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1. What You Say is Relevant to How You Make Friends: Measuring the Effect of Content on Social Connection

   Xu, Yiqiao; Gitinabard, Niki; Lynch, Collin; Barnes, Tiffany (June 2019, International Conference on Educational Data Mining)

   Lynch, Collin F.; Merceron, Agathe; Desmarais, Michel; Nkambou, Roger (Ed.)

   Discussion forums are the primary channel for social interaction and knowledge sharing in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Many researchers have analyzed social connections on MOOC discussion forums. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is little research that distinguishes between the types of connections students make based upon the content of their forum posts. We analyze this effect by distinguishing on- and off-topic posts and comparing their respective social networks. We then analyze how these types of posts and their social connections can be used to predict the students’ final course performance. Pursuant to this work we developed a binary classifier to identify on- and off- topic posts and applied our analysis with the hand-coded and predicted labels. We conclude that the post type does affect the relationship between the students and their closest neighbors or community members clustered communities and their closest neighbor to their learning outcomes. 

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2. The Impact of a School-Based Academic Support Program on Students’ Psychosocial Impairment

   White, Gwyne W.; Hatchimonji, Danielle R.; Vaid, Esha; Caldwell Jr., Rickey A; Elias, Maurice J. (May 2023, Journal of educational and developmental psychology)

   The skills conveyed in high school are essential for success, and evidence suggests that psychosocial well-being is critical to that process. Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) is an in-school, academic support program that targets underserved students. The current study explored the impact of an intervention program targeting academic achievement on student perceptions of social support and psychosocial impairment. The study was conducted in an under-resourced, majority Latinx high school and the sample included 75 AVID students and 140 demographically matched controls. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed to identify the impact of participation in the AVID program on symptoms of emotional and behavioral distress. After controlling for demographics factors and academic achievement, student perceptions of emotional and teacher support explained 7.2\% of the variance in psychosocial distress; participation in the AVID intervention was found to have significantly improved the variance accounted for (ΔR2=.02, 5.13, p=.025; R2=.11, F(9,204)=2.90, p=.003). The results of this study indicate that perceived teacher social support and AVID participation were, independently, significantly associated with reduced student psychosocial distress. These findings suggest that interventions targeting the complex mechanisms of school achievement may also have a positive impact on psychosocial impairment beyond student perceptions of social support. 

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3. Postdoctoral research training and the attainment of faculty careers in social science and STEM fields in the United States

   https://doi.org/10.1108/SGPE-04-2020-0025  

   Wang, Yanbing; Main, Joyce B. (August 2021, Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education)

   Purpose While postdoctoral research (postdoc) training is a common step toward academic careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, the role of postdoc training in social sciences is less clear. An increasing number of social science PhDs are pursuing postdocs. This paper aims to identify factors associated with participation in postdoc training and examines the relationship between postdoc training and subsequent career outcomes, including attainment of tenure-track faculty positions and early career salaries. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the National Science Foundation Survey of Earned Doctorates and Survey of Doctorate Recipients, this study applies propensity score matching, regression and decomposition analyses to identify the role of postdoc training on the employment outcomes of PhDs in the social science and STEM fields. Findings Results from the regression analyses indicate that participation in postdoc training is associated with greater PhD research experience, higher departmental research ranking and departmental job placement norms. When the postdocs and non-postdocs groups are balanced on observable characteristics, postdoc training is associated with a higher likelihood of attaining tenure-track faculty positions 7 to 9 years after PhD completion. The salaries of social science tenure-track faculty with postdoc experience eventually surpass the salaries of non-postdoc PhDs, primarily via placement at institutions that offer relatively higher salaries. This pattern, however, does not apply to STEM PhDs. Originality/value This study leverages comprehensive, nationally representative data to investigate the role of postdoc training in the career outcomes of social sciences PhDs, in comparison to STEM PhDs. Research findings suggest that for social sciences PhDs interested in academic careers, postdoc training can contribute to the attainment of tenure-track faculty positions and toward earning relatively higher salaries over time. Research findings provide prospective and current PhDs with information helpful in career planning and decision-making. Academic institutions, administrators, faculty and stakeholders can apply these research findings toward developing programs and interventions to provide doctoral students with career guidance and greater career transparency. 

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4. Broadening Access and Inclusion: Democratization in STEM Education, Research, and Careers

   Flowers, L (October 2024, International journal of science and research)

   Democratizing STEM aims to make science education, research, and career pathways more inclusive and accessible. This article examines how democratization strategies like MOOCs, portable research tools, and interdisciplinary collaborations can increase STEM engagement and diversity. By expanding educational resources and career opportunities, democratization can address workforce disparities and advance scientific literacy. The paper calls for substantial support from various sectors to create democratization metrics and strategies, enabling broad and meaningful participation in STEM fields. 

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5. Prior What Experience? The Relationship Between Prior Experience and Student Help-Seeking Beyond CS1

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3724363.3729092  

   Ko, Shao-Heng; Stephens-Martinez, Kristin (June 2025, ACM)

   Background and Context. Prior experience (PE) has been shown to be related to computing students' performance, persistence, and help-seeking behavior. However, most works studied prior programming experience in introductory programming (CS1) courses, while other forms of PE in other contexts are underexplored. Objectives. We seek to study the relationship between all kinds of relevant PE and help-seeking behavior in course-affiliated resources within and beyond the typical CS1 context. Method. We analyzed N=2,625 students' self-reported PE and course-affiliated help-seeking records, originating from 19 offerings of six courses at a post-secondary US institution. Four of the six courses are non-programming or non-introductory courses. Findings. We found pronounced negative relations between PE and students' frequency of seeking one-on-one student-staff interactions, as well as positive relations between PE and students' self-reported progress from these interactions. When multiple forms of PE are tracked, the PE that is more aligned with the course activities has a more pronounced effect. We found little relation between PE and students' behavior in class discussion forums. Implications. Our results highlight that (1) the relationship between PE and help-seeking extends beyond the CS1 context; and (2) this relationship differs between help resources and between course contexts. This motivates providing resource-specific and course-specific training on helping different student populations. 

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