12* 3.97* -0.04 3.65* -1.36 -2.82 -4.81 -0.44 -3.48
MA -2.44 -2.33 -0.71 -1.64 1.07 -0.07 -2.44 1.58 -1.66
VE -3.62 -0.91 0.92 -0.62 0.93 1.87 -1.69 1.16 -1.04
PD 3.31* -1.95 1.15 4.14* 0.84 -0.54 0.31 0.64 -3.03
PA-SA -6.32 -0.56 -0.37 -1 -0.14 -4.79 -0.59 -2.32 -0.23
PA-VA -9.1 1.65 -0.45 1.21 -0.9 3.41* 10.44* -3.63 -2.74
PA-EA -2.15 1.14 1.44 -1.19 -0.57 -0.13 -1.98 1.52 -1.58
PA-VR 1.14 -2.62 -3.75 3.81* -0.64 -4.09 -0.05 -3.64 4.22*
PA-RA 3.04* 0.33 -1.16 -4.48 -0.23 -2.41 1.12 -1.88 0.03
*
p <.05.
N. Ma et al.
Computers and Education Open 3 (2022) 100087
10
signicant learning behavior sequences: SCMA (making annotation),
PDSC, PA-RA (peer assessment-reviewing assignments)SC, PA-
VAPA-EA (peer assessment-evaluating assignments), SCPD, PA-VR
(peer assessment-viewing results)PD, PA-VRPA-RA.
As can be seen from Table 10, the low-prestige learners showed 8
signicant behavioral sequences. In addition to 3 repetitive learning
behaviors (SCSC, PDPD, and PA-VAPA-VA), there were 5 signi-
cant learning sequences: PA-EASC, PA-VRVE, PA-VRPA-RA, PA-
VAPA-EA, SCPD.
To display the learning behavior sequences of the two groups, two
corresponding transition diagrams of learning behavior were drawn.
The learning behavioral transition diagrams for Group H and Group L
appears in Fig. 9 and 10. In the transition diagram, each node represents
a learning behavior, and each link indicates that the transition between
the two connected behaviors is signicant. The direction of each arrow
indicates the behavior transition direction. The numbers in these gures
are z-scores. The larger the number is, the more signicant the sequence
of behaviors is.
4.4.1. Low-prestige learners mainly derive inspiration and reection from
their peers assignments and pay more attention to their own learning
performance
First, low-prestige learners would review their assignments after
viewing the assessment results (PA-VRPA-RA). Second, another sig-
nicant sequence of learning behavior associated with low-prestige
learners was that they demonstrate reective behavior after viewing
and evaluating othershomework, that is, they would study the course
content again and participate in discussion (PA-VAPA-EASCPD).
This indicates that the low-prestige learners gain reection mainly came
from the inspiration of their peersassignments. However, self-reection
that relies mainly on oneself has limitations [53], which may be why
Group L was not as effective as the Group H in knowledge application.
Third, after viewing their assessment results, learners in Group L would
click on the evaluation scheme to check their scores on various di-
mensions, then further study course content (PA-VRVESC), possibly
suggesting that low-prestige learners need to do this because they
receive more limited feedback from peers.
4.4.2. High-prestige learners produce more deep learning behaviors in peer
assessment, and promote reection through a combination of peer
assessment and self-thinking
First, analysis of behavior sequences showed that learners in Group H
reect more on their assignments through viewing peer assessment re-
sults (PA-VRPA-RA). Second, high-prestige learners conduct further
learning after reviewing their assignments, that is, they browse relevant
course materials and comment on the learning content or go to the
discussion board to post (PA-VRPA-RASCMA, PA-VRPA-
RASCPD). These learners review what they have learned based on
peer assessment. Third, After viewing peer assessment results, learners
in Group H would use the discussion board to express their opinions, and
they then studied the course content again (PA-VRPDSCMA). This
suggests that high-prestige learners were more willing to participate in
interaction after being evaluated by others, and interaction also pro-
motes their learning of course content.
5. Discussion and conclusion
This study draws on social network prestige to study the participa-
tion gap in online peer assessment, and explores the differences in
learning performance, social network structure, and learning behaviors
of learners with different levels of prestige (i.e. Group H and Group L).
5.1. Learning performance
In this study, a knowledge application scale was developed by AHP to
evaluate the learning performance of learners with different levels of
prestige. The Johnson-Neyman analysis method was adopted to
compare the post-test scores of Group H and Group L learnersknowl-
edge application. The ndings are consistent with other research results
[54]. That is, social network prestige will affect learning performance,
the average post-test scores of the Group H were better than those of
Group L, and learners who are at a disadvantage in online interaction
(such as those with low prestige) are less likely to achieve well
Table 10
Adjusted residual table of Group L.
Z SC MA VE PD PA-SA PA-VA PA-EA PA-VR PA-RA
SC 6.99* 1.55 -2.33 4.22* -0.31 -2.42 -3.06 1.09 -0.73
MA 1.17 -0.67 -0.74 -0.22 -0.45 1.37 -5.69 -0.55 0.12
VE -3.65 -0.73 1.04 -0.3 -0.63 0.02 -0.97 0.24 -3.18
PD -5.34 -2.23 0.31 2.09* -0.19 -1.34 -0.29 1.08 -0.05
PA-SA 1.06 -2.03 -0.72 -0.21 -0.44 1.02 -5.67 -0.45 -0.12
PA-VA -7.17 -1.84 0.36 2.11 0.51 2.17* 12.19* -2.51 -2.31
PA-EA 2.48* -0.69 -0.99 -4.48 1.12 1.45 -0.93 -0.5 -0.17
PA-VR -1.99 -0.56 4.46* -2.49 -0.14 -4.55 0.34 1.4 5.31*
PA-RA -3.35 1.61 -2.18 1.22 1.11 -0.77 -0.17 -0.45 -0.03
*
p <.05.
Fig. 9. The learning behavioral transition diagram for Group H.
Fig. 10. The learning behavioral transition diagram for Group L
N. Ma et al.
Computers and Education Open 3 (2022) 100087
11
academically. This study delved into the current ndings and found that
the effect of prestige on learning performance is inuenced by learners
initial level of knowledge ability, and that differences in social network
prestige in online peer assessment do not affect the learners ultimate
level of knowledge application when their prior knowledge is too low.
For the vast majority learners with a certain learning basis, high-prestige
learners ultimately performed signicantly better in terms of knowledge
application.
Based on these ndings, this study concluded that promoting social
network prestige contributes to learning performance. However,
focusing on social network prestige is not enough for learners with a too
low priori knowledge, more individualized attention and support need
to be provided to them in this case.
5.2. Social network structure
There are signicant differences in the social network structure
among learners with different prestige. Firstly, the analysis of out-degree
and in-degree shows that the difference between Group H and Group L is
not signicant in out-degree, but there is a signicant difference in in-
degree, suggesting that Group L do not show less effort and struggle in
establishing connections with peers, but somehow achieved lower levels
of interaction gains. This phenomenon has also been described by other
scholars as positive peer interaction with unequal feedback [55].
Secondly, compared with Group L, Group H have higher centrality and
inuence, implying that Group H have greater control over learning
resources such as information and knowledge in the network, which is
consistent with Andrews [56] ndings. But previous research [57] ar-
gues that the control of high-prestige learners has the potential to
interfere with other learners in the network, which may further
contribute to the participation gap. Third, the eigenvector centrality
indicator shows that high-prestige learners interact with more inuen-
tial learners, while low-prestige learners mostly interact with learners of
their own prestige level. However, this "monopoly" of learning capital is
not conducive to good learning performance for low-prestige learners
[34].
It can be seen that the Group L actively interacts without receiving
reciprocal responses and can only communicate with learners of their
own prestige level, while Group H has more inuence and even achieves
a certain degree of control over the information in the network. What
can be done to reduce the damage caused by the participation gap to the
low-prestige group? In this study, the choice of which assignments to
review was freely chosen by learners, they may prefer to review as-
signments from high-prestige learners, which could have led to a higher
participation gap. Therefore, this study suggests consciously recom-
mending assignments from Group L to Group H through algorithms to
increase the likelihood of low-prestige learnersassignments being seen
by high-prestige learners, thereby reducing the damage caused by the
participation gap.
In addition, many technology-supported learning scaffolds use social
network analysis tools to build visual interaction networks of learners to
help instructors identify marginal learners who interact less and might
benet from specic intervention strategies [6]. But these
technology-supported learning scaffolds, such as commonly-used
force-directed network visualization tools could not fully capture the
prestige differences found in this study. As Fig. 7 shows, Group L that
have the same external interaction (out-degree) but achieve a lower
level of responses (in-degree) are not all found in marginal positions.
Considering the signicant differences in learning outcomes among
learners with different prestige, it is recommended that prestige in-
dicators should be considered when designing learning intervention
scaffold so that instructors can identify and provide timely support to
low-prestige learners who cannot obtain equivalent feedback as
high-prestige peers.
5.3. Learning behaviors
The behavior sequences showed that both high and low-prestige
learners actively reect on their past assignments in peer assessment.
However, learners with different prestige gain reection in different
ways, showing different depths of reection. Group L gain insight from
evaluating the assignments of others and then engage in self-reection.
Unlike Group L, Group H gain reection not only by evaluating the as-
signments of others, but also possibly from reections triggered by the
evaluation of others. They show more reective learning behaviors after
being evaluated by others, they are more willing to participate in
interactive activities besides peer assessment, such as actively ask
questions and checking peers messages, through which they can
continuously deepen their reections on course content.
Based on these ndings, the prestige levels of learners need to be
considered in the provision of feedback strategies. Low-prestige learners
have low efciency in interaction, and previous research indicates that
this leads to poor knowledge application and assignment quality [2].
Therefore, this study suggests that, in addition to focusing on their
prestige enhancement, pushing learning materials for low-prestige
learners that are appropriate to their ability level. In addition, the
course should more strongly support low-prestige learners to revise their
assignments, thus promoting deeper thinking. For high-prestige
learners, we suggest that higher-level cognitive demands should be
made on them, which can be achieved by providing learners with
evaluation scaffolding [58]. High-prestige learners post high-quality
evaluations in peer assessment, which in turn motivates them to
contribute to higher-quality interactions across the network.
6. Limitations and future directions
This research has some limitations, although it made some contri-
butions to the inuence of social network prestige on in-service teach-
ers learning outcomes in online peer assessment. Firstly, this study
mainly used the indicator of social network prestige to describe the
participation gap and its impact on learning outcomes from a static
perspective. Future studies can consider the time dimension to depict
the dynamic changes in learnerssocial network prestige and the effect
of such changes on their interactions and learning outcomes from a time
evolution perspective. Secondly, this study did not explore the dimen-
sion of learner characteristics because the data on learner characteristics
such as age, education, gender, and online learning experience were
relatively concentrated or did not differ signicantly when exploring the
factors of social network prestige formation. Thirdly, the research on
online interaction texts mainly focuses on the analysis of the quality of
the scale, and future research can combine the content of other scales to
conduct deeper excavation of the texts generated by online interactions.
Declaration of competing interest
No potential conict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
This research was funded by the Research on Time-Emotion
Cognition Analysis Model and Automatic Feedback Mechanism of On-
line Asynchronous Interaction project [grant number 62077007],
supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China.
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... In response to this challenge, educational researchers and practitioners are seeking effective learning strategies to bolster PSTs' capabilities with regard to TEL design. Among various instructional methods, peer assessment has shown promise as an educational strategy that can promote skill and knowledge improvement among PSTs (Cabello & Topping, 2020;Ma et al., 2022). ...
... Peer assessment has been widely used in teacher training and education, as it is an effective vehicle for the formative assessment of the performance of both preservice and in-service teachers (Topping, 2021). Several studies have verified that peer assessment can facilitate the development of teachers' learning design skills and improve their design artifacts (Fang et al., 2021;Ma et al., 2018;Ma et al., 2022;Tan & Chen, 2022). For instance, Ma et al. (2022) used peer assessment in a five-week online course on project-based learning (PBL) design for in-service teachers. ...
... Several studies have verified that peer assessment can facilitate the development of teachers' learning design skills and improve their design artifacts (Fang et al., 2021;Ma et al., 2018;Ma et al., 2022;Tan & Chen, 2022). For instance, Ma et al. (2022) used peer assessment in a five-week online course on project-based learning (PBL) design for in-service teachers. The experimental results showed that peer assessment enhanced learning performance with regard to PBL design artifacts only for high-participation teachers, while not for the low-participation teachers. ...
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To address the limitation of lacking interactivity in conventional peer assessment, this study proposed an interactive peer assessment approach and examined its effectiveness in an undergraduate course for preservice teachers (PSTs). Seventy-two PSTs were randomly assigned to the interactive or conventional group. The results indicated that the interactive group outperformed the conventional group with regard to technology-enhanced learning design skills, feedback quality and feedback uptake. Furthermore, feedback uptake was identified as a mediating factor to the effectiveness of the interactive approach. The study advocates for the integration of an interactive peer assessment approach into future online teacher educational settings.
... The rise of online teacher training, driven by advancements in information technology, has been recognized for its effectiveness in helping teachers acquire new skills and improve their professional practices (Kalinowski et al., 2020). The transition from face-to-face training to online platforms has significantly elevated the quality of teacher training (Ma et al., 2022a(Ma et al., , 2022b. Unlike traditional face-to-face training, online training offers flexibility, allowing educators to learn at their own pace and on their own schedule (Prestridge, 2016). ...
... Online teacher training has become a crucial means of professional development (Ma et al., 2022a(Ma et al., , 2022b, offering benefits such as flexibility in schedule and location, access to diverse learning resources, and the ability of learners to progress at their own pace. ...
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In the area of online teacher training, asynchronous collaboration faces several chal‑ lenges such as limited learner engagement and low interaction quality, thereby hinder‑ ing its overall efectiveness. Drawing on social comparison theory, providing social comparison feedback to teacher-learners in online asynchronous collaborative learning ofers benefts, but also has drawbacks. While social comparison has been explored in diverse felds, its role in education remains unclear. In this study, we selected 95 pri‑ mary and secondary school teachers participating in an online training course. Using randomized controlled trial design, we provided the experimental group with social comparison feedback, while the control group received only self-referential feedback. We used epistemic network analysis, lag sequential analysis, and social network analysis to identify the impact of social comparison feedback on group-regulated focus, group-interactive behaviors, and social network structures. The results showed that social comparison feedback signifcantly enhanced teachers’ online asynchronous collabora‑ tive learning.
... This may have two main benefits: it can lead to peer feedback that is very similar and is more in line with the feedback given by the instructors and teachers [30] and it can also have a positive impact on self-evaluation since, while evaluating others, students come to understand what the most important aspects are for evaluating their own work [28]. This is particularly true for students who already have a good performance: high achievers, in fact, are able to assess their classmates' performance, and, at the same time, reflect upon the feedback they receive from their peers to improve their own learning process [19]. Conversely, low achievers must first consider their peers' feedback, then they can try to reflect on their own learning results. ...
... These competencies are needed not only in their academic career but also in the students' future professional activities, from the perspective of lifelong learning [27]. Self-and peer assess-ment are fundamental from the perspective of the student-centered teaching and learning process [36]: indications from their classmates can become relevant food for thought, but self-evaluations may integrate their learning and offer a more exhaustive and constructive perspective on individual performance [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Students may also find some difficulties, especially in terms of peer assessment, whereby they may feel uncomfortable in "giving ratings" to the other students [32], or they may perceive a competitive climate in judging their classmates' performance, not trusting others' opinions [34] and being influenced by negative feelings related to one or more of their colleagues. ...
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Background: To promote a student-centered approach and sustain the development of a self-regulated attitude toward academic achievement, assessment in higher education should integrate different perspectives: teachers’ feedback is crucial, but it needs to be supported by self-assessment and peer assessment activities. Methods: The aim of the current systematic review is to examine the most recent literature (from 2011 to 2022) on these topics, considering the relevant findings that may have theoretical and practical applications in higher-education settings. Three of the broadest online databases for educational research (ERIC EBSCO, Science Direct, Web of Science) were considered for the search, which resulted in 30 documents being retrieved and considered in the analysis. Results: Self- and peer assessment seems to be two distinct processes that may complement and influence each other; although they seem particularly accessible, effectively assessing one’s own work and giving one’s peers useful feedback is not an easy task, due to several specific cognitive and social issues. Conclusions: The findings show an increasing interest in these topics, with particular attention to the potential benefits that could be derived from a combined and effective use of these assessment processes in higher education.
... Some researchers have also used SNA to analyze interactions in peer assessment (e.g., Luria & Kalish, 2013;Sonnenberg-Klein et al., 2017). For example, Ma et al. (2022) organized 457 in-service K-12 teachers to participate in an online peer assessment to optimize their project-based learning design scheme in a 5-week online course. They collected data on the participants' interactions in online peer assessment and used SNA to describe the participants' social network prestige. ...
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This study examined and compared the effects of two types of online peer assessment, namely, “free selection and invitation” (FS&I) assessment and the commonly implemented “assigned-pair” (AP) assessment, on undergraduates’ research competencies, flow, motivation, and interaction, supported by the Cloud Classroom online learning system. Ninety-three undergraduates from a research methods course participated in this study. They were randomly divided into two groups: an FS&I group and an AP group. The two groups experienced exactly the same teaching conditions except for different online peer assessment types. The study was conducted over one semester (16 weeks). Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to examine the effects of the two types of online peer assessment. Regarding research competencies that were represented by conceptual knowledge and research proposal, this study found that the FS&I and AP groups showed no significant difference in conceptual knowledge score, and that the FS&I group performed significantly better in the quality of research proposals than the AP group. The FS&I group also manifested higher levels of flow and motivation than the AP group. Additionally, social network analysis (SNA) revealed that the FS&I group exhibited more interactions and closer connections with peers than the AP group. These results suggest that FS&I online peer assessment is an effective scaffolding that can improve undergraduates’ research competencies, learning engagement and willingness to interact. The implications of this study are also discussed.
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Previous research indicated that passing networks can increase the performances of players in a football team. This can be achieved with the aid of data visualization and analysis using post-match data. This paper provides a taxonomy of sports data in football visualization and summarizes the data from three aspects of data types, main tasks, visualization techniques, and visual analysis with the use of Tableau software. The objective of this paper is to identify the playing pattern for Liverpool FC during Jurgen Klopp’s era. To identify the playing pattern, this paper will display the diagram of the passing networks from the goals created in the match. Besides, networks and graph theory using Social Network Visualizer is to investigate social structures from the passes data that created goals from an open play. It describes networked systems in terms of nodes and the links between them. The playing pattern may thus be determined by examining the degree of centrality, degree of prestige, and betweenness centrality from nodes and linkages. This paper introduces a visual analysis of competitive football, using the social network from passes to construct degree centrality, and finally discusses the playing pattern for Liverpool FC. For this paper, collecting and flexibly presenting large and complex data is the main concern to increase the understanding of the analysis. In summary, it was feasible to draw the conclusion that network metrics can give sport analysts knowledge that is complimentary to traditional notational analysis by offering a novel visualisation and comprehension of team members' behaviour as well as by characterising particular play patterns.KeywordsData visualizationPassing networkSocial network analysisPlaying pattern
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The rise of teacher training in online interactive learning environments has contributed to teachers’ professional development and brought new vitality to the informatisation of education. Many researchers have reported that there is a participation gap in online interactive learning environments. Research on the factors influencing this is very important. Social network prestige, which measures the degree to which learners gain peer attention in directed social networks, is one of the important metrics to characterise the participation gap. In this study, we offered an online teacher training course, and 1438 in-service teachers from primary and secondary schools attended. Among them, we selected 457 in-service teachers who participated in the three peer assessment activities as the final participants. To analyse the factors influencing learners’ social network prestige in online peer assessment, we first conducted a partial least squares structural equation modelling analysis to construct a model of factors influencing social network prestige. Then, we adopted several semi-structured interviews to investigate learners' perspectives to provide an in-depth analysis of the factors influencing social network prestige. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the participation gap in online interactions and make effective suggestions on how to improve learning performance in online peer assessment. Implications for practice or policy: Course designers could improve the design of the introduction to peer assessment to motivate learners and enhance their acceptance of the activities. Course designers could reduce participation gap by assigning work from low-prestige learners to high-prestige learners in a non-mandatory way later in the course.
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This paper analyzes the effects of gamification in the social network of a massive online course. An educational social-networking platform gathered information about the contributions of participants and about the social networks that were formed during the course. A gamification layer with three game elements (points, badges, and leaderboard) was then implemented in the online learning platform. Social network analysis (SNA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to analyze the differences between a treatment and a comparison group (N = 591 and N = 427), using a set of 20 variables for each participant which quantified contributions to the learning platform as well as position and influence in the social network. The results of SNA show that gamification influences the structure of the social network of the course. The results also suggest that the variables cluster similarly for each group and that the linear combination of variables called the first component (F1) is a good descriptor of students’ work and position in the network. F1 can be used to build predictive models of course completion. The models show that the probability of passing the course increases more rapidly in the treatment (gamified) group.
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Peer assessment is increasingly used in schools and higher education, especially in health education. However, there remains insufficient evidence that peer assessment conditions are beneficial for teacher education. In this article, empirical research literature on peer assessment of pre-service teaching performance are reviewed. The articles were from the ERIC and Scopus databases, from 2002 to 2020. Only fifteen studies met the selection criteria described herein. The studies differed in the type of assessment used but converged toward the conclusion that incorporating peer assessment into different stages of teacher education was appropriate and worthwhile. We discuss the theoretical perspectives on why peer assessment might work in teacher education, pointing out practical implications for decision-makers in this field. Finally, recommendations and constraints for researching and implementing peer assessment are discussed from the perspective of innovation within pre-service teacher education.
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The pair programming approach is used to overcome the difficulties of the programming process in education environments. In this study, the interaction sequences during the paired programming of preservice teachers was investigated. Lag sequential analysis were used to explore students’ behavioral patterns in pair programming. The participants of the study consist of 14 students, seven pairs enrolled in a Programming Languages course. The findings indicate that there are significant behavioral learning sequences. During the program development process, students hesitated to create an algorithm and to improve an existing one while proposing the next step. In addition, they constantly waited for approval. Collaborative behaviors such as giving and receiving feedback and helping other partners were less observed in females. In addition, significant sequential driver and navigator behaviors were presented. The findings of the study have important implications for instructors and designers when using a pair programming approach in teaching programming. In the future, programming instruction environments can be designed by considering the learner behaviors that are presented in this study.
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Massive Open Online Courses for Educators (MOOC-EDs) provide a new avenue for teaching teachers to use educational technology in classrooms, but a lack of individualized learner-instructor interaction in MOOCs may lead to dropouts. The interaction equivalency theorem implies that MOOCs have the potential to provide a virtually unlimited number of learners with meaningful experiences. Rich opportunities for learner interaction with course content and peers might offset the lack of learner-instructor interaction. However, evidence is largely absent for reconciling interaction equivalency in MOOCs to provide teachers with effective professional development. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate how interaction influenced teachers' course completion and examine teachers’ perception of interaction equivalency in a MOOC-based professional development course. A mixed method study was conducted by collecting and analyzing MOOC-ED log data and individual interviews with the teacher participants. The findings confirmed the importance of interactions in MOOCs. In addition, this study indicated learner-content interaction was the predictor of whether teachers completed the course and the very form of interaction that teachers who completed the course had engaged in most frequently. Practical implications for providing teachers with an effective interaction experience and establishing the interaction equivalence in MOOC-based teacher professional development courses are discussed.
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Online and open learning has recently been made prevalent in many regions in order to mitigate educational inequality and to enhance students’ learning experiences and outcomes. Previous studies showed that students perform differently in the learning process, where cultural differences matter. However, little is known about how cultural differences affect students’ learning behavioral patterns. This study applies a lag sequential analysis approach to understand the behavioral patterns in an online six-week course of 262 students from three cultures, namely Confucian (for Chinese students), Arab (for Tunisian students), and Serbian (for Serbian students). This study then discusses the different learning behavior patterns based on the theoretical framework of Hofstede’s National Cultural Dimensions (NCD). The obtained results highlighted that students from each culture behave differently due to several interconnecting factors, such as educational traditions. The results also showed that some of the learning behaviors were not in line with their students’ cultures based on NCD, calling for further investigation in this regard. Finally, the results pointed out that culture is a complex dimension, and further investigation is needed to understand the other dimensions that may affect online and open learning behaviors.
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Designing activities for learners to deal with problems and cultivate their higher order thinking is critical in professional training. Peer review is to allow a group of learners with similar abilities and knowledge background to promote their higher order thinking and reflective thinking through mutual observation and comments. However, in the conventional peer-review approach, the interaction between assessors and assessees is one-way. That is, assessors cannot receive any responses from assessees, so they have no opportunity to reflect on their comments. The online interactive peer-review approach aims to enable assessees to express their points of view and to allow assessors to understand whether their ratings and comments are accurate or helpful to assessees. During the interaction, both assessors and assessees have the opportunity for reflection, which then promotes the quality of ratings and comments and facilitates their learning effectiveness and critical thinking. The present study developed an online interactive peer-review system and applied it to the health assessment learning course for nurse practitioners (NP). An experiment was designed to explore the effects of different online peer-review approaches on NP students' learning achievement and higher order thinking. Also, the study recorded the students' peer-review content and analyzed its effects on the quality of their peer review. The experimental group adopted the online interactive peer-review approach, while the control group adopted the conventional online peer-review approach in a flipped learning context. The results indicated that integrating the online interactive peer-review learning approach could not only strengthen the NP students’ knowledge and clinical skills, but could also significantly improve their critical thinking tendency and reflective thinking. Moreover, based on the analytic findings of the peer-review content, students using the online interactive peer-review approach were better able to significantly address more specific suggestions to assist their peers in improving their health assessment performance than those using the conventional online peer-review approach.
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In this study, an integrated collaborative learning and knowledge map approach was developed for online teacher professional development. An online teacher education environment based on that approach was constructed. To investigate the interaction between the knowledge map and collaborative learning strategies on teachers’ learning performance and self-efficacy of group learning, a 2 × 2 experiment was acted out. The study subjects were 179 in-service teachers from primary schools in China. The participants were divided into four groups to learn theories and cases of educational research methods using different online learning strategies (individual learning or collaborative learning) and knowledge map strategies (using a knowledge map or not). The results revealed two notable findings. First, both the knowledge map and collaborative learning strategies were significantly conducive to enhance the teachers’ learning performance. Second, the interaction between the two kinds of strategies showed that the knowledge map strategy was potential to promote the self-efficacy of group learning among teachers who used the collaborative learning strategy. Thus, we conclude that the collaborative construction of group knowledge map could be an effective approach to promote teachers’ knowledge construction and provide visual interaction support for teachers’ online professional development.
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Researchers have been investigating social presence in online learning for decades. However, despite this continued research, questions remain about the nature and development of social presence. The purpose of this mixed-method exploratory case study was to investigate how social presence is established in online discussion forums in an asynchronous online course. The results suggest that social presence is more complicated than previously thought. In particular, situational variable such as group size, instructional task, and previous relationships influence how social presence is established and maintained in online courses. This paper concludes with implications for further research and practice.
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What brings about cooperation in social dilemmas? The literature has proposed motivational and strategic solutions to social dilemmas. In motivational solutions, actors cooperate because they care about fairness. In strategic solutions actors cooperate because their chances to exploit others are reduced. This paper argues that actors also cooperate in order to gain prestige. The effect of prestige on cooperation is examined relying on a unique set of network and covariate data on art organizations (museums, independent art spaces, galleries and art foundations) in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. Bogotá is a not a very likely environment for cooperation, since distrust is still widespread after a long civil war. The temporal exponential random graph models predict dyadic cooperation (i.e., between two actors) based on past and present cooperation in the network as well as of the organizations’ characteristics. The analysis thus controls for the effect of actors’ past and present interaction on the present cooperation dilemma. The paper shows that prestige affects cooperation in social dilemmas independent of past and present interactions.