ERIC Number: ED593292
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Apr-28
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Learning Communities and Students' Sense of Belonging to Their University: First Results from a Longitudinal Study
Cole, Darnell G.; Newman, Christopher B.; Wheaton, Marissiko M.
AERA Online Paper Repository, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (San Antonio, TX, Apr 27-May 1, 2017)
This study investigates sense of belonging among a contemporary cohort (n=533) of students living in a learning community at three different college campuses. Preliminary data analysis indicates students' background characteristics and college experiences explained 57.7% of the variance in students' sense of belonging to their respective college campus. Financial Stress and motivation for college were statistically significant in the first model. In the full model, attending the larger flagship campus and students' sense of belonging to their learning community were significant predictors of increasing students' sense of belonging to their university campus. There were significant interaction effects for respondents' sense of belonging to their learning community when examining a student's race, gender, and income.
Descriptors: Communities of Practice, Sense of Community, College Environment, Campuses, College Students, Group Unity, Interpersonal Relationship, Student Attitudes, Student Experience
AERA Online Paper Repository. Available from: American Educational Research Association. 1430 K Street NW Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20005. Tel: 202-238-3200; Fax: 202-238-3250; e-mail: subscriptions@aera.net; Web site: http://www.aera.net
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A