Blended learning
Sense of community in blended courses
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
In three Dutch blended courses, teachers and students described how teaching, social, and cognitive presence activities—often via flipped design—shaped a sense of community.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Qualitative / archival — Multi-method case study of three Dutch blended courses (observations, LMS, interviews)
- N
- N=3 · Three blended courses/teachers; nine observation sessions per course plus student/teacher interviews
- Population
- Teachers and students in three Dutch blended higher-education courses
- Outcome
- Perceptions of teaching/social/cognitive presence activities shaping sense of community
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
Key findings
Across cases, flipped strategies and presence-related activities supported belonging, but teachers and students sometimes differed on which activities mattered most and what was missing. Results highlight design choices that can strengthen SoC when face-to-face time shrinks.
Methodology
A qualitative case study of three blended courses used classroom observations, LMS document review, and teacher/student interviews to examine perceptions of promoting sense of community (SoC).
Limitations
Three convenience-sampled courses cannot estimate how common these practices are or prove causal SoC–achievement links.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
Teaching, social, and cognitive presence activities — often via flipped designs — shape sense of community for teachers and students in blended courses.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
In blended courses, presence-related and flipped activities shape sense of community, though teachers and students may disagree on which activities matter most.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
In blended courses, presence-related and flipped activities shape sense of community, though teachers and students may disagree on which activities matter most.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
In blended courses, presence-related and flipped activities shape sense of community, though teachers and students may disagree on which activities matter most.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
A case study of three blended courses combined observations, LMS documents and teacher/student interviews on sense of community. Flipped strategies and presence-related activities supported belonging, but teachers and students sometimes disagreed on which activities mattered most and what was missing. Three convenience courses cannot estimate how common the practices are.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Teacher and student interview accounts of the same blended courses did not always name the same community-building activities. EQUIP interviews and focus groups at Makerere judged a brief competency training feasible, with early ENACT-rating concerns easing — a practitioner-feasibility story, not an engagement-loneliness story. Interviews answer the prompt you wrote, not a single engagement construct.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Open questions
Tensions this paper is part of
From concept pages' “where studies disagree.” Disagreement means the same question; scope means different assays, populations, or outcomes.
Teacher and student interview accounts of the same blended courses did not always name the same community-building activities. EQUIP interviews and focus groups at Makerere judged a brief competency training feasible, with early ENACT-rating concerns easing — a practitioner-feasibility story, not an engagement-loneliness story. Interviews answer the prompt you wrote, not a single engagement construct.
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Same topic cluster — not a recommendation engine.