The formulation of a sense of community (SOC) among students has received significant attention in the literature in recent years. However, digitally enhanced learning and COVID-19 have amplified the challenges vis-à-vis connecting students and making them feel involved and recognized in virtual learning ecologies for higher educational…

Literature suggests post-secondary students feel disengaged and socially isolated while learning virtually, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we explored whether a sense of belonging is differentially achieved in an inquiry-based course between two different delivery formats: virtual and blended (combination of virtual and in-person).…

Implementation of blended teaching (BT) practices is in- creasing rapidly in K-12 classrooms. This trend creates an urgent need for professional development to support BT. An understanding of how experienced teachers implement BT can inform teacher educators and professional development leaders as they develop training to support this practice. We…

Cohorts have a positive influence on doctoral students, providing support and contributing to student success. Many of these benefits are attributed to the sense of community a cohort develops. Despite the importance of a sense of community in doctoral cohorts, few studies have addressed how it develops. The purpose of this study was to examine,…

Millions of students experienced increased levels of stress and worries about their college pursuits as they were forced to abrupt pivot to online and hybrid learning due to the global pandemic. Drawing from the theory of human needs, this study examined the extent to which COVID-19 influenced the relationship between financial well-being, needs…

Quantitative data was collected from 926 traditional-aged postsecondary students, of which most (69%) respondents were upperclassmen in their junior or senior year of college. The findings from this overall research indicate that there has been a shift in how today's Generation Z learners view online and hybrid learning and their ideal way to take…

The rise in technology-rich learning environments is reflective of a global trend in higher education (HE), recently accelerated because of necessary digital teaching and assessment practices embraced during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative study facilitated through focus groups and an interview explores the teaching and learning…

Among many consequences of the pandemic was an abrupt switch to virtual instruction coupled with feelings of isolation around mandated lockdowns. This situation pushed us to humanize our mathematics classes in ways we had not done previously. Our takeaway from this experience is that community building must be done intentionally and actively. The…

COVID-19 had an unprecedented impact on daily living and resulted in many restrictions across all areas of life. Consequently, educational establishments in the UK adapted teaching delivery by moving to online or blended learning during the main 'stay at home' phase and many remained online as ongoing restrictions were announced. Many changes made…

"Bee the CURE" is a Power-of-Place course-based undergraduate research experience (PoP-CUREs; Jaeger et al., 2024) that combines place-based education (Demarest, 2014; Gruenewald, 2014) with CUREs, emphasizing student "scientific" civic engagement where research is relevant to the community where the research is taking place.…

Identifying and fulfilling adult learners' needs is critical to instructional designs aimed at enhancing their achievement and self-empowerment. In reviewing different theories and perspectives on adult learning and online and blended learning (OBL), it is noteworthy that there is not a comprehensive framework to guide the design of OBL…

COVID-19 affected various aspects of our life. Many college students were forced to take courses remotely. It was not clear how they adapted to this new environment and how their mental health was affected. The objective of this study is to understand college students' learning experience one year after the outbreak of COVID-19. An online survey…

Online interaction has been associated with positive outcomes, academically and psychologically. Regarding the latter, social connectedness has been recognised as an important outcome on the basis of its link to subjective well-being and course satisfaction. In adult educational settings, how online interaction can foster social connectedness has…

Several of the key measures in this year's Student Academic Experience Survey have moved in a positive direction, but these movements have tended to be relatively small. Value-for-money perceptions have improved, but not statistically significantly, while there has been no change in the proportion who would choose the same course and institution…

After two demanding years for everybody in higher education, and particularly for students, it is encouraging to see that in most parts of the UK, undergraduates are beginning to see better value-for-money, and fewer students are reporting poor or very poor value from their academic experience. With much more frequent 'face-to-face' teaching,…