Understanding how groups think: Exploring the theoretical and empirical potential of epistemic network analysis

This seminar will focus on a new methodological approach in educational research, epistemic network analysis (ENA). Derived from social network analysis, ENA converts qualitative data into a summation of unit matrices that can be quantitatively visualized and analysed. ENA has been used to demonstrate the ways different groups value and connect ideas in domains, how ideas communicated in documents are related, and ways that people and ideas interact which can then be mapped into a learning ecosystem. When used in a repeated measure design, ENA can demonstrate patterns of change among ideas and people. The seminar will demonstrate the variety of applications of ENA and briefly discuss the procedures from initial data collection to visualization. Limitations of the method and future applications will be discussed.