Using online facebook study group

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2204704Using Online Facebook Study Groups as a Pedagogical Tool for Political Science Courses Abstract: In this paper, we provide

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2204704

Using Online Facebook Study Groups as a Pedagogical Tool for Political Science

Courses

Abstract:

In this paper, we provide instructions and a rationale for using Facebook as an

educational tool to create online study groups for political science courses The

suggestions and guide provided in this paper are based on our own observations and experiences We also include a punctuated quantitative analysis in order to demonstrate that a positive empirical relationship exists between Facebook study groups and academic performance We integrated Facebook as the primary study tool for eight different upper and lower division political science courses at a large public university (n=619) Online Facebook study groups allow students within a course to connect with each other and share a common space online Group members may also send messages to each other, which they may choose to sync with email, cellular or computing devices Additionally, group members can chat with each other in real time, upload documents (such as lecture notes or study guides), and share Internet links with other members of the course We find that incorporating online Facebook study groups as a pedagogical tool in political science courses positively impacts academic performance

Keywords: Facebook, student-faculty interaction, online study groups

Word Count: 3100

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2204704

In this paper, we provide a detailed guide for how political science instructors may use Facebook as a platform for online study groups.1The suggestions and guide provided in this paper are based on our own observations and experiences after

integrating Facebook as the primary study tool for eight different upper and lower

division political science courses at a large public university over the course of three years In this paper, we present our novel theoretical logic for incorporating Facebook into the classroom, as opposed to blogs, discussion forums, and other forms of Internet technology Additionally, we include a basic quantitative analysis, which shows that Facebook online study groups may positively impact academic performance

Generally, students in our sections and courses have used Facebook study groups strategically in several ways Students used these groups to coordinate offline study groups (e.g at the campus library), share notes with each other, discuss the readings or other class-related materials, and keep in touch easily throughout a quarter Facebook groups allow students to interact with each other without establishing a formal

“friending” connection Thus, students are able to maintain their privacy, establishing limits on what others can see, while still participating in the online course group Based

on our observations, experience, and research, we suggest that Facebook study groups may provide a unique online pedagogical tool for political science professors, instructors, and teaching assistants of large university courses

1 This paper is intended to provide a detailed guide, much in the same manner as similar articles on specific interactive teaching strategies, such as simulations

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2204704

Why Facebook?

Social networking usage has increased over the past few years, and is likely to reach further into our everyday lives (Boyd and Ellison 2007; Kandell 1998) Educators must face the fact that students spend a significant amount of time online, particularly on social networking sites (Subrahmanyam et al 2008) It stands to reason that when

instructors attempt to add online components to college courses, they must compete with the existing online habits of students, including the amount of time that students spend on Facebook (Stern and Taylor 2007) On average, undergraduate students spend 8.5 hours per week on Facebook, out of 22.4 hours per week spent online, and the majority of college students have Facebook accounts (Morepace 2010) Current research on

Facebook, with regard to the impact on college students, is divided

Some studies find that Facebook has a positive effect on most college students (Stern and Taylor 2007) For example, several studies investigate the relationship

between Facebook and the ability of college students to create social capital, and find a positive correlation (Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe 2007; Valenzuela, Park, and Kee 2009) Another study finds that college students use Facebook as a positive outlet for expressing their identity (Pempek, Yermolayeva, and Calvert 2009) Although these studies show that Facebook indirectly positively impacts college students in many ways, these studies do not directly test the effects of Facebook on academic success

Indeed, the negative impact of Facebook on academic performance is the focus of several recent studies For example, one recent study that gained widespread media attention finds that the amount of time a student spends on Facebook is directly

negatively correlated with academic performance (Kirschner and Karpinski 2009) This

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2204704

study is the first to explicitly connect academic performance with Facebook use

Subsequent studies conducted in conjunction found similar results (Boogart 2006;

Karpinski and Duberstein 2009) For example, another study finds that students who are Facebook users spend less hours per week studying than students who are

non-Facebook users (Karpinski and Duberstein 2009) These studies find that non-Facebook and academic performance are negatively related, suggesting a potentially tenuous

relationship between social media and academic productivity

Other studies attempt to replicate these initial results, but encountered

inconclusive findings Pasek, More, and Hargittai (2009) replicated the Kirschner and Karpinski study to find no evidence that suggests Facebook use is connected with

academic performance These studies view Facebook, and other social networking sites,

as neither positive nor negative influencers of academic performance However, these studies fail to identify how social networking sites, like Facebook, may be integrated within an academic setting If instructors consciously integrate social networking sites into their courses, students may potentially channel their Internet usage toward a more productive end In this study, we argue that educators of political science courses may mitigate the negative academic consequences associated with increasing Facebook usage among college students by incorporating Facebook within the college classroom setting

The vast majority of undergraduates already use Facebook on a daily basis for personal contacts Facebook currently allows users to create groups, which act as a venue for specifically selected personal contacts The observed benefits of

using Facebook groups to create online study groups are numerous (Park, Kee, and Valenzuela 2009) Online Facebook study groups allow students within a course to

connect with each other and share a common space online Group members may also send messages to each other, which they may choose to sync with email, cellular or computing devices Additionally, group members can chat with each other in real time, upload documents (such as lecture notes or study guides), and share Internet links with other members of the course Based on our own observations over the years, we expect that membership and participation in these Facebook study groups is positively related to academic performance In the following section, we provide a guide for creating, using, and monitoring an online Facebook study group

Creating, Using, and Monitoring a Facebook Study Group

We have used Facebook groups to create an online study space for students for eight terms in total (combined) Facebook groups is a function on the site that allows for the creation of a group with identified members In this section, we discuss the practical components of Facebook groups that provide a unique framework for student-student and student-faculty interaction.2

The creator of a Facebook group, who is automatically assigned as the

administrator, has several options for group privacy The administrator has the option of making the group open to the general public, only the students from a specific college campus, or only individuals who have been specifically invited to join the group via

e-2 Facebook provides video demonstration guides for how to create and use the groups functions The index of Facebook video demonstration guides may be accessed at the following URL: https://www.facebook.com/help/groups/ We also created a video

demonstration in order to give specific visual directions on how to use the groups for political science courses Our video demonstration guide is accessible at the following URL: http://www.youtube.com/user/TeachingwithFacebook/ However, our video guides are currently removed, because the videos contain identifying information about the authors of this paper

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2204704

mail Additionally, the administrator may select an option for the group to be

unsearchable or invisible to anyone who is not an invited member Membership in a group does not allow any of the members to automatically view other group members’ profiles these remain private according to the students’ preferences Instructors and teaching assistants may choose the highest privacy settings on their personal accounts, which can also keep administrators private from general group membership In this manner, a Facebook study group may be constructed so that it is isolated from all other social networking functions of the site

Members of a Facebook group have several options for communication,

interaction, and discussion Facebook groups allow members to post on a common

“wall,” similar to an online forum However, discussion occurs as a constant flow, rather than a nested conversation Additionally, group members may send private messages to each other, which they may choose to sync with cellular devices, email, or computing devices Facebook groups also has a group instant message function, in which any or all group members may chat live with each other in the same chatbox.3

Another method of interaction involves the newly introduced Skype-enabled video chat, which allows students to interact face-to-face while remaining in different physical locations This function differs from Skype or other direct forms of video

telecommunications, because Facebook allows group members to video chat without first adding each other as personal contacts In this manner, Facebook allows for many

methods of synergistic connectivity between group members For courses, this allows

3 Indeed, a recent study finds that students and faculty both positively benefit from using instant message communication as an “educational tool,” and that instant messaging does not detract from conventional forms of student-faculty interaction (Hickerson and Giglio 2009)

students to discuss course material from the privacy and convenience of their own homes, laptops, or mobile device

Additionally, group administrators may enable other functions that may enhance the utility of the group as an online resource For example, Facebook study group

members may also upload documents, such as lecture notes or study guides, for any group member to download at their convenience Once uploaded, these documents

become available to all group members Members of the group may share links to other Internet resources, blogs, academic sources, and media Group members can actively comment on these outside Internet resources Group members may also post images or videos that are relevant to the course The videos and images are directly embedded within the group, also allowing opportunities to begin discussion Finally, group members can create events, where they suggest a physical location and time for face-to-face

meetings Often times, students use this function to create offline study groups

The most practical function of Facebook groups, for the purposes of college courses, is that the administrator may disable or delete any material that is deemed

irrelevant or counter-productive Based on our experience, it does not pose a significant time commitment for an instructor or teaching assistant to monitor these Facebook study groups Indeed, students are self-regulating and we have encountered only minimal issues with posted material that may be considered offensive, irrelevant, or counter-productive Instructors may sync notifications of group activity to a cellular device or email, and receive real-time updates at their convenience

Additionally, students seem to genuinely respect Facebook as a legitimate space for interaction Facebook group members cannot be anonymous In general, students treat

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2204704

Facebook as if it were an extension of a physical classroom In other words, we observe that students behave and interact similarly in both the classroom and on the Facebook study group For many of our students, Facebook is not an artificial online construct without legitimacy, but a significant component of their social lives Based on our

observations, it appears that students are increasingly more comfortable in the classroom after first interacting online via Facebook Once students establish a network of contacts,

or a study group, via Facebook, they tend to meet offline regularly, are more engaged during lectures, and participate more in discussions during sections or class

Facebook Study Groups and Academic Performance: A Quantitative Analysis

Another purpose of this study is to perform a basic quantitative analysis in order

to ascertain whether specific functions of Facebook may positively affect the academic performance of college students We expect that membership in these Facebook study groups will correlate with higher academic performance, an increase in hours per week spent studying, and an increase in office hour visits during the academic quarter This study investigates the direct correlation between membership in Facebook study groups and grades

This study uses data from previous terms to run regressions on a large-N sample (n = 619) One of the authors of this study created Facebook study groups for six terms, five courses for which she was the teaching assistant, one course for which she was the instructor of record The other author of this study created Facebook study groups for four terms, two courses for which he was the teaching assistant, two courses for which he

was the instructor of record.4 Although all of these students were enrolled in political science courses, the sample consists of students from over forty majors For all ten terms,

57 percent of students joined the Facebook study groups, and 43 percent of students did not join the Facebook study groups This difference is significant enough to justify an exploratory quantitative analysis

We quantitatively assess the direct impact of membership in a Facebook study group on academic performance Unfortunately, for this analysis, we are limited in testing variables that are included in the basic grading roster.5 The registrar rosters for each course include the following information about each student: name, student

identification number, grade in the course, major(s), email address, class level, quarter, and course number We create an additional variable, which is membership in

a Facebook study group, by cross-referencing membership information that we had collected for each course

[Table 1 about here]

Table 1 is an OLS regression testing the relationship between Facebook group membership and student grades We see a positive and significant relationship between membership and grades A student who joins the Facebook study group is likely to see half-a-letter grade improvement in their final course grade The probability that this

4 The courses included in the sample include introduction to international relations, introduction to American government, courts, judges, and politics, ethical issues in international relations, American foreign policy, international politics, public opinion, and voting and elections The sample contains 14.2 percent freshmen, 17.4 percent sophomores, 26.2 percent juniors, and 41.4 percent seniors Forty-three majors are represented in the sample The average letter grade in these courses is a B-

5 We had not, over the years, intended to conduct a formal study of the Facebook online study groups For this reason, we are not able to include many standard control variables

in this model, such as gender, race, income, and age

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2204704

relationship is due to chance is 1.2 percent, meaning that this relationship is statistically significant

The variables for the course enrolled and major are nominal, meaning the

direction tells us nothing about the relationship However, we find that all the control variables are significant Additionally, we find that students who are freshmen and

sophomores performed better than their senior and junior class level peers, when taking these controls into account We coded the specific term (quarter) as a sequential variable The positive coefficient may potentially indicate a learning curve with these groups, as with each successive quarter, course grades improved by around 1/3 of a letter grade

This model only explains 6.7 percent of the variation in grades We anticipate that factors such as motivation, intellectual ability, and previous academic success most likely explain the majority of the variation in grades Unfortunately, we do not have the ability

to include these factors in our model, but we still believe this basic analysis is a useful indicator that Facebook study groups may be positively utilized as an educational tool

Conclusion

In this paper, we provide instructions and a rationale for using Facebook as an educational tool to create online study groups for political science courses We also include a punctuated quantitative analysis in order to demonstrate that a positive

empirical relationship exists between Facebook study groups and academic performance However, the primary purpose of this paper is not necessarily to provide a quantitative justification for the use of Facebook as the platform for online study groups Rather, in