Students social network in undergraduate studies – does connecting to peers matter?

Abstract

Social network analysis was used to examine student interactions at the University of Iceland's School of Social Sciences and School of Engineering and Natural Sciences. Comparing students who started in 2017 with those from 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the study utilized a survey tool to track peer connections at study start and throughout the semester. Additional data on gender, relocation status and Grit were collected. The 2020 cohort showed fewer initial connections and less network growth than the 2017 cohort, highlighting the pandemic's impact on student relationships.