A Model Of Learning Community And Its Impact On The Sense Of Community Of Learners In E-Learning

This study aimed to "provide a model for the design of learning community and its effect on the sense of community of learners in e-learning". In this regard, the exploratory mix method with method was used. In the qualitative part of the research, inductive content analysis method was used and in the quantitative method, a quasi-experimental design with experimental-control group was used. In the qualitative section of the research, articles, books and text extracted from interviews with individuals who were selected purposefully analyzed by inductive content analysis method. finally, 9 categories including, teacher, participation, social presence, time, resources, trust, support, tools and groups were extracted. These nine categories led to the formation of an e-learning community model. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to examine the external validity of the model. The validity of the questionnaire was evaluated by experts and its reliability was 0.87 using Cronbach's alpha. Then, 40 undergraduates from law and political sciences fields in introduction to computer course were randomly assigned to the experimental and control group. The results of the covariance analysis showed that the results obtained from the implementation of the model in the experimental group (F=107.96, p<0.01) with a 99% confidence were significant. In other words, after the implementation of the model in the experimental group, the results showed that the experimental group experienced a higher sense of community. Also, to examine the gender effect, the results of the two-way ANCOVA test showed that gender had no effect on the results of the experiment (F=0.75, p>0.05).