Extending the theoretical framing for physics education research: An illustrative application of complexity science

Abstract

The viability of using complexity science in physics education research (PER) is exemplified by
\n(1) situating central tenets of student persistence research in complexity science and (2) drawing on the
\nmethods that become available from this to illustrate analyzing the structural aspects of students’ networked
\ninteractions as an important dynamic in student persistence. By drawing on the most cited characterizations
\nof student persistence, we theorize that university environments are made up of social and academic
\nsystems, which PER work on student persistence has largely ignored. These systems are interpreted as
\nbeing constituted from rules of interaction that affect the structural aspects of students’ social and academic
\nnetwork interactions from a complexity science perspective. To illustrate this empirically, an exploration of
\nthe nature of the social and academic networks of university-level physics students is undertaken. This is
\ndone by combining complexity science with social network analysis to characterize structural similarities
\nand differences of the social and academic networks of students in two courses. It is posited that framing a
\nsocial network analysis within a complexity science perspective offers a new and powerful applicability
\nacross a broad range of PER topics.