A Prismatic Examination of Connection and Engagement in Higher Education

• In Event: Current Advances in Learning Environments Research

Abstract

Utilizing collaborative prismatic inquiry, this study explores a collection of six faculty perspectives and experiences in establishing connection and engagement during the pandemic in higher education in the United States. Before the pandemic, achievement gaps were identified as more impactful for non-dominant populations. When education moved online due to the COVID-19, these inequities and the digital divide further highlighted the issues of distance learning. The four themes were discovered: establishing community, student and professor relationships, building student-to-student connections, and classroom engagement. Utilizing the community of inquiry model as a framework for discussing the findings identified the complexity of building connections for students in terms of teaching, social, and cognitive presences.

Authors

• Mina Chun, Governors State University
  Presenting Author

• Marni E. Fisher, Saddleback College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kimiya Sohrab Maghzi, University of Redlands
  Presenting Author

• Meredith A. Dorner, Irvine Valley College
  Presenting Author

• Anthony szczurek, Saddleback College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Tina Jenkins, Saddleback College
  Non-Presenting Author