The impact of COVID online learning on first year clinical health students' sense of belonging : student and academic perspectives

![CDATA[Students’ sense of belonging to their university course has been identified as a key enabler to supporting student experience and retention (O'Keefe, 2013). Defined as having a sense of ‘interpersonal relatedness’, it is usually fostered through regular face-to-face interaction throughout orientation and the teaching semester (Yorke, 2016). In 2020, due to COVID19, Australian universities moved all face-to-face classes to online delivery. While there has been literature evaluating impact of online learning on students' sense of belonging (Peacock et al., 2020; van Gijn-Grosvenor & Huisman, 2020), none of these studies focussed on clinical health science students. Promoting a sense of belonging among first year clinical health science students is especially important for developing positive motivational attitudes and professional relationships with future colleagues (Morrow & Ackermann, 2012) This study investigated how a sudden conversion to online study impacted first year clinical health students’ sense of belonging; a secondary aim was to also explore academics’ perspectives. A mixed methods approach was used. Survey data was collected from 179 students. Separate academic and student focus groups were conducted. Focus group data revealed the importance of relationships across many levels (staff, student, profession and university) in creating a sense of belonging. Students perceived the online learning environment impacted learning, altering the nature of communication and collaboration with peers and academics. Academics employed deliberate teaching and learning strategies in the online environment to foster student belonging. A sense of belonging was enhanced when students shared the responsibility for learning and actively engaged in the online classroom. Our results demonstrate how socialisation is a key part of sense of belonging as well as academic support and considerations of life outside the university sphere. Findings highlighted the multiplicity of developing students’ sense of belonging within a multi cohort of students and various roles of teaching staff. They also emphasise the need for broad and co-ordinated collaboration across industry, professional organisations, staff, and the students themselves.]]