UCLA

Building community is essential to achieving optimal learning conditions. Failure to build community in online courses is linked to higher drop-out rates, feelings of isolation, and lower academic success rate (Adams & Wilson, 2020). Although there is research on building a sense of community in online course settings, much of this work has focused on the asynchronous environment and/or at four-year colleges. Synchronous online learning has become more common since the Covid-19 pandemic and is situated to be a common teaching method for years to come. There is a need for research focusing on synchronous online courses taught at community colleges. While the literature recommends several strategies for building community in synchronous online courses (Berry, 2017, 2019; Chlup & Collins, 2010; McGrath et al., 2014; Tanner, 2012), it is unknown how effective these practices are within our district, nor the extent to which they are used. Therefore, this study seeks to understand strategies mentioned in the literature, as well as other strategies which are currently being used to build a sense of community in the synchronous online environment within the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD).The results of the study show there are nine common practices that faculty independently mentioned as aiding them in building a sense of community in their synchronous online courses (the use of videoconferencing being the top practice). Furthermore, the study found the Community of Inquiry framework to be positively correlated with the perception of successful community building in synchronous online courses. Consequently, this study recommends a new presence, care presence, to be added to the existing presences (teaching, social, cognitive) within the Community of Inquiry framework. While care presence may be seen as an outgrowth of social presence, this study suggests it should be treated as a unique additional presence.