Connectivity, community, and sense of belonging

This chapter illustrates how the change to a virtual setting challenged students' social connectedness and sense of belonging. It demonstrates how students found a way to build social connectedness in a virtual setting that reinforced their sense of community. The chapter discusses how Students of Color experienced the COVID-19 interruption. It offers insights into whether thriving in college is even possible for students when their means of creating community have been disrupted. At the University of Utah, the detachment was experienced by students in their interactions with faculty and their relationships with their friends, peers, and classmates. The closing of campus and the shift to online learning also limited students' social connectedness with friends, classmates, and peers. Students also relied on new communities to gain motivation and achieve academically. University employees were also a part of students' relational communities. Some students created a strong emotional connection with staff members, such as advisors and student affairs professionals. The pandemic and the resulting educational changes added another layer of complexity to the academic experiences of Students of Color. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Asian communities' well-being in Aotearoa during Covid-19: The mitigating role of sense of belonging in the relationship between racism and life satisfaction

INTRODUCTION: Anti-Asian racism was a feature of the social response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and its impact on the well-being of Asian communities warrants closer examination. The current study aimed to gauge whether the sense of belonging mitigated the adverse effects of racism on life satisfaction for self-identified Asian New Zealanders.METHODS: This analysis included 1341 responses to a cross-sectional online survey conducted in 2021. Descriptive analyses outline how components of a sense of belonging were distributed among participants and those who experienced racism during the Covid-19 pandemic. We used linear regression to examine the role of a sense of belonging as a potential pathway variable in the association between experiencing racism and life satisfaction.FINDINGS: In this survey, four out of 10 participants reported experiencing racism in the first 18 months of the pandemic. Participants' life satisfaction decreased slightly since January 2020 (p<0.001). Experiencing racism was associated with decreased life satisfaction. All the components of sense of belonging reduced the magnitude of this negative association between racism experience and life satisfaction, in particular, expressing one's own ethnic identity and belonging in Aotearoa.CONCLUSIONS: Given that anti-Asian racism is currently a feature of life and a significant stressor during the pandemic, this study provides empirical evidence of the protective role of a sense of belonging against anti-Asian racism. This study focused on Asian members in Aotearoa New Zealand, but its practical implications have the potential to support other minoritised ethnic communities who also experience racism during the pandemic and beyond.

Students' sense of belonging at a South African university during COVID-19

The research on students' sense of belonging in higher education has evolved into a prominent theme worldwide. Institutional research focuses on the institution understanding itself and helps leaders to rethink improvement initiatives. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has required of institutions to revise student support programmes and approaches to maintain a strong sense of belonging. The theories of belonging by Strayhorn (2012) and Dumford et al. (2019) were adopted to analyse student responses. The aim of the study was to understand students' sense of belonging and how the university responded to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure a strong sense of belonging. Data were generated through in-depth interviews with 45 undergraduate students from all seven faculties. The findings highlight notable prevention measures intended to limit the spread of the virus on campus and student support in the form of study devices and data. The post-lockdown changes included a return to face-to-face mental health support, drafting COVID-19 catchup plans for first year orientation of 2020 and 2021 cohorts, improving the student voice. Finally, notable principles for responding to a future higher education crisis are highlighted. These initiatives contributed towards establishing and maintaining a strong students' sense of belonging.

Investigating sense of belonging in Chinese international students

This study investigated Chinese international students' sense of belonging by exploring the cultural and cognitive validity of a commonly used sense of belonging instrument, namely the Hoffman et al.'s (2002) Sense of Belonging Scale. Cognitive interviewing procedures supplemented with open-ended questions were administered to 20 sophomore- and junior-level Chinese international students attending U.S. undergraduate institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The cognitive interview results indicated that participants understood most of the items, although some phrases were identified to be problematic given different meanings in Chinese. The qualitative aspects of the research showed that Chinese students were more likely to define belonging as connection to a social group or community. Participants also reported feeling lower levels of belonging because of the pandemic and limited institutional support. Ultimately, these findings could help to inform campus climate policies and practices related to supporting international students. Implications for developing culturally valid instruments of belonging are also discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The relationship between faculty interactions, sense of belonging, and academic stress: a comparative study of the post-COVID-19 college life of Korean and international graduate students in South Korea.

Objective: Rapid changes in post-COVID-19 higher education have increased students' academic stress. This study focused on graduate students' academic stress in South Korea and compared the results for Korean graduate students and those for international graduate students. Method: Using the online survey results, the study verified the relationships between faculty interactions, a sense of belonging, and academic stress among Korean and international graduate students using a mediating effects analysis and a multigroup path analysis. Results: The results were as follows. First, Korean students experienced greater academic stress, faculty interactions, and a sense of belonging, but no statistically significant difference was observed. Second, a sense of belonging had a mediating effect on the relationship between faculty interactions and academic stress. Unlike in previous studies, all paths were found to be statistically significant. Faculty interactions had a negative effect on academic stress and a positive effect on a sense of belonging. A sense of belonging had a negative effect on academic stress. Third, the comparison of Korean and international graduate students showed that international students had a greater effect of faculty interactions on academic stress. Conclusion: Through these results, we explored the post-COVID-19 academic lives of Korean and international graduate students in South Korea and built grounds for effective interventions for alleviating academic stress.

"It's hard to feel a part of something when you've never met people": defining "learning community" in an online era.

Feeling part of a community of learners has been shown to foster students' engagement and sense of belonging, leading to higher retention and achievement of learning outcomes. The pivot to online teaching caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a reappraisal of all aspects of the student experience, including students' capacity and opportunity to engage in meaningful learning communities online. There has been some emergent literature which considers how to facilitate online learning communities in the emergency remote teaching context prompted by COVID-19. However, there is a notable lack of literature which considers how learning communities are defined, understood, and negotiated by students in this unique teaching context. Given how students' perceptions of learning communities contributes to Higher Education policy (e.g. through the National Student Survey), this is important to understand. In the present study (N = 309), we qualitatively investigated students' understanding and definition of the term "learning community" during a time of emergency pivot to online teaching and learning. A reflexive thematic analysis of students' first-hand 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". We discuss the implications for these conceptualisations of an online learning community and suggest ways forward for Higher Education pedagogy.

Belonging, Wellbeing and Stress with Online Learning during Covid-19

Sense of belonging, perceived stress and wellbeing are reported factors that influence students' university experience and learning. The COVID-19 pandemic and shift to online emergency remote teaching were likely to exacerbate these affective dimensions of student experience. This article employed a quantitative survey research design to determine how students' sense of belonging, perceived stress and wellbeing were influenced during the pandemic. An online questionnaire was administered to 537 South African students at one residential university. Data analysis was performed using multiple regression analysis. The results indicated that platform pedagogy was a significant predictor of belonging, perceived stress, and wellbeing, while lecturers' pedagogical competence was not. Lived learning experience of online learning was a significant predictor of perceived stress, and communication was a significant predictor of belonging. The importance of the learning environment in student belonging and wellbeing is key to student success and this study provides insights for developing targeted interventions.

Post-Secondary Student Belonging in a Virtual Learning Environment during Covid-19

Psychological and social adjustment and academic success in post-secondary institutions are supported by a sense of belonging to a social group and having meaningful relationships with other students, staff, and faculty members. This exploratory study used a qualitative approach to investigate post-secondary students' sense of belonging in the virtual learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted at a small Western Canadian university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants who were undergraduate students, from various faculties, and in different years in their programs. Findings were clustered into three themes: (1) student expectations of university, (2) impact of virtual learning environments on students, and (3) the role of educators. Recommendations are included to enhance support and belonging for post-secondary students in virtual learning environments.

University student belonging scale: Defining and evaluating students' sense of belonging to their university

Students' Sense of Belonging (SoB) to a University is important because high levels of Sense of Belonging have a positive impact on students' motivation and retention. This mixed methods research design was developed to define Sense of Belonging to the University from the students' perspective, create a more comprehensive measurement tool for Sense of Belonging to the University, and investigate the impact involvement in Student Affairs programs may have on Sense of Belonging to the University.The empirical analysis of the first phase of research led to the development of a new definition for Sense of Belonging to the University, and the themes identified within the data informed the development of the University Student Belonging Scale (USBS). Principal components analysis indicated a four-component structure was the best fit for the data: Feelings that Impact Belonging (20 items), School Spirit (13 items), Social Connections at the University (12 items), and Academic Focus & Support (9 items). Scores can be calculated for each component and as an overall score for Sense of Belonging to the University, with the final version of this 54-item measurement instrument.The results in the evaluation phase indicate the program type (i.e., Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, or other groups) in which a student is involved can make a difference on their level of Sense of Belonging to the University. However, the number of Student Affairs programs in which a student is involved does not have an impact on Sense of Belonging to the University. An investigation into the differences between students who began attending classes prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and students who began attending classes during the Covid-19 pandemic revealed there was only a statistical difference between these groups for Feelings that Impact Belonging.This research highlights the importance of a more comprehensive, validated instrument to measure Sense of Belonging to the University. The USBS can be used to answer research questions higher education administrators, policymakers, parents, and students want to know the answers to. These answers will inevitably lead to more effective support for university students and higher levels of Sense of Belonging to the University. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Evaluation of the Impact of Modality for Equity Program

In this poster, we investigate the impact of online versus in-person summer equity programs. We designed and implemented a summer bridge program from 2020 through 2022 and collected pre- and post-survey data from students to measure the program's impact on students' self-concept, science motivation, growth mindset, help-seeking and concealment attitude, science identity, and sense of belonging. Our research questions are: RQ1: How do students' indicators change from pre-survey to post-survey in the online summer program (2020 and 2021) versus the in-person program (2022) RQ2: What indicators are most impacted (positively or negatively) in an online version of the program These questions will help inform us about how to support students who have started their undergraduate programs during the COVID-19 remote instruction period and whether or not the additional cost of an in-person summer program is justifiable by its impact on students. © 2022 Owner/Author.

ATTRIBUTES OF BLENDED LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS DESIGNED TO FOSTER A SENSE OF BELONGING FOR HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS

Aim/Purpose This article seeks answers to the following: (1) What describes a ‘sense of be-longing', inclusiveness, and well-being for students? (2) Which aspects of blended learning, synchronous and asynchronous, promote students' ‘sense of belonging'? and (3) What are the state-of-the-art best practices for creating in-clusive curriculum design for blended learning? Background For university students, experiencing a strong ‘sense of belonging' with their learning communities is a reliable predictor of academic adjustment and pro-gram success. The disruption to usual teaching modes caused by the COVID pandemic has diminished opportunities for social engagement among students and their teachers, intensifying the need to encourage students' belongingness as being ever more important. Methodology This article surveys the literature, pre and post-COVID, using two complemen-tary search techniques: (1) a systematic scoping review, a top-down strategy, and (2) snowballing, a bottom-up approach, seeking the answers to the three re-search questions above. Contribution The synthesis presented in the paper provides answers to these questions influ-enced, in part, by the Community of Inquiry framework and the Universal De-sign for Learning guidelines. Further, based on our findings from this investiga-tion we offer a set of salient attributes of best practices in designing curriculum for blended learning environments, that is inclusive and fosters a sense of be-longing for higher education students Findings We discovered that belongingness is different for various cohorts. Further, many interventions to improve student wellbeing, and learning experiences on and offline, were built around social, teaching, and cognitive presences. Addi-tionally, our investigation found that blended learning, regardless of the propor-tion of online versus offline instruction, was generally a positive influence on academic outcomes and student learning. Recommendations for Practitioners The set of attributes presented offers practical and helpful approaches to im-prove curriculum design to promote higher education students' sense of be-longing. Recommendations for Researchers We highlight the lack of specificity in the literature regarding synchronous ver-sus asynchronous learning pedagogy that promotes inclusiveness and a sense of belonging, and we detail our plans for future work will attempt to address this omission. Impact on Society As a result of the COVID pandemic, many higher education institutions made a sudden and rapid transition to online learning exclusively. As institutions start the move back to more traditional modes of learning, this paper highlights the considerations to be made in using blended learning environments. Future Research Our plans include seeking student and academic advice and feedback on ap-proaches that foster a sense of belonging for higher education students © 2023, Journal of Information Technology Education: Research.All Rights Reserved.

Factors Influencing Academic Integrity Violations

Academic Integrity (AI) violations have long been a concern of educators and academic institutions within all fields of study. AI violations can consist of a broad range of student behaviors that are considered dishonest, including but not limited to plagiarism, copying others' assignments, and paying for others to complete their work [1]. As the risks for academic integrity issues become ever more prevalent, particularly as more academic institutions rely on online course formats, researchers are continually attempting to identify what underlying factors lead students to commit AI violations. The COVID-19 pandemic among other factors has contributed to the rise in online learning formats. This change in course modality combined with easier access to digital resources has lowered the boundary for many students for violating AI, thus increasing our need to understand what factors influence students to consider violating AI. This poster represents an initial step in a larger research study looking at the relationship between AI violations and students' sense of belonging within their discipline. This poster presents findings from a literature review looking to identify research investigating students' beliefs regarding AI, institutional policies for AI violations, and underlying causes for AI violations. Findings from this literature review are mixed;while several factors have been identified that contribute to students' propensity to violate AI, few concrete solutions have been proposed or evaluated, indicating that there is a need for further research. © 2022 Owner/Author.

PARTIAL LEAST SQUARES MODELLING OF FACTORS INFLUENCING EMPATHY AMONG MALAYSIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Purpose – The importance of the affective domain in holistic human development, in particular empathy, is an increasing concern today especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was threefold: (i) to investigate the attitudes of school students toward competencies associated with human consciousness;(ii) to validate the psychometric properties of the model of Malaysian school students' empathy, and (iii) to examine the influence of school students' selfefficacy, emotion regulation, sense of belonging and problem-solving on their empathy.Methodology – Using a quantitative survey approach, data were collected from 911 students drawn from 10 schools throughout Malaysia using a four-point Likert scale instrument. The study employed variance-based SEM by using Smart-PLS to achieve the objectives. First, the measurement model was employed to test the psychometric properties (such as convergent validity, divergent validity, and reliability) for all constructs. Second, the structural model was conducted to test the direct and indirect hypothesized relationship. Results – The measurement model provided evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of the study constructs. The hypothesized structural model exhibited that three out of the four constructs, i.e., emotion regulation, sense of belonging and problemsolving have a direct influence on Malaysian school students' empathy. Furthermore, emotion regulation showed a mediating role in the relationship between the exogenous variables (sense of belonging and problem-solving) and students' empathy. The model explained 58.6 percent of the variance in the Malaysian school students' empathy. Significance – This study is a pioneering work in Malaysia. With the identification of the factors that influence Malaysian school students' empathy, i.e., students' emotion regulation, sense of belonging and problem-solving, more effective support and interventions can be provided by teachers and the Ministry of Education to help in enhancing school students' empathy. © 2023, Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction. All Rights Reserved.

Impact of COVID-19 on sense of belonging: Experiences of engineering students, faculty, and staff at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

Background: COVID-19 has spurred a global crisis that has disrupted everyday lives and impacted the traditional methods, experiences, and abilities of higher education institutions' students, faculty, and staff, especially at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Purpose/Hypothesis: Given the pressing need demonstrated by the National Academies to advance the utilization of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at HBCUs, this study aimed to explore the abrupt transition to remote teaching and learning at HBCUs guided by the following research question: How has COVID-19 impacted the success and persistence of engineering students, faculty, and staff at HBCUs?. Design/Methods: Three surveys were developed, tested, piloted, and sent to HBCU stakeholders using a snowball sampling approach via email and social media outreach. Results: Of the 171 student respondents (126 engineering majors), 79% agreed that not being able to access faculty in person affected their academic performance. Additionally, across all HBCU stakeholders' surveys, students had a statistically significant higher response when asked if the transition to virtual learning increased their overall levels of stress and anxiety. Conclusions: During a global pandemic, HBCUs continue to provide a culture of support and inclusion for students, faculty, and staff in engineering. Increased stress levels experienced by students indicate that a safe and adequate transition back to campus is essential for their social and academic persistence. Due to the well-documented inequities HBCUs faced before the pandemic, the impact of this unprecedented on their continued contributions toward broadening participation in engineering for students should be further explored. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Engineering Education published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Engineering Education.

Understanding higher education students' sense of belonging: a qualitative meta-ethnographic analysis

The current literature on ‘sense of belonging' spans a number of disciplines, with no apparent consensus on definition between these, complicated by the fact that sense of belonging is temporal and context-sensitive (such as during COVID-19). In particular, a closer look at how students define sense of belonging is needed from an up-to-date perspective to help them feel more connected to the faculty/campus and improve their wellbeing and mental health in the ‘new normal' and ‘next normal' post-pandemic eras. Therefore, this study explores higher education students' sense of belonging, a concept that has not been adequately conceptualised, from their perspectives. As these perspectives are subjective, an interpretive approach is required to generate rich meanings. This study has adopted a meta-ethnographic approach to synthesise qualitative studies, which allows for comparison and synthesis of studies into a new interpretation through translations. Interpretive qualitative synthesis resulted in one higher-order concept, four main concepts, and nineteen sub-concepts that conceptualise higher education students' understanding of sense of belonging to their universities. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Discounting and discovery: How hybrid courses impact faculty job contentment in post-secondary educational institutions

Higher education institutions in the United States continue to explore ways in which they can improve student outcomes and continue the dissemination of knowledge while concurrently managing increased budget pressures, enrolment challenges, evolving stakeholder demands, shifts in technology, and wider societal headwinds. One option which they have increasingly turned to is the use of hybrid education. Business schools in particular are deploying hybrid education courses as one option in managing increased contention over rising tuition costs and more intense domestic and international competition. Accordingly, special consideration was given to faculty within the business discipline and the impacts of teaching hybrid education on their contentment using the FSSE scales of sense of belonging and teaching environment. While hybrid education is not a new phenomenon it is still rapidly evolving and despite its widespread use over the last two years during the COVID-19 global pandemic, very little is known about the impact that hybrid education has on faculty, in particular how it affects their job contentment. Recognizing that the faculty are not a homogenous group and that each institution represents a unique environment in which they work, this study explores the relationships between individual faculty, the teaching modality of hybrid, and the effects of their membership in different academic disciplines and institutional types. Using data from the 2020-2021 Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) and building upon Hagedorn's framework for job satisfaction, this study proposes a new model of faculty contentment with which to assess the relationships between faculty job contentment, their environmental and personal characteristics, and teaching modality. The study also reveals many significant relationships between faculty and environmental characteristics and sense of belonging while teaching hybrid courses. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Students' sense of belonging: College student and staff perspectives during COVID-19

This study examined undergraduate college students' sense of belonging during the COVID-19 pandemic and how student services staff addressed belonging during this time. The social cognitive theory served as the theoretical model. Three research questions guided this inquiry: What is undergraduate college students' current sense of belonging right now? How do undergraduate college students feel their sense of belonging was impacted during the pandemic? What strategies or practices do students and staff feel impacted students' sense of belonging during the pandemic? The study was conducted using a mixed methods design at a small, private university in the Southwest region of the United States. Student perceptions of belonging were gathered via a quantitative survey. Data analyses included descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with student services staff and analyzed using open and axial coding and the identification of themes. Findings indicate that while students had a high sense of belonging at survey completion, they also expressed mixed reactions about their belonging during the pandemic. Staff identified making connections with students as the primary strategy to address belonging, described as resources referrals, facilitating programming, and student employment. Students noted that organizations and in-person events impacted their belonging. Students also identified mental health resources and university employees as resources or services. This study addresses a gap in the literature-understanding belonging in a primarily remote learning setting during the COVID-19 pandemic-and contributes to the literature by building on specific mechanisms in the institutional environment that shape belonging. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Post-Secondary Student Belonging in a Virtual Learning Environment During COVID-19

Psychological and social adjustment and academic success in post-secondary institutions are supported by a sense of belonging to a social group and having meaningful relationships with other students, staff, and faculty members. This exploratory study used a qualitative approach to investigate post-secondary students' sense of belonging in the virtual learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted at a small Western Canadian university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants who were undergraduate students, from various faculties, and in different years in their programs. Findings were clustered into three themes: (1) student expectations of university, (2) impact of virtual learning environments on students, and (3) the role of educators. Recommendations are included to enhance support and belonging for post-secondary students in virtual learning environments. © 2022, Canadian Society for Studies in Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Ethnocultural long-term care homes in Canada: a place for cultural inheritance and community building

This article discusses the overlooked role of recreation programmes in the ethnocultural and cultural-specific long-term care home from my standpoint as a recreation worker. First, the policy during the pandemic that prohibited visits by family members and volunteers revealed that they are important informal caregivers to fill in for the limitations of workers. Second, recreational programmes can also be considered as a practice of cultural inheritance: staff and volunteers learn their history and reconstruct them as collective memory. Third, the interaction between residents, volunteers, families and workers generates a sense of belonging to the ethnic community. Therefore, it can be considered a practice of community building for minority ethnic groups. By presenting the significant role of recreation workers in a long-term care home, I aim to question the meaning and value of care work in long-term care facilities.

Making the case for citizenship-oriented mental healthcare for youth in Canada

PurposeVarying stakeholders have highlighted how recovery-oriented mental health services such as youth mental health services have traditionally focused on supporting individual resources to promote recovery (e.g., agency) to the exclusion of addressing structural issues that influence recovery (e.g. poverty). One response to this criticism has been work helping people with mental health problems recover a sense of citizenship and sense of belonging in their communities. Work on citizenship has yet to influence youth mental healthcare in Canada's provinces and territories. This paper aims to highlight ways that youth mental healthcare can better help youth recover a sense of citizenship.Design/methodology/approachThe arguments described in this paper were established through discussion and consensus among authors based on clinical experience in youth mental health and an understanding of Canada's healthcare policy landscape, including current best practices as well as guidelines for recovery-oriented care by the Mental Health Commission of Canada.FindingsHere, this study proposes several recommendations that can help young with mental health problems recover their sense of citizenship at the social, systems and service levels. These include addressing the social determinants of health;developing a citizenship-based system of care;addressing identity-related disparities;employing youth community health workers within services;adapting and delivering citizenship-based interventions;and connecting youth in care to civic-oriented organizations.Originality/valueThis paper provides the first discussion of how the concept of citizenship can be applied to youth mental health in Canada in multiple ways. The authors hope that this work provides momentum for adopting policies and practices that can help youth in Canada recover a sense of citizenship following a mental health crisis.