Category: annotated bibliography
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Story Sharing in a Digital Space to Counter Othering and Foster Belonging and Curiosity among College Students (Baleria, 2019)
The study explored how a relational micro-intervention focused on civil, respectful conversation across difference in a digital space might influence digital media literacy, sense of belonging, and level of curiosity among college students. Using a phenomenological approach, the researcher found that the semi-structured micro-intervention enabled students to recognize the value of story sharing in navigating…
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Learning Attributes, Academic Self-efficacy and Sense of Belonging Amongst Mature Students at a Canadian University (Erb & Drysdale, 2017)
Mature adult students in higher education exhibit higher levels of academic self-efficacy and lower levels of test anxiety compared to traditional-age students. However, they report significantly lower levels of sense of belonging, which is concerning given the link between sense of belonging, persistence in higher education, and well-being. The study highlights the need to further…
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Who am I and What Keeps Me Going? Profiling the Distance Learning Student in Higher Education (Baxter, 2012)
The research highlights the importance of student retention and progression in higher education, particularly within the distance learning sector. The research outlines key factors that contribute to student success, including expectations, support, feedback, and involvement. While previous studies have focused on reasons for student dropout, this small-scale qualitative project at the Open University UK examines…
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Strategies for Cultivating Belonging in Online Learning Spaces (Watson, Gierenger, & Mills, 2024)
This chapter overviews belonging strategies that can be implemented as means of humanizing online learning, which is the focus of the broader collection in which the chapter is situated. Its premise is grounded in the Community of Inquiry (COI) framework and specifically the idea of social presence in online spaces, as an intentional and meaningful…
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Not Alone When I’m Feeling Stressed: Online Adult Learner Connection and Retention (Shatila, 2024)
The study examines the relationship between social location, role identity, social connectedness, and academic perseverance among nontraditional adult learners enrolled in online programs. The survey results show that while participants are confident in their ability to navigate school and competing priorities, they recognize the value of peer connections in supporting better academic outcomes. As perceptions…
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“It’s Hard to Feel a Part of Something When You’ve Never Met People”: Defining “Learning Community” in an Online Era (Prodgers, 2023)
The study investigates students’ understanding and definition of “learning community” during the COVID-19 pandemic’s emergency pivot to online teaching. The qualitative analysis of students’ responses generated three dominant themes: “Feeling connected: Bridging the gap whilst physically distanced”, “Feeling included: Visible and valued”, and “Feeling together: Mutuality and the shared experience”. These themes suggest that students…
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Allies as Guides in the Borderlands: The Development of an Online Ally Program to Foster Belonging for LGBTIQ+ Students and Staff at a Regional University (Mann 2022)
The study discusses the importance of creating a sense of belonging for LGBTIQ+ individuals in higher education. It presents an autoethnographic study of the author’s 12-year experience in developing the Ally Program, a university-wide, extracurricular online training program aimed at fostering connection and belonging for LGBTIQ+ students and staff. The study uses borderlands discourse as…
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Social Connectedness in Physical Isolation: Online Teaching Practices That Support Under-Represented Undergraduate Students’ Feelings of Belonging and Engagement in STEM (Thacker et al., 2022)
The study examined the relationships between online teaching practices and undergraduate STEM students’ feelings of belonging and engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Surveys revealed that interactive synchronous instruction was positively associated with feelings of interest and belonging, particularly for students of color. In contrast, non-interactive instruction reduced social belonging but was related to more cognitive…
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ZOOMing into a Community: Exploring Various Teaching Practices to Help Foster Sense of Community and Engagement in Emergency Remote Teaching (Bakir & Phirangee, 2021)
The article explores various teaching practices that can help foster a sense of community and engagement in emergency remote teaching (ERT) using the Zoom video conferencing platform. Guided by social constructivism theory and the community of inquiry (CoI) model, the authors present several strategies aligned with constructivism and the CoI framework to create meaningful interactions…
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Higher Education Students’ Experiences of Digital Learning and (Dis)empowerment (Costa et al., 2018)
The study explores higher education students’ sense of agency and autonomy in the context of the digital participatory culture of the web, applied to their formal learning practices. The research found that although students were proficient web users, they did not exercise learner agency beyond what they assumed was expected of them. This is framed…
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Promoting Engagement and Community in Online Courses: It’s All About the Writing (Schwehm et al., 2017)
The summary highlights the importance of writing in promoting engagement and community in online courses for adult learners. It emphasizes that writing is the primary means of interaction in online education, and thus, instructors should design various writing activities to foster a positive and engaging classroom experience. It provides practical examples of engaged writing assignments,…
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Using Social Media in Teacher Preparation Programs: Twitter as a Means to Create Social Presence (Munoz et al., 2014)
This exploratory study aimed to understand whether the use of Twitter impacted students’ sense of belonging to a community of learners. Analysis of the students’ blog and tweet postings revealed five main themes: field experience, emotions, cooperating teacher, class, and relationships. The intended recipients of the postings were also categorized as aimed at other students,…
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Feeling Connected: A Sense of Belonging and Social Presence in an Online Community of Learners (Archard, 2014)
This paper posits that a sense of belonging is integral to an online community of learners. It overviews how an online teacher education program can facilitate social presence, nurture belonging, and support equitable access and participation, particularly among learner groups excluded from on-campus belonging and programming. This qualitative case study indicate the power that digital…
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The First Decade of the Community of Inquiry Framework: A Retrospective (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2010)
This reflective paper overviews how the foundational Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework was developed at the turn of the millennium, explicitly outlining the methodology used to develop this influential framework for engaged online learning. Belonging is identified as a factor in the social presence element of the three part CoI framework, but the paper is…
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A Place-Based Approach to Blended Learning (Korson, 2023)
This article examines the evolving understanding and implementation of blended learning in geography and related disciplines in Australia and New Zealand. It proposes a preliminary framework for place-based blended learning that responds to changing student and instructor needs, as well as digital transformations in teaching and learning, while fostering a sense of belonging and connection…