“ Sense of Classroom Community ” Inonline Social Work Education

The study examined sense of community for traditional foundation (BSW) social work students compared to fully online (MSW) foundation students. The literature highlighted mixed findings related to sense of community in the online setting. Along with the mixed results, the literature discussed the controversy of online learning in a “people profession. ” The study had a total of 90 participants and utilized the validated Classroom Community Scale by Rovai (2002). The scale examined students’ self-reported sense of connectedness and learning. Along with comparing the two groups, the study examined sense of community related to employment status and age range. The study found there was a significant difference between the traditional face-to-face BSW program and the online MSW program. The MSW group scored higher in both the Connectedness and Learning subscales. As for the findings related to employment and age range, there were no significant differences in either the Connectedness or Learning subscales. The study’s findings were based on a small sample size which cannot be generalized to the social work population as a whole; however, the findings open the door for further research to investigate online social work programs. “Sense of Classroom Community” in an Online Social Work Program Technology has brought learning beyond the classroom. Many institutions provide online platforms to meet the needs of traditional and nontraditional learners. As online learning platforms emerge, institutions, instructors, and students are faced with many questions regarding the quality of the online classroom. For many years, instructors have striven to build “social connection” and a sense of classroom community to foster a positive learning outcome (Chickering & Gramson 1987). This social connection is rooted in the social learning theory and seen as an essential tool in the learning process. However, some disciplines are more concerned with the ability to create connection than others. These disciplines expect their students to have high engagement skills which need to be developed for their professional career (CSWE website, n.d.). In addition, studies have found that institutions in higher learning rely on sense of community to increase retention rates (Rovai & Wighting, 2005; Wiest, 2013). Rovai and Jordan (2004) found that a lack of community in students created isolation and increased dropout rates in the programs. With sense of community being an essential factor in the educational setting, researchers have begun to investigate the ability to form this community online. This researcher completed a comparative study of classroom community in a fullyblended online social work program versus a traditional social work program at a nonprofit Catholic institution in Central Florida. This chapter will review current literature from the past 10 years to provide the reader with a comprehensive background, along with highlighting the current findings utilizing Rovia’s Classroom Community Scale (2004). As online education is rapidly changing, the literature was selected from the past 10 years to provide the historical framework for the research while analyzing the current relevant findings related to the research topic in the following areas: theoretical framework, historical theories in education, developing theories in education, conceptual framework, online education compared to face-to-face, challenges in online learning, and social work education online. 1 Ed.D, MSW, Saint Leo University, Social Work Department, Saint Leo, FL 33574, USA.