A synthesis of key concepts and literature
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.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.