THE SENSE of COMMUNITY at UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOL STUDENTS

Journal of Myanmar Academy of Arts and Science, January 2021, 2021

The purpose of this study was to investigate the sense of classroom community and adjustment of university students. The research also aimed to explore the sense of classroom community and adjustment of university students by gender and university. The quantitative research design and survey method were used in this study. A total of 967 university students (481 males and 486 females) were selected from four universities in Monywa District. The Classroom Community Scale (CCS) developed by Rovai (2002) consisting of 20 items and two dimensions (Cronbach's alpha=.802) was used to measure the sense of classroom community of university students, and the University Adjustment Scale (UAS) developed by Ali (2003) consisting of 36 items and four dimensions (Cronbach's alpha=.746) was used to measure the adjustment of university students. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson product-moment correlation, and multiple regression. According to the results, there were significant differences in the sense of classroom community and adjustment of university students by gender and university. According to the Pearson product-moment correlation result, there was a moderate positive relationship (r=.608) between the sense of classroom community and adjustment of university students. The results of multiple regression analysis revealed that the sense of classroom community could predict 36.8% of the variance in the adjustment of university students. Therefore, university students who have a strong sense of classroom community may experience better university adjustment.

International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 2014

A good learning environment requires, among other things, a healthy and vibrant community in which all members feel they belong, can address all their social, spiritual and learning needs and can also feel proud about and own it. The purpose of the study was to investigate the extent to which students felt they belonged to the university and also determine the utility of the sense of community index instrument in this population. The original 12-item sense of community index developed by Perkins, Florin, Rich, Wandersman & Chavis was used. The results indicated: 1) a low sense of belonging, 2) a weak internal consistency of the scale r = .63 and 3) a two-factor structure. The findings are discussed in relation to the students' perception of what their involvement in university administration should be, the nature of the scale itself and the sample in general. A major limitation is that only a small set of students from one department was involved and therefore caution should be exercised in its interpretation and generalisation. A need for future work is delineated.

Journal of Community Psychology, 2018

Previous studies have demonstrated the role of students’ school sense of community (i.e., emotional connection and bonds with other students at school and sense of belonging to the school as a community) in predicting well‐being (presence of positive feelings and positive functioning in life). Specifically, these studies have found that individual sense of community in the school is associated with well‐being. However, individual sense of community in the school does not constitute a school‐level characteristic, and the influence of sense of community at the school level on students’ well‐being was not investigated. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted a study investigating the influence of sense of community at the school level on students’ well‐being, using multilevel analysis. Our sample comprised 1,800 students (age ranged from 11 to 20 years) from public lower and upper secondary schools in Italy. Results showed that higher sense of community scores at the school...

Universal Journal of Educational Research

This study aims to investigate students' perceptions about democratic school climate and sense of community in school. In line with this purpose, it aims to find answers to the following questions: How democratic do students find the school climate? What is students' sense of belonging level at school? What is the academic success level of students? Is there a significant relationship between students' democratic school climate scores and sense of community in school scores? The study, which was designed as a descriptive one to identify the present situation, made use of democratic school climate scale as data collection tool. Students' academic success was evaluated based on their grade point averages. The participants were students in a School of Foreign Languages department in a university in southern Turkey. The study utilized descriptive statistics and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient analysis techniques. It was found that students' sense of community in school perceptions were higher than their perceptions about democratic school climate. Although there was not a high relationship between academic success and perceptions about sense of community in school and democratic school climate, students with very low academic success had low perceptions about democratic school climate and sense of community in school. As for those with very high academic success, they were found to have high perceptions in relation to these variables. In line with the findings obtained from the study, some recommendations were made for democratic school climate.

Universal Journal of Educational Research, 2017

This study aims to investigate students' perceptions about democratic school climate and sense of community in school. In line with this purpose, it aims to find answers to the following questions: How democratic do students find the school climate? What is students' sense of belonging level at school? What is the academic success level of students? Is there a significant relationship between students' democratic school climate scores and sense of community in school scores? The study, which was designed as a descriptive one to identify the present situation, made use of democratic school climate scale as data collection tool. Students' academic success was evaluated based on their grade point averages. The participants were students in a School of Foreign Languages department in a university in southern Turkey. The study utilized descriptive statistics and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient analysis techniques. It was found that students' sense of community in school perceptions were higher than their perceptions about democratic school climate. Although there was not a high relationship between academic success and perceptions about sense of community in school and democratic school climate, students with very low academic success had low perceptions about democratic school climate and sense of community in school. As for those with very high academic success, they were found to have high perceptions in relation to these variables. In line with the findings obtained from the study, some recommendations were made for democratic school climate.

Journal of College Student Development, 2020

Journal of Community Psychology, 2016

We examined the structure, reliability, construct validity, and gender invariance of the Classroom Sense of Community Scale (SoC-C), a self-report questionnaire measuring students' classroom sense of community. The SoC-C was administered to 390 Italian students (58.6% female) aged 13-20 years. Explorative and confirmatory factor analyses established a 5-factor solution (sense of belonging and emotional connection with peers, satisfaction of needs and opportunities for involvement, support and emotional connection in the community, support by peers, and opportunities for influence) and a latent factor comprising the 5 dimensions of classroom sense of community. Results revealed a high internal reliability and that the structure of the scale was the same for both males and females. The SoC-C and its subscales correlated positively with corresponding measures, such as psychosocial well-being, perceived justice, and collective efficacy, showing convergent validity.

2009

This paper reports on a research study measuring the constructs of community and academic achievement and examining the relationship between them. The authors' research compares sense of community and academic achievement among 11th grade students attending three independent high schools in a southeastern US state. Implications for teachers of high school students are discussed.

Actual Problems of Economics, 2009

A survey on a series of issues regarding the student's perception of the academic environment was conducted at Technical University of Cluj-Napoca. A sample of 403 students was included into analysis using a stratified random sampling procedure by year of study, faculty, and specialty. The academic community involvement of four main actors represented by academic staff, faculty staff, teachers, and