Prasanta Bhattacharya

Prasanta Bhattacharya

I am a quantitative researcher, educator, and consultant working on solving complex social and business problems using network science, behavioral analytics, and psychographics. I have a deep interest in data consulting and in creating data-driven AI solutions for emerging markets.

EdTech: Uncovering network effects in educational and labor market outcomes

I am currently collaborating on a number of projects that use fine-grained and anonymized digital traces of student interactions on e-learning platform to understand how network effects within student communities affect various kind of learning and economic outcomes. As part of this, we also try to analyze how student collaboration networks evolve over time as a result of their academic performances. In a related set projects, we are looking at using large-scale behavioral data from an online peer-to-peer tutoring company in Asia to analyze teaching and learning styles that lead to productive (vs. counterproductive) interactions and learning outcomes.

Relevant projects/papers:
1. The Effect of Online Collaborative Peer Influence on Academic Performance: A Three-Stage Coevolution Model of Social Network and Individual Behavior, with Ding Dan, Tuan Q. Phan, and Edoardo Airoldi. (Presented at ICIS 2018)
2. Modeling the Interplay between Online and Offline Communication Networks among Students, with Ding Dan, and Tuan Q. Phan. (Presented at ICIS 2019)
3. Inferring Learning Styles and Tutoring Session Quality on Digital Tutoring Platforms, with Dapeng Shan, Ben Kao, and Tuan Q. Phan. (Presented at Learning@Scale 2021)