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Title: STEM Scholars’ Sense of Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The purpose of this study was to investigate sense of community (SOC) within a STEM learning community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The STEM learning community that was the setting for this study is funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) S-STEM grant. A mixed methods design was used to investigate levels of SOC and changes in SOC from December 2019 to December 2020. Scholars completed the Sense of Community Index (SCI-2) (Chavis et al., 1986) during this time along with answering questions about their experience in the program. Data showed evidence of a slight increase in SOC, when compared to prepandemic SOC. Three themes emerged from the qualitative data to support this finding: community as access, community as sanctuary, and community as sacred. When data were coded for the presence of these themes across time, a slight decrease in the focus on community as access appeared from December 2019 to December 2020, but there were increases in the focus on sanctuary and sacredness of the community. Triangulation of the data provides evidence for this STEM learning community as an important support system for students during this time of unprecedented uncertainty in higher education.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1259496
PAR ID:
10313101
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Journal of college science teaching
Volume:
Vol. 51
Issue:
No. 1, 2021
ISSN:
1943-4898
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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