Building on the foundation of ENA, ordered network analysis (ONA) captures not only which codes and ideas co-occur, but also the order in which interactions occur. ONA retains ENA’s interpretable network visualizations and support for statistical testing while adding a temporal dimension, making it especially useful for studying collaborative problem-solving and other interactions that unfold over time.
| Foundational ONA Papers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ordered Network Analysis | Tan, Y., Ruis, A. R., Marquart, C., Cai, Z., Knowles, M. A., & Shaffer, D. W. (2023) | This paper introduces Ordered Network Analysis (ONA), a method for modeling and visualizing not only which ideas occur together during collaborative problem-solving, but also the order in which they appear. |
| Examples of ONA in use | >||
|---|---|---|
| Dissecting Learning Tactics in MOOC Using Ordered Network Analysis | Fan, Y., Tan, Y., Raković, M., Wang, Y., Cai, Z., Shaffer, D. W., & Gašević, D. (2023) | This study uses ONA to examine more than four million learning actions in a MOOC, revealing how learners combine and sequence actions into distinct learning tactics. |
| Modeling Player Progression in an Educational Game Using Ordered Networks | Liu, X., Scianna, J., Metcalf, S. J., Wei, Z., Baker, R. S., Barany, A., Swanson, L., & Gagnon, D. J. (2026) | Using ONA this study examines how players progress through tasks of varying difficulty in an educational science game, identifying pathways associated with persistence, quitting, and readiness for later challenges. |
| How We Code Code: Leveraging GPT and Ordered Networks for Understanding Introductory Programming Education | Pankiewicz, M., Zambrano, A. F., & Barany, A. (2024) | This study combines GPT-based qualitative coding with ONA to reveal how higher- and lower-performing novice programmers respond differently to coding errors over time. |
| Using Ordered Network Analysis to Visualize Ideologies in Political Survey Data | Tan, Y., Yang, B., Eagan, B. R., & Levine, P. (2023) | This study uses ONA to visualize political ideologies as networks of connected opinions, based on how survey respondents identify which beliefs provide reasons for others |
| Characterising Individual-Level Collaborative Learning Behaviours Using Ordered Network Analysis and Wearable Sensors | Yan, L., Tan, Y., Swiecki, Z., Gašević, D., Shaffer, D. W., Zhao, L., Li, X., & Martinez-Maldonado, R. (2023) | This study combines wearable positioning sensors with ONA to examine how individual students move and interact during group work, showing that greater collaboration is associated with lower stress and higher satisfaction. |
| Analysing Verbal Communication in Embodied Team Learning Using Multimodal Data and Ordered Network Analysis | Zhao, L., Tan, Y., Gašević, D., Shaffer, D. W., Yan, L., Alfredo, R., Li, X., & Martinez-Maldonado, R. (2023) | This study combines audio and spatial data with ONA to model communication during a healthcare simulation and identify differences between the interaction patterns of higher- and lower-performing teams. |
For greater flexibility and more advanced analyses, try ONA in R. The rONA package supports the same core analytic process as the ENA Web Tool while allowing you to work directly with your data, customize analyses, and build more transparent and reproducible QE workflows.
Once your coded data is ready, you can use the rONA package to conduct your custom analysis from scratch, or continue from a model you built in the ENA Web Tool. To take your data to R, click Sets in the left sidebar, click the three-dot menu on your data file, and select Download CSV; then build the ordered network model in R with the same units, horizons, window, and codes. To take the model’s results instead, click Download Model above the comparison plot: it saves the plots and, optionally, the model data (nodes, point positions, line weights, and connection counts).
The rONA package provides functions for ONA, and some steps also require functions from the TMA package. Step-by-step instructions can be found in this book chapter.
For a comprehensive description, see the documentation for the ONA package.
| Documentation | ||
|---|---|---|
| QE R Package Repository | Index of QE R packages. | |
| ONA: Ordered Network Analysis | Marquart, C. L., Tan, Y., Cai, Z., & Shaffer, D. W. | Documentation page for the ONA package. |
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