2. Research Guides

Digital Pedagogy & Online Teaching

Created by the VU Libraries Teaching & Learning Committee.
Connecting with Learners (Optional Assignment)

Revisit a lesson plan (or learning object, or training documentation, etc.) that you used in the past year, and that you anticipate you might want to use again. When reviewing these learning materials, reflect on one or all of the following questions:

  1. How did I try to establish the relevancy of this content to my learners' interests? How could I make that relevancy clearer?
  2. How did I communicate a sense of community to my students? What else could I do that might foster a sense of belongingness?
Connecting Through Belongingness

We can promote engagement with our learners by helping them feel connected to one another and to the institution. This is especially important for students who are new to online learning, and who may find the experience socially isolated compared to the in-person, in-class learning environment. One of the best ways we can do this is by intentionally trying to foster feelings of belongingness. 

"Belongingness is a deeply personal and contextually mediated experience that evolves in response to the degree to which an individual feels (a) secure, accepted, included, valued and respected by a defined group, (b) connected with or integral to the group, and (c) that their professional and/or personal values are in harmony with those of the group. The experience of belongingness may evolve passively in response to the actions of the group to which one aspires to belong and/or actively through the actions initiated by the individual" (Levett-Jones & Lathlean, 2008, p. 104).

This page will share readings and resources related to promoting students' feelings of belonging, both inside and outside of the traditional classroom. Note: there are lots of great books on these topics too, but this list will focus on resources you can access from anywhere! :)

Articles on belongingness and academic libraries' spaces
Broughton, K. M. (2019a). Students’ Sense of Belonging in Study Space [Ohio University]. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/pg_10?0::NO:10:P10_ACCESSION_NUM:ohiou1571956186042992
Broughton, K. M. (2019b). Belonging, Intentionality, and Study Space for Minoritized and Privileged Students. Recasting the Narrative: The Proceedings of the ACRL 2019 Conference, 11. http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/2019/BelongingIntentionalityStudySpace.pdf
Ibarra, R. A. (2005). A Place to Belong: The Library as Prototype for Context Diversity. The Proceedings of the ACRL Twelfth National Conference, 21. http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/pdf/ibarra05.pdf
Articles on student-centered approaches for promoting belongingness in the classroom
Assor, A., Kaplan, H., & Roth, G. (2002). Choice is good, but relevance is excellent: Autonomy-enhancing and suppressing teacher behaviours predicting students’ engagement in schoolwork. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72(2), 261–278. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709902158883
Klipfel, K. M. (2014). Authentic engagement: Assessing the effects of authenticity on student engagement and information literacy in academic library instruction. Reference Services Review, 42(2), 229–245. https://doi.org/10.1108/RSR-08-2013-0043
Reeve, J. (2006). Teachers as Facilitators: What Autonomy‐Supportive Teachers Do and Why Their Students Benefit. The Elementary School Journal, 106(3), 225–236. https://doi.org/10.1086/50148
Articles on belongingness and first-year students
Freeman, T. M., Anderman, L. H., & Jensen, J. M. (2007). Sense of Belonging in College Freshmen at the Classroom and Campus Levels. The Journal of Experimental Education, 75(3), 203–220. https://doi.org/10.3200/JEXE.75.3.203-220
Johnson, D. R., Soldner, M., Leonard, J. B., Alvarez, P., Inkelas, K. K., Rowan-Kenyon, H. T., & Longerbeam, S. D. (2007). Examining Sense of Belonging Among First-Year Undergraduates From Different Racial/Ethnic Groups. Journal of College Student Development, 48(5), 525–542. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2007.005
Articles on belongingness and student learning within academic disciplines
Levett-Jones, T., & Lathlean, J. (2008). Belongingness: A prerequisite for nursing students’ clinical learning. Nurse Education in Practice, 8(2), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2007.04.003
Wilson, D., Jones, D., Bocell, F., Crawford, J., Kim, M. J., Veilleux, N., Floyd-Smith, T., Bates, R., & Plett, M. (2015). Belonging and Academic Engagement Among Undergraduate STEM Students: A Multi-institutional Study. Research in Higher Education, 56(7), 750–776. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-015-9367-x
Resources on Belongingness

Chat Norms

Setting "norms" or guidelines when using the chat function in Zoom or another online teaching platform helps keep things on track. Here are a few guidelines you might want to share with learners.

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