A learning community is a group of individuals who share a common space and purpose for learning. This can include students, educators, and any other staff members who are involved in the educational process. The community functions as a collaborative and supportive environment in which members can learn from one another, share ideas, and work together to achieve common goals.
Creating a sense of community takes time, and requires the active involvement of all members, including students, faculty and staff. Creating a sense of belonging for every student is complex and may require different approaches for different students, depending on their background, experiences and needs. In all cases, cultivating and reinforcing positive interactions among all members is an essential component of building vibrant digital and classroom communities.
Learn how to build relationships between students and teaching staff to build a sense of belonging in the classroom.
Learn how to create an effective educator presence in both face-to-face and online learning environments. This supports students to feel comfortable to take the necessary risks to participate and learn effectively.
Learn how to co-create expectations with students and establish a shared understanding of what is expected.
Learn how to use collaborative activities to effectively develop and assess skills, knowledge and attributes.
Building community is vital to student engagement, retention and success. Research shows that inclusive teaching improves student outcomes in several ways:
 | Increased participation A sense of belonging to a community helps students to feel comfortable participating in class discussions and sharing their ideas, as well as asking for help. |
 | Higher aspirations Belonging to a group can extend students by connecting them to goals that may be above their individual aspirations. Extending individual student insights and innovation potential is a powerful outcome of belonging to a learning community; with community comes diversity and opportunity through new shared experiences. |
 | Increased responsibility for learning When students feel a sense of belonging in the classroom community, they are more likely to take responsibility for their own learning as active and responsible members of the community. |
 | Lower dropout rates Feelings of isolation and lack of support contribute to attrition rates. Students who feel a sense of belonging to community are less likely to drop out of an academic program (Rovai, 2002). |
When students feel that they belong to their academic community, they are able to engage in dialogue and reflection more actively and are more likely to take responsibility for their own learning (Parsons & Taylor, 2011).
There are many ways to belong at Monash. As well as helping your students connect and engage with peers in the classroom, you can also encourage them to connect with like-minded people through student clubs, organisations and events. Actively engaging in campus life allows students to build relationships and feel more connected to their peers and their university.
Building a strong learning network with peers to improve academic success.
Student associations provide discounts, services, publications, social activities, clubs and societies, student leadership, and representation on academic affairs for students at all Monash campuses.
Student can engage in a vibrant array of student-run clubs, societies, and groups where they can connect with like-minded individuals, pursue their interests, and create unforgettable experiences.
The Monash Student Socials are an essential way for new and current students to stay connected to the University and find out about exciting events, information and opportunities.
View the following resources for support in building community with, and among, your learners.
View this guide to learn how to provide opportunities for students to work collaboratively in teams.
Learn to provide effective feedback within formative and summative assessments to improve student outcomes and learning.
Explore ways to improve your presence in the classroom and online with this resource.
This module addresses issues around students' social comfort in a university setting, and provides a range of simple, effective, teaching strategies which assist any educator to build classroom community quickly, and effectively.
The use of learning technologies within your classroom provides opportunities for students to collaborate, engage with content as well as provide feedback on their learning experience.
Monash provides several centrally licensed tools to ensure an innovative teaching and learning technology ecosystem. However, there are additional learning technologies that are not centrally supported but are available for academics to use, primarily within faculties (paid or free). Below you can access information and resources for some frequently used technologies. If interested in utilising these technologies within your unit, contact your faculty educational designer to find out if it is appropriate for your teaching needs.
MURAL is a collaborative whiteboard that allows you and your students to work in a digital workspace both synchronously and asynchronously.
Perusall is a free social reading platform which allows students to digitally annotate readings and videos and respond to each other’s comments and questions.
Collaborate and communicate using MS Teams, supporting learning and teamwork.
Monash has specific policies and procedures related to building community. Take the time to review these to inform your teaching practice.
This procedure sets out Monash’s requirements for supporting students in their studies and engaging them as partners in the learning process.
This procedure outlines how to provide timely and effective feedback that explicitly states how the student can improve their performance.
The Education Performance Standards identify the expectations of education practice at Monash – See the Education Performance Standards for more details.
Impact on student learning | Impact on educational knowledge | Impact on educational environment | |||||
Effective teaching and learning | Responsive program design | Student- centred orientation | Professional learning engagement | Pedagogical content knowledge | Education research performance | Education innovation | Education leadership |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
You could address these Practice Elements by providing evidence of how you: