Developing Students’ Sense of Community in 3-D Immersive Learning Environments

• In Event: Roundtable Session 24
  In Roundtable Session: Engagement, Inquiry, and Community in Immersive Learning Environments

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine aspects that may predict graduate students’ development of a collaborative community of inquiry (as measured by the Community of Inquiry scale) within a 3D virtual learning environment.

The following questions were posed:

• Does the time in the graduate program (LOT) impact learners’ sense of community as measured by the Community of Inquiry (COI) scale?
• Does the level of online immersion (Cohort_ Type) impact learners’ sense of community?
• Does the time per week (AVG_Time_Week) in the online environment impact the learners’ sense of community?

Authors

• Krista Terry, Appalachian State University

• Les Bolt, Appalachian State University

• Amelia Cheney, Appalachian State University

• Terry McClannon, Appalachian State University

• Robert Sanders, Appalachian State University