College Networks Lab
What We Do
The College Networks Lab focuses on relational networks, especially college student networks, and the ways that higher education institutions can shape them in ways that may reproduce or interrupt inequality. We are interested in how learning environments, policies, and practices facilitate and constrain opportunities for connection and the educational outcomes of student networks. We study environments such as classrooms (physical and virtual), learning communities, and residence halls. We use primarily social network analysis and mixed methods in our research.
The Lab is co-directed by Dr. Rachel Smith at Iowa State University and Dr. Michael Brown at the University of Michigan.