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- Students gave the highest ratings for effective learning to one-on-one meetings with their professor via Google hangouts or other methods. One-on-one meetings were also the highest rated activity for building community.
- Students gave higher effectiveness ratings to recorded presentations/lectures where they could see the professor in the video vs. slides only without video of the professor.
- For group assignments, students thought working together on a Google Doc (or similar method) was more effective for learning than group assignments via Zoom or Google Hangouts/Meet. However, they thought the opposite for activities that build community.
- Students saw the use of Zoom or Google Hangouts for class discussions to be more effective for building community than using the same methods for lecture.
Common Instructional Approaches to Foster Community
- Incorporate video of the instructor
- Meet synchronously
- Work in small groups
- Provide feedback (instructor, peer and communal reflection)
- Use humor
Faculty suggestions for building community in online synchronous courses, from Fall 2020 Brown Bag Lunches
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