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This content will become publicly available on January 14, 2026

Title: “I Wish There Was a Way to Share”: The Changing Campus Ecologies Around Community College Life Science Courses
We present a case study of changing campus ecologies for students in life science courses at an urban community college. Through analysis of six surveys (n = 583) over a three-year period, we note how changes in students’ coursework affect their virtual and physical developmental ecologies. Students’ abilities to access peers for academic and social support declined and rose relative to social distancing activities, but upon return even when students could identify accessible peers, they expressed a lack of knowledge for how to form social and academic relationships on campus. Changes in social-distancing policy shaped students’ access to socio-academic integrative moments. Students expressed appreciation for their instructors during the transition to online learning, but encountered a number of social and technical roadblocks to participating effectively. Competing demands on their time, lack of access to the internet and digital tools, constraints produced by digital tools like proctoring software, and a general frustration with the amount of “screen time” that the transition required all undermined students’ formation of learning communities. The lack of third spaces – publicly accessible space that is neither home nor work – created a challenge for students who could not demarcate academic space in their homes. Among life science students were a considerable number who worked in health sciences, a field where pandemic-related burnout was considerably higher. Many of these students expressed plans to slow down their education or leave community college entirely. We identify implications for practice including strategies for instructors to foster community in their classroom.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2129885
PAR ID:
10571358
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Publisher / Repository:
Taylor & Francis
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Community college journal of research and practice
ISSN:
1066-8926
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1 to 18
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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