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A synthesis of key concepts and literature

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Course: Developing a Sense of Belonging in online distance learning
Book: A synthesis of key concepts and literature
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Date: Friday, 29 March 2024, 12:25 PM

Description

A sense of belonging (SoB) is a recognised and valued concept in education, associated with increased student attainment, improved learner satisfaction and lowered attrition rates (O’Keefe, 2013). Widely accepted as a key indicator of and contributing factor to successful social integration within educational contexts (Tinto, 1993), a ‘sense of belonging’ is supported and developed through perceived and experienced feelings of social support, connectedness, and ‘mattering’ (Strayhorn, 2012). Some scholars, including the aforementioned, assert that learners are unable to fulfil to their full personal potential the academic and wider developmental opportunities offered through higher education without acquiring a SoB early in their engagement. Learners with a SoB are usually more motivated, more engaged with their studies and, reflecting the link between belonging and identity, have a strong belief that they can and will achieve (Matheson & Sutcliffe, 2017; Meehan & Howells, 2018). It is widely accepted nowadays that a SoB should be generated purposefully in order to address learners’ well-documented feelings of isolation, marginalisation, alienation and loneliness. Researchers (especially those in the US, such as Ostermann (2000), and Freeman et al. (2007)), have reported findings for campus-based learners confirming a link between SoB and improved academic engagement and achievement, heightened self-confidence and self-efficacy.

These outcomes may also be the experience of learners in any online learning environment, and indeed are desirable for them. However, online learning differs significantly from traditional classroom-based learning. The digital learning space is not contained within walls, and defined seating arrangements are replaced by informal discussion fora brought electronically to the learners’ personal spaces. Academic staff are not always present in person, with inputs now commonly offered as pre-recorded inputs on video. Enrolment, course choice and assignments are all processed digitally. In particular, the formal and informal face-to-face contacts with peers and tutors, which have been found to contribute so much to the development of relationships on campus on which a sense of belonging is founded (Simpson, 2003; Strayhorn, 2012; Tinto, 1993;), are rare and not as naturally occurring online. This raises a critical issue concerning the availability and facilitation of equivalent kinds of formal and informal interactions in the online context (Martinez, 2003; Muse, 2003; Thomas et al, 2014). Thus online learning, especially in the initial stages, calls upon learners (and particularly those new to online study) to be orientated towards and prepared for handling academic procedure and forms of engagement with peers, tutors and resources in new ways, including learning to study online and understanding the nature and challenges of ‘being’ and ‘belonging’ online.

1. Introduction

A sense of belonging (SoB) is a recognised and valued concept in education, associated with increased student attainment, improved learner satisfaction and lowered attrition rates (O’Keefe, 2013). Widely accepted as a key indicator of and contributing factor to successful social integration within educational contexts (Tinto, 1993), a ‘sense of belonging’ is supported and developed through perceived and experienced feelings of social support, connectedness, and ‘mattering’ (Strayhorn, 2012). Some scholars, including the aforementioned, assert that learners are unable to fulfil to their full personal potential the academic and wider developmental opportunities offered through higher education without acquiring a SoB early in their engagement. Learners with a SoB are usually more motivated, more engaged with their studies and, reflecting the link between belonging and identity, have a strong belief that they can and will achieve (Matheson & Sutcliffe, 2017; Meehan & Howells, 2018). It is widely accepted nowadays that a SoB should be generated purposefully in order to address learners’ well-documented feelings of isolation, marginalisation, alienation and loneliness. Researchers (especially those in the US, such as Ostermann (2000), and Freeman et al. (2007)), have reported findings for campus-based learners confirming a link between SoB and improved academic engagement and achievement, heightened self-confidence and self-efficacy.

These outcomes may also be the experience of learners in any online learning environment, and indeed are desirable for them. However, online learning differs significantly from traditional classroom-based learning. The digital learning space is not contained within walls, and defined seating arrangements are replaced by informal discussion fora brought electronically to the learners’ personal spaces. Academic staff are not always present in person, with inputs now commonly offered as pre-recorded inputs on video. Enrolment, course choice and assignments are all processed digitally. In particular, the formal and informal face-to-face contacts with peers and tutors, which have been found to contribute so much to the development of relationships on campus on which a sense of belonging is founded (Simpson, 2003; Strayhorn, 2012; Tinto, 1993;), are rare and not as naturally occurring online. This raises a critical issue concerning the availability and facilitation of equivalent kinds of formal and informal interactions in the online context (Martinez, 2003; Muse, 2003; Thomas et al, 2014). Thus online learning, especially in the initial stages, calls upon learners (and particularly those new to online study) to be orientated towards and prepared for handling academic procedure and forms of engagement with peers, tutors and resources in new ways, including learning to study online and understanding the nature and challenges of ‘being’ and ‘belonging’ online.  

2. Defining ‘sense of belonging’

Understanding what belonging is (or is not), is difficult, which may be due to the unconscious way in which belonging is experienced. From as early as 1962, Maslow noted in his psychological hierarchy that the need to belong was more important that the requirement for knowledge and understanding (Maslow, 1962). According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, belongingness is a more basic need than esteem (feeling accomplished) and self-actualisation (achieving one’s potential).  This implies that all learners, whether face-to-face or online, will want to feel comfortable and safe in their learning environments and respected by both peers and tutors before and as they attend to their studies.

Various definitions of the concept of SoB in an educational context have been published including that of Thomas (2012) who argues that SoB is both psychological and sociological, and involves how the individual is connected to the social (Thomas, 2012). Goodenow (1993) offers a definition which encapsulates the common consensus to be found in the literature in describing a sense of belonging as comprising feelings of:


This definition helpfully highlights two key attributes within the concept. The first involves feelings of being accepted, needed, mattering and valued. The second includes feelings of fitting in, being connected to a group, class, subject or institution or to all of these. Both originate in relationships, and belonging will only be established if others truly care about them (Matheson & Sutcliffe, 2017).

3. Effects of Sense of Belonging in campus-based provision

A significant number of studies of campus-based learning, with its naturally occurring face-to-face interactions, certainly link a strong SoB with a wide range of quantifiable and positive outcomes.

3.1. Academic success

Educational researchers have long maintained that a well-established SoB is “key to academic success and persistence” in face-to-face learning in higher education (Vaccaro et al., 2015: 670). Strayhorn (2012) reported studies of disadvantaged STEM students in the US, in which those who testified to having developed a strong SoB had achieved better grades than those who did not; moreover, Strayhorn also found that more than half of those students who had self-declared as having or experiencing a poor SoB had failed at least one of their classes.

3.2. Student retention

In the United Kingdom, the lead author of an extensive research project that involved 22 higher educational institutions concluded that sense of belonging was a key factor in student retention. Thomas (2012) underlined the need for structured formal opportunities for participation to provide a SoB: “the importance of students having a strong sense of belonging in HE, which is the result of engagement…is most effectively nurtured through mainstream activities with an overt academic purpose that all students participate in.” (p.12).

Hurtado & Carter’s (1997) work offered a holistic approach to understanding student withdrawal, suggesting that learner persistence was a joint responsibility of the learner and the institution, and supported through the intersection of individual and institutional responsibility, commitment and action.  Subsequent researchers have borne this out, consistently linking SoB with improved student attainment, increased learner satisfaction and persistence (Hausmann et al., 2009; Locks et al.,2008; Vaccaro et al., 2015), with Hoffman et al. (2002-2003) reporting that “the greater a student’s sense of belonging to the university, the greater is his or her commitment to that institution … and the more likely it is that he or she will remain” (p.228). Significant work in the United States has also noted the particular importance of SoB for learners who perceive themselves to be marginal to campus life and ‘non-traditional’ according to class, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, income and disability (Hausmann et al., 2009; Johnson et al., 2007; Locks et al., 2008; Vaccaro & Newman, 2017).

Strayhorn’s (2012) work in relation to college students’ sense of belonging echoes in much of the literature in concluding that, if a SoB is not developed, this loss until resolved will impede the learners’ ability to attend to the task at hand (studying and fulfilling the goals of higher education).

3.3. Engagement and wellbeing

Other factors and impacts associated with a SoB include the enhancement of learner motivation, clear perceptions of the value of academic tasks, academic self-confidence, self-esteem and self-efficacy (Freeman, Anderman, & Jensen, 2007; Goodenow, 1993; Ostermann, 2000; Thomas, 2012a). SoB has also been associated with an enhanced ability to self-advocate and self-regulate (Vaccaro et al., 2015). Several studies have explored the perceptions, attitudes and experiences of full-time campus-based learners in relation to SoB (Hausmann et al., 2009; Locks et al., 2008; Maestas et al., 2007; Tovar & Simon, 2010). Within this area of the research to date, learners claiming a strong SoB associate this with feeling satisfied, free from stress, and being comfortable and happy in their learning situations. Furthermore, they consider that their beliefs are aligned with the social and cultural values of their university, and hence they are often more motivated to engage wholeheartedly in their studies (Hoffman et al., 2002-2003). Such learners often unequivocally stress the importance of feeling cared for and mattering to one or more people in their group or community, who in turn matter to them (Strayhorn, 2012).

4. Effects of Sense of Belonging on and within online learning

It is well established that the need for belonging is one of the most important needs for all students to function well in all types of learning environment [emphasis added] (Rovai, 2003; Simpson, 2003). Having a SoB will presumably impact on online learners and their online learning experiences. It is known that having a connection and significant relationships with tutors and peers whilst developing their confidence and self-esteem will encourage online learners to flourish and fulfil their personal and professional goals, in addition to mitigating against the increased chance of isolation, disengagement and attrition that online learning can entail in comparison to on campus learning (Martinez, 2003; Simpson, 2003; Thomas et al, 2014).

Online learning presents clear opportunities to expand access to higher education, with learners gaining instant access to up-to-date resources in a rich range of forms and formats, being able to learn with and connect remotely with a range of experts and more experienced peers in their subject specialism, and potentially studying as part of a more culturally and geographically diverse cohort than may be possible on campus.   Whilst studying in such a nurturing environment with like-mind peers, learners can broaden and deepen the skills and abilities that are required for their chosen career pathways. Online learning, when implemented and facilitated well, has the potential to partly or completely alleviate many of the factors that can affect retention in campus-based courses.  This includes satisfying term-time work commitments, commuting, offering flexible part-time study, and increased ease of access to resources in online digital format (Martinez, 2003; Muse, 2003; Simpson, 2003).

However, as previously alluded to, many online learners, especially in the initial stages of their studies, are under-confident about their academic skills and abilities and find immersion in the online space to be alien, even threatening - particularly when they are expected to post in online discussions and engage in online group work (Whittaker, 2015). Online learning can be a lonely experience at the outset; learners who are new to the experience can feel disorientated and ineffective. Navigation through a wealth of materials and coping with new types of demand such as online group work can promote feelings of anxiety, frustration and of a learner being out of their depth. If they are to function confidently in this learning environment, to flourish in the diverse online educational spaces, and to achieve their personal and professional goals, there is a critical need for the development of a SoB to be a priority at the outset of an online course.

A limited but growing body of research has explored the challenges and nature of SoB in online learning contexts.  Of the most notable work to date, Thomas et al. (2014) emphasise the importance of SoB in online learning, and in creating improved student satisfaction with their online learning experience, through ensuring that the online curriculum and associated activities are designed around opportunities for peer collaboration and group assessment tasks which support structured and purposeful online social interaction.  Thomas et al. (ibid) also found that community-development activities that support wider opportunities for formal and informal social interaction, while more difficult to establish through online fora, could further develop a SoB.

Greenland and Moore (2014) suggest in their findings, from over 200 qualitative interviews, that the impact on SoB is impeded for online learners when there is little, if any, choice about the number of asynchronous learning activities that a student must engage with or the number of modules that have to be taken. Lack of flexibility about assessment policies, including submission dates and timings, also negatively impacted on online learners’ SoB. In comparison, Yoo & Huang’s (2013) quantitative study reinforced the importance of regular online learner engagement to improve retention, motivation and SoB. What emerges from a reading of both studies is a need to allow online learners individual agency and autonomy in relation to how they contribute and engage online, within a structure that requires appropriate levels of engagement from all, rather than rigidly designing for and expecting the same pattern of engagement from each individual learner.

This is further supported through research into online learning in contexts that feature or are designed around the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework. Garrison is a recognised and respected authority in this area, and stresses the generic need of learners to belong and collaborate, reasoning that education is a collaborative experience which should include a SoB coupled with acceptance in a group with common interests. Consequently, he maintains that SoB, open communication and cohesion are essential conditions for a community of learners. His rationale for these beliefs is that “This sense of belonging and security facilitates open communication and creates group cohesion”, which implies that it is “crucial that each student feels welcomed and is given the reassurance that they are part of a purposeful community of learners (Garrison, 2017: 114-115).

Garrison offers a number of general suggestions on how SoB can be achieved. He stresses the importance of creating a community with a common purpose and an academic identity to which learners will feel a sense of connection.  Regular communications establish trust and group cohesion, with the tutor modelling appropriate messages and responses to give participants a SoB.  Early opportunities for participants to get to know each other and share personal experiences in introductory activities are virtually essential.

Many of Garrison’s suggestions are corroborated in the work of Thomas et al. (2014). For instance, they emphasise the importance of developing a community through induction activities such as ice-breakers. Palloff and Pratt (2003) offer a rich range of activities for induction, social integration, group cohesion and orientation within and to online learning contexts. From this research, other suggestions to promote online learner SoB include making time to introduce the teaching team, the use of assessed group-work, the provision of online moderated and non-moderated discussion spaces for learners to interact with peers, and synchronous real-time sessions.

In developing the Toolkit of which this review is a part, we have found that we should ‘establish a feeling of belonging to the critical community that must develop over time’ (Garrison, 2011: 32), since that is an ‘essential facilitating condition for engagement in critical discourse’ (p. 37). As tutors, team members have themselves already established that they can promote a sense of belonging by quickly developing open communications with and between learners so that they gain a sense of being meaningfully connected to, and engaged with their peers, and with their tutor. In these relations, trust is paramount. The Appendix to this report condenses an account of such research, which at the time of writing is awaiting publication in a reputable peer-reviews journal.

5. In summary

The nature of sense of belonging is well established, as are the links to student well-being and social integration, effective engagement, achievement, persistence and retention, and identifying with both their institution and identifying with and as part of their course cohort and community of peers.  The challenges of supporting and fostering a sense of belonging for online learners and in online learning contexts are beginning to be  understood, with a modest number of researchers and practitioners offering practical guidance and evidence-based recommendations relating to structured opportunities for peer-peer interaction and engagement including group work, and the need to support learners in ‘learning to learn online’.  A significant amount of work has been undertaken into online Communities of Inquiry based upon the research and writings of Garrison, and a further exploration of Garrison’s recommendations on how to “establish a feeling of belonging to the critical community that must develop over time” (Garrison 2011, p.32) is to be recommended.

As established, Thomas et al. (2014) offer useful insights into the tutor and learner perspective of online learning and SoB. This work emphasises the importance of SoB in relation to greater engagement and satisfaction with online learning, and the need for collaboration with peers to foster “a sense of camaraderie that diffused some of the isolation” (p.76) associated with online learning, to reduce anxiety, and to help students to develop and share their knowledge and ideas as part of their online community.  In the other parts of this Toolkit, particularly the case studies and also the videos, you can gain insights into how a sense of belonging was fostered and supported in a number of different discipline areas and online learning contexts. In the readings that follow, including the work cited in this short synthesis of key concepts and literature, you will find a number of sources worth exploring further if you are seeking to deepen your knowledge in relation to sense of belonging and the implications of this for higher education contexts including online learning.

6. References

Carruthers Thomas, K. (2019) Rethinking Student Belonging in Higher Education: From Bourdieu to Borderlands. London: Routledge


Freeman, T., Anderman, L. & Jensen, J. (2007) ‘Sense of Belonging in College Freshmen at the Classroom and Campus Levels’, The Journal of Experimental Education, 75(3): 203-220, DOI: 10.3200/JEXE.75.3.203-220


Garrison, D. R. (2011). E-learning in the 21st century: A Community of Inquiry framework for research and practice (2nd Ed.). New York: Routledge

-        (2017). E-learning in the 21st century: A Community of Inquiry framework for research and practice (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge

Garrison is rightly regarded as the guru of Community of Inquiry learning online. The content of his writings contains more than that, and almost implicitly assumes that online learners should have a sense of belonging. We recommend both editions of his seminal work.

 

Goodenow (1993a) ‘Classroom Belonging among Early Adolescent Students: Relationships to Motivation and Achievement’. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 13(1), 21–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431693013001002

-        (1993b) ‘The psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates’. Psychology in the Schools, 30(1): 79-90. https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6807

 

Greenland, S. J., & Moore, C. (2014). Patterns of Student Enrolment and Attrition in Australian Open Access Online Education: A Preliminary Case Study. Open Praxis, 6(1), 45-54.

 

Hausmann, L., Ye, F., Schofield, J., & Woods, R.(2009) ‘Sense of belonging and persistence in white and African American first-year students’. Research in Higher Education, 50(7), 649-669.

Significant work in the United States, exploring the importance of SoB for students who perceive themselves as marginal to campus life, such as learners who are non-traditional according to class, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, income and disability.

 

Hoffman, M., Richmond, J., Morrow, J., & Salomone, K. (2002-2003). ‘Investigating “Sense of belonging” in first-year college students’. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 4(3), 227-256.

 

Hurtado, S. & Carter, D. (1997) ‘Effects of College Transition and Perceptions of the Campus Racial Climate on Latino College Students' Sense of Belonging’, Sociology of Education, 70(4): 324-345.

 

Johnson, D., Alvarez, P., Longerbeam, S., Soldner, M., Inkelas, K., Leonard, J., & Rowan-Kenyon, H. (2007) ‘Examining sense of belonging among first-year undergraduates from different racial/ethnic groups’. Journal of College Student Development, 48(5): 525-542.

 

Locks, A., Hurtado, S., Bowman, N., Oseguera, L. (2008) ‘Extending Notions of Campus Climate and Diversity to Students' Transition to College’, Review of Higher Education, 31(3):257-285.

 

Maestas, R., Vaquera, G. S., & Zehr, L. M. (2007). Factors Impacting Sense of Belonging at a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 6(3), 237–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192707302801

 

Maslow (1962) Toward a psychology of being Princeton, NJ, US: D Van Nostrand

 

Matheson, R. & Sutcliffe, M. (2017) ‘Creating belonging and transformation through the adoption of flexible pedagogies in masters level international business management students’, Teaching in Higher Education, 22(1): 15-29, DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2016.1221807

 

Meehan, C. & Howells, K. (2018) In search of the feeling of ‘belonging’ in higher education: undergraduate students transition into higher education, Journal of Further and Higher Education, DOI: 10.1080/0309877X.2018.1490702

 

Martinez, M. (2003) High attrition rates in e-learning: challenges, predictors, and solutions. The E-learning Developers Journal, July 14th issue, 1-9.

 

Muse Jr., H.E. (2003) The web-based community college student: an examination of factors that lead to success and risk. Internet and Higher Education, 6(3), 241 - 261.

 

Moore, C., & Greenland, S. (2017) Employment-driven online student attrition and the

assessment policy divide: An Australian open-access higher education perspective. Journal

of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning, 21(1), 52–62.

 

O'Keeffe, P. (2013) A sense of belonging: Improving student retention, College Student Journal, 47(4), 605-613.

 

Osterman, K. (2000). ‘Students' need for belonging in the school community’. Review of Educational Research, 70(3), 323-367.

Significant work in the United States, exploring the importance of SoB for students who perceive themselves as marginal to campus life, such as learners who are non-traditional according to class, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, income and disability

 

Palloff, R.M. & Pratt, K. (2003) The virtual student: a profile and guide to working with online learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 

Rovai, A.P., (2003) In search of higher persistence rates in distance education online programs, Internet and Higher Education, 6(1), 1-16.

 

Simpson, O. (2003). Student retention in online, open and distance learning. London: Kogan Page.

 

Strayhorn, T. (2012). College students' sense of belonging: A key to educational success for all students. Oxford: Routledge.

 

Thomas, L. (2012a) Building student engagement and belonging in Higher Education at a time of change: final report from the What Works? Student Retention & Success programme (Phase 1). York: Higher Education Academy. Available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/what_works_final_report.pdf

-        (2012b) Building student engagement and belonging in Higher Education at a time of change: a summary of findings and recommendations from the What Works? Student Retention & Success programme (Phase 1). York: Higher Education Academy. Available at:

 

The UK What Works programme has been highly influential in our understanding of Sense of Belonging. As Carruthers Thomas states, this work “broke new ground in moving the focus away from the individual student and towards universities’ obligations to their students” (2019, p.12).  There were two phases to the project with these initial phases concluding that institutions have an ethical obligation to support all learners to succeed and that retention programmes are for all rather than being targeted at specific groups. In addition, institutions should “nurture a sense of belonging in order to maximise student retention and success” (2012, p.70).

 

Thomas, L., Herbert, J., and Teras, M. (2014) ‘A sense of belonging to enhance, participation, success and retention in online programs’. The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education. 5(2), 69-80.

From this research, based upon 50 interviews and six focus groups, Thomas and colleagues provide some useful insights into the tutor and student perspective of sense of belonging and online learning.  From the tutors’ perspective, it was acknowledged that fostering a SoB was a challenging task especially when trying to encourage learners to become part of a community through online discussions. It was generally felt that, when tutors adapted their programme and reviewed aspects of their teaching to promote learner SoB through the course structure, student satisfaction increased. Such changes included embedding collaboration into assessment since it encouraged social interactions and SoB. Virtual classrooms through Adobe Connect or Blackboard Collaborate were also valued by learners in the promotion of Sense of Belonging.

 

Thomas, L., Hill, M., O' Mahony, J., Yorke, M. (2017) Supporting student success: strategies for institutional change. What Works? Student Retention & Success programme- Phase 2 Final Report.  York: Higher Education Academy. Available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/hub/download/what_works_2_-_summary_report.pdf

 

Tinto, V. (1993) Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition. Second Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

 

Tovar, E. & Simon, M. (2010) ‘Factorial Structure and Invariance Analysis of the Sense of Belonging Scales’ Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 43(3): 199-217. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0748175610384811

 

Vaccaro, A., Daly-Cano, M., & Newman, B. M. (2015). ‘A sense of belonging among college students with disabilities: An emergent theoretical model’. Journal of College Student Development, 56(7).

Significant work in the United States, exploring the importance of SoB for students who perceive themselves as marginal to campus life, such as learners who are non-traditional according to class, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, income and disability

 

Vaccaro, A. & Newman, B.M. (2017) ‘A sense of belonging through the eyes of first-year LGBPQ students’. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 54(2): 137-149. DOI: 10.1080/19496591.2016.1211533

Whittaker, A. (2015). Effects of Team-Based Learning on Self-Regulated Online Learning. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 12 (1), 1 – 10: DOIi:10.1515/ijnes-2014-0046.

 

Yoo, S. & Huang, W. (2013) ‘Engaging Online Adult Learners in Higher Education: Motivational Factors Impacted by Gender, Age, and Prior Experiences’, The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 61:3: 151-164, DOI: 10.1080/07377363.2013.836823