Computer scientist at the Jacobs School of Engineering in UCSD Manuel Cebrian and his colleagues conducted the research, which was published on Jan. 30 in Nature Publishing Group’s Scientific Reports journal, after observing 290 students and 80,000 interactions.

“I have been working at the intersection of the computer and social sciences for the last 10 years, and I felt there was a gap in making use of social media to understand better the structure and dynamics of students in the classroom.” Cebrian said.

These observations showed that the more interactions a student had with other students, the higher the score the student received.

“We showed that there is a very strong correspondence between social interaction and exchange of information — a 72-percent correlation,” Cebrian said. “But almost equally interesting is the fact that these high-performing students form ‘rich-clubs,’ which shield themselves from low-performing students.”

Even if lower-performing students attempt to join the high-performing students, the rich-clubs decline to include them. This shunning also has a correlation with the dropout rates among these low-performing students. However, rich-clubs can be beneficial in classrooms, if it becomes more inclusive to low-performing students.

“Our results prove that tension is resolved in favor of the “chat” and that the students self-organize in highly cohesive groups that exchange important pieces of information,” Cebrian said. “These pieces of information, ultimately, are what make a difference in the performance of students.”

Cebrian suggested that creating social networks within classes is a good way to close the gaps made through the “rich-club” groups.

“This [inclusion] could be done by making social network interventions in the classroom, [for example] rewarding the top students for helping out students that are falling behind,” Cebrian said.

Cebrian noted that many educators are under the impression that independent work is more beneficial than talking online. In his research, the results show that students who independently form groups that exchange information ends up being the key to high performance.

“[The study] shows that the idea of the ‘lone genius’ is either a myth, or gone,” Cebrian said. “Working as a team is — and here, I am speculating — is more important than having a high IQ, hiring a private tutor or having educated parents.”