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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Network Dynamics of Social Behavior by University of Pennsylvania

4.6
stars
378 ratings

About the Course

How do revolutions emerge without anyone expecting them? How did social norms about same sex marriage change more rapidly than anyone anticipated? Why do some social innovations take off with relative ease, while others struggle for years without spreading? More generally, what are the forces that control the process of social evolution –from the fashions that we wear, to our beliefs about religious tolerance, to our ideas about the process of scientific discovery and the best ways to manage complex research organizations? The social world is complex and full of surprises. Our experiences and intuitions about the social world as individuals are often quite different from the behaviors that we observe emerging in large societies. Even minor changes to the structure of a social network - changes that are unobservable to individuals within those networks - can lead to radical shifts in the spread of new ideas and behaviors through a population. These “invisible” mathematical properties of social networks have powerful implications for the ways that teams solve problems, the social norms that are likely to emerge, and even the very future of our society. This course condenses the last decade of cutting-edge research on these topics into six modules. Each module provides an in-depth look at a particular research puzzle -with a focus on agent-based models and network theories of social change -and provides an interactive computational model for you try out and to use for making your own explorations! Learning objectives - after this course, students will be able to... - explain how computer models are used to study challenging social problems - describe how networks are used to represent the structure of social relationships - show how individual actions can lead to unintended collective behaviors - provide concrete examples of how social networks can influence social change - discuss how diffusion processes can explain the growth social movements, changes in cultural norms, and the success of team problem solving...

Top reviews

PA

Jul 28, 2019

This course really enhanced my understanding of collective intelligence, however, it would be great if instructors provide lecture slides also to revise the course whenever required.

SC

Jan 20, 2018

A Crisp yet effective overview of some of the most critical works in the field of Networking. Anyone from the fields of Management, Sociology, Anthropology et al should try the MOOC.

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51 - 75 of 95 Reviews for Network Dynamics of Social Behavior

By Ana G R M

Sep 8, 2019

Both Professors easily give an overview of Network Dynamics

By Daniel H J

Jan 17, 2020

It's a good course for introduction to social networks

By Jasmine B

Jul 6, 2020

Congratulations. It is a very well structured course.

By Ignacio O

Feb 1, 2019

Great introductory course, although a bit too easy.

By John

Dec 5, 2020

A great introduction to an ever interesting topic.

By Deepakshi A

Apr 24, 2021

A very interesting and helpful course. Thank you!

By Kedric W

Oct 21, 2019

A great entry level course for network dynamics.

By Sharon S

May 19, 2021

A must for anyones is in a business of change

By Gabriela M

Nov 21, 2017

Extremely educational. Totally recommend!

By Reka P

Jun 3, 2018

It was extremely didactic and logical.

By David C

Sep 26, 2020

Great course, great instruction

By Bhanu P

Aug 7, 2018

wonderful experience

By Deasy P

Nov 18, 2022

very useful lesson

By Amit R

Feb 29, 2024

Great Learning

By Aime K

Jun 6, 2022

It was hard

By Daniela B

Sep 18, 2020

I LOVED IT

By AbdurrahmanWahid T

Mar 24, 2022

very good

By Eugene M

Feb 25, 2022

What attracted me from the very beginning was the fact that it is a fascinating subject in a highly topical area. I would have given it five stars, but I have to note that one of the professors speaks far too quickly. It's hard to understand as a mode of communication, and it's hard to understand the meanings of speech when you're struggling to follow the "red thread." Otherwise, a great course! Congratulations!

By Siddhi G P

May 31, 2018

This is a really good course for beginners, and it gets across some great and important ideas very intuitively (even without getting into very rigorous analysis, it does a great job). It would really help if some more material on using NetLogo could be provided, but overall this is a great course.

By bernard

Jun 26, 2018

Great course, through this course i learned a few things on how people interact. Ideas in this course are not only applicable to people, but also diseases, problem solving and many more. I highly recommend to all managers and others interested in policy or human behavior in general

By Laurent G

Dec 11, 2017

I found this a very good introduction to network dynamics. The problems addressed are very interesting, and explanations are very clear. One drawback is that it is not very technical, but in the allotted amount of time it would not be possible to cover so much ground otherwise.

By Rasheed M F

Mar 24, 2023

Very nice course. Important for all levels and specialties since it tackle modelling and link it to real life networking. It can hint to us how the things may start , communicated and spread all over the institution that we work in and even in the society.

By Thomas K A W

Feb 22, 2018

The course gives a very good overview of the main insights and is enjoyable at the same time. Great course that would deserve a five-star rating if it would not be for the many typos, incomplete sentences in the tests, and errors in the videos.

By Jean C

Jun 20, 2018

Very good topic and teachers' expertize. It is a pity that the "rules" used in teh simulations are not made explicit, leading to some doubts. Also, could go a bit deeper in the influence of key network parameters.

By Sunil K

Feb 12, 2018

Content is neatly laid out, not mathematically rigorous as I believe course is targeting a wider set of audience. Week 2 material can be improved with regard to clarity about the different types of networks.