Teaching Tip: A Social Media Analytics Capstone Research Project with Community Engagement

Authors

Chen Ye, Purdue University NorthwestFollow
Lin Zhao, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityFollow

Abstract

Businesses assess public sentiment toward relevant topics and gain valuable insights through social media analytics (SMA). Students of business information analytics can therefore reap multiple benefits from SMA as a learning tool. We designed and implemented an SMA capstone project that integrated undergraduate research and community engagement. Students first identified research questions on their topics of interest that aligned with the interests of the client, a community organization. They collected relevant tweets through Twitter’s API using R and then assessed public sentiment through text mining and analytics tools such as Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count. They also presented their findings to various stakeholders through multiple venues. Preliminary assessment suggests that the students achieved positive learning outcomes.

Recommended Citation

Ye, Chen and Zhao, Lin (2023) "Teaching Tip: A Social Media Analytics Capstone Research Project with Community Engagement," Journal of Information Systems Education: Vol. 34 : Iss. 4 , 406-417.
Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/jise/vol34/iss4/5