skip to main content
10.1145/3573051.3596167acmotherconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication Pagesl-at-sConference Proceedingsconference-collections
short-paper
Open Access

Student Life at Scale: Humanizing the Student Experience at Scale through Belonging, Engagement, and Community

Published:20 July 2023Publication History

ABSTRACT

Using a Computer Science affordable degree at scale as a case study, the context of this paper explores the ways in which student life initiatives can humanize the at scale and online distance learning student experience through a holistic and student care-centric approach. By analyzing the top ten student life initiatives featured in an online at scale computer science program, we highlight ways to ensure belonging, facilitate engagement, and create community at scale while tackling inherent problems of online distance learning such as isolation and social disconnectedness.

References

  1. Azad Ali and David Smith. 2015. Comparing social isolation effects on students attrition in online versus face-to-face courses in computer literacy. Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology 12, 1 (2015), 11--20.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  2. Skyler J Bock, Lindsay J Taylor, Zachary E Phillips, and Wenying Sun. 2013. Women and minorities in computer science majors: Results on barriers from interviews and a survey. Issues in Information Systems 14, 1 (2013), 143--152.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  3. Emily Chang. 2019. Brotopia: Breaking up the boys' club of Silicon Valley. Penguin.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  4. Julianna C DeSumma, Benjamin J Davis, Joseph T Cashman, Rupert R Strawbridge, and Amy H Amabile. 2022. The Impact of Distance and Social Isolation on Brain Morphology, Neural Coupling, Social Connectedness, and Immediacy: Implications for Online Learning. The FASEB Journal 36 (2022).Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  5. Charisse Gulosino and Gary Miron. 2017. Growth and performance of fully online and blended K-12 public schools. Education Policy Analysis Archives 25 (2017), 124--124.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  6. David A Joyner, Ashok K Goel, and Charles Isbell. 2016. The unexpected pedagogical benefits of making higher education accessible. In Proceedings of the third (2016) ACM Conference on Learning@ Scale. 117--120.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  7. David A Joyner, Qiaosi Wang, Suyash Thakare, Shan Jing, Ashok Goel, and Blair MacIntyre. 2020. The synchronicity paradox in online education. In Proceedings of the Seventh ACM Conference on Learning@ Scale. 15--24.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  8. Karyn L Lewis, Jane G Stout, Noah D Finkelstein, Steven J Pollock, Akira Miyake, Geoff L Cohen, and Tiffany A Ito. 2017. Fitting in to move forward: Belonging, gender, and persistence in the physical sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (pSTEM). Psychology of Women Quarterly 41, 4 (2017), 420--436.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  9. Jane Margolis, Allan Fisher, and Faye Miller. 2000. The anatomy of interest: Women in undergraduate computer science. Women's Studies Quarterly 28, 1/2 (2000), 104--127.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  10. Joanne M McInnerney and Tim S Roberts. 2004. Online learning: Social interaction and the creation of a sense of community. Journal of Educational Technology & Society 7, 3 (2004), 73--81.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  11. Marjan Nadim and Audun Fladmoe. 2021. Silencing women? Gender and online harassment. Social Science Computer Review 39, 2 (2021), 245--258.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  12. David S Park, Robert W Schmidt, Charankumar Akiri, Stephanie Kwak, and David A Joyner. 2020. Affordable Degrees at Scale: New Phenomenon or New Hype?. In Proceedings of the Seventh ACM Conference on Learning@ Scale. 25--35.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  13. Christian M Stracke, Stephen Downes, Grainne Conole, Daniel Burgos, and Fabio Nascimbeni. 2019. Are MOOCs Open Educational Resources? A Literature Review on History, Definitions and Typologies of OER and MOOCs. Open Praxis 11, 4 (2019), 331--341.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  14. Kelly Widdicks, Alice Ashcroft, Emily Winter, and Lynne Blair. 2021. Women's Sense of Belonging in Computer Science Education: The Need for a Collective Response. In Proceedings of the 2021 Conference on United Kingdom & Ireland Computing Education Research. 1--7.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  15. J Yuan and C Kim. 2014. Guidelines for facilitating the development of learning communities in online courses. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 30, 3 (2014), 220--232.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library

Index Terms

  1. Student Life at Scale: Humanizing the Student Experience at Scale through Belonging, Engagement, and Community

          Recommendations

          Comments

          Login options

          Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

          Sign in
          • Article Metrics

            • Downloads (Last 12 months)304
            • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)75

            Other Metrics

          PDF Format

          View or Download as a PDF file.

          PDF

          eReader

          View online with eReader.

          eReader