Abstract:

A sense of belonging is related to ‘feelings of being accepted, needed, and valued’ and ‘feelings of fitting in and being connected to a group, class, subject, institution, or all of these’ (Peacock and Cowan 2019, 68). ‘Belongingness’ is crucial for university students in all contexts because it has been linked to academic success and student persistence (Vaccaro, Daly-Cano, and Newman 2015, 670). However, students taking online classes are arguably more at risk than on-campus students of lacking a sense of belonging, because they do not have a physical connection to a place or to other people. Without a sense of belonging, these students may experience feelings of anxiety, isolation and disengagement, which is likely to impact their academic performance (Peacock et al. 2020, 19).

This presentation will focus on aspects of the educational context that have a strong impact on a university student’s sense of belonging and will suggest research-supported ways of nurturing ‘belongingness’ in online contexts.

Keywords:

Sense of belonging, university.