Best Practices for Encouraging Student Participation in Both Face-to-Face and Virtual Environments.

ABSTRACT

Sense of community is valued in higher education but can become a challenge, especially when classroom time is reduced or eliminated in blended and online coursework. As COVID-19 has forced the rapid transition to remote teaching, strategies for optimizing interactivity and discussion in both synchronous and asynchronous environments have become increasingly important. Here we focus first on the theoretical framework for the importance of sense of community in education, followed by a discussion of evidence-based variables that increase students' sense of belonging. Emphasis is placed on strategies that promote discussion and participation across course formats.