Online Students’ Attitudes Toward Collaborative Learning and Sense of Community

Abstract

Feelings of community increase information flow, cooperation, support, and a sense of commitment toward group goals. Many studies have explored the significance of sense of community and collaborative learning activities in online learning environments. Using a correlational study, the relationship between students’ sense of community and their attitude toward online collaborative learning was examined in this study. Results indicate that collaboration and sense of community were moderately correlated. A positive correlation between collaboration and students’ sense of community was determined. It was also noticed that the degree of correlation between sense of community and collaborative learning was higher among graduate students than among undergraduate students. Furthermore, a higher degree of correlation existed between a positive attitude toward collaborative learning and the dimensions of sense of community when compared to the correlation between a negative attitude toward collaborative learning and sense of community.