College of Business

Knowledge Management (0506400)

Semester II 2022/2023

Knowledge Management Project. CLO (1,4,5,6)

Group work is one pedagogical strategy that promotes participation and interaction. It also fosters a deeper and more active learning process. In addition to exposing students to different approaches and ways of thinking, working with other students in groups can promote a sense of belonging that combats the anonymity and isolation that many students experience at a large campus. Working together in groups also gives students the opportunity to learn from and teach each other. Classroom research has shown that students often learn better from each other than they do from a teacher (Sirje Virkus, Tallinn University, 2011).

The result of this collaborative group work will be a research report presenting the “Analysis of WhatsApp group Chats”

It is not a surprise that every course has a WhatsApp group. At the beginning of each course in every semester, one or more students take the initiative to create a WhatsApp group. Most, if not all, students voluntarily join the group. They are able to share ideas, resources with regards to their course materials and also share up to date information on assignments such as their due dates and any materials that could help other students to write their assignments. Moreover, students are also able to share additional reading materials as well which would help students to develop further knowledge or understanding of the course and its theories. Students can also seek assistance from a mass of students and there are no limits to knowledge or information that is sought for. Collectively, through information and knowledge sharing, students are able to help one another and themselves to achieve mutual desired goals.

The group project, which should be done in groups of no more than 4 individuals, is to analyze WhatsApp group chats and reflect on the results by providing insights and recommendations. Analyze at least four WhatsApp groups from different classes in the current semester to ensure variety and diversity in the analysis. Each group meets periodically to discuss their project. Members of the project are expected to actively participate in the development of the project. There is a presentation and a written report component to this project.

However, while there are different approaches to analyze WhatsApp chat data, it is recommended to use ONE of the following two approaches (Students should ensure they understand the chosen approach before starting the analysis):

Using programming Analysis (Python, R, NLP and others): In this method, Choose a suitable programming language such as python to conduct the analysis. A python program can be written and run using Google colab for example. You can benefit from the following link

https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/blog/2021/04/whatsapp-group-chat-analyzer-using-python/

Using this approach requires you to also do a sentiment analysis (for which Vader library or NTLK python package could be used)

2. Using thematic analysis to identify themes and pattern in the chat (you can benefit from https://gradcoach.com/what-is-thematic-analysis/ to learn more about thematic analysis to be able conduct this approach). Most importantly, code each message by giving it appropriate code, combine these codes into groups, and finally classify these groups of codes into themes (such as “greeting and gratitude”, “knowledge sharing”, “chatting and discussion”, “advertisement” to mention a few). However, you should be innovative in naming the themes and discuss each theme with examples from the group. You can benefit from my conference paper:

(https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9994133).

Using EITHER approach, the following should be part of your analysis:

1. Categorize the group activity according to Table 1 (Give the table an appropriate title)

2. Categorize number of posts according to:

Participant in the group (for example participant 1 = 25 posts, participant 2= 11 posts……etc.).

Daily posts (Day 1= 3 posts, day 2= 11 posts……. etc.).

Table 1:

The Report

Reports are expected to be well-organized, well written and properly referenced. References should be provided where appropriate. Appendix A shows the cover page of the report. It should include a discussion of the insights and patterns identified in the chat data. Students should reflect on their findings and provide recommendations based on their analysis. The written portion will be due in the week before the final exam. This will count for 70% of the grade for this project. Appendix B shows a suggested report contents heading for the report

Submission: One member of the group should submit a soft copy of the report through Moodle before the deadline.

Group Presentation

Each group will be asked to do a 15-minute presentation (marks will be deducted for poor time management). There will be approximately 5 minutes for questions following the presentation. Group Presentation (30% of overall 20%)

The presentation will be in the last week before the final exam during the class time.

Appendix A: Cover Page format for all projects

0506400 Knowledge Management

“Insights from the Analysis of Students WhatsApp Group Chats”

meeting deadlines.

Appendix B (Number of pages are optimum. Explanation to the point with no extra jargon)

Introduction (1 page)

Community of Practice (CoP) (1 page with references)

CoP in a Classroom using WhatsApp (1 page with references)

Analysis (either programing or Thematic). Explain your method. (2 pages with references. Programs should be included if programming is chosen as the analysis approach).

Results & Finding (3-5 pages)

Categorize the group activity according to Table 1

Categorize number of posts according to participant in the group and daily posts

If programming, then visualizations of all results to all groups and the sentiment analysis

If thematic approach, then explain the identified themes with examples from the chats.

Discussion: insight and reflection into the results + recommendation (1-2 pages)

Conclusion (1 page).