Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching - Volume 15 - Issue 1 - The Impact of Virtual or Blended Learning on Sense of Belonging in First-Year Undergraduate Health Sciences Students Enrolled in an Inquiry-Based Course

Oct 15, 2026

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Literature suggests post-secondary students often feel disengaged and socially isolated during virtual learning, especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined whether an inquiry-based course creates different levels of belonging between virtual and blended delivery formats. A modified 26-item Sense of Belonging-Revised Scale measured belonging among 2021–2022 first-year BHSc (Honours) students at McMaster University. Analyses found no statistically significant differences across four subscales, suggesting course community-building may have reduced perceived gaps.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction and Background

Literature Review

Sense of Belonging

Virtual and Blended Learning Context

Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching Volume 15 Issue 1 The Impact of Virtual or Blended Learning on Sense of Belonging in First-Year Undergraduate Health Sciences Students Enrolled in an Inquiry-Based Course Michael Wong [h](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8491-4787)[ttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8491-4787](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8491-4787) Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University Shahad Al-Saqqar [https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7361-3434](https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7361-3434) Office of Community Engagement, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University Jennifer Nash [https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2002-5160](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2002-5160) Department of Anesthesia, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University Ali Al-Humuzi [https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5532-7715](https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5532-7715) Health Sciences Education MSc Program, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University Mark Dottori [https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4339-6386](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4339-6386) Department of Communication Studies & Media Art, McMaster University Margaret Secord [https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6974-0431](https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6974-0431) Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University Recommended Citation Wong, M., Al-Saqqar, S., Nash, J., Al-Humuzi, A., Dottori, M., & Secord, M. (2024) . The impact of virtual or blended learning on sense of belonging in first-year undergraduate health sciences students enrolled in an inquiry-based course. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching, 15(1). [https://doi.org/10.22329/celt.v15i1.8105](https://doi.org/10.22329/celt.v15i1.8105) . 2 The Impact of Virtual or Blended Learning on Sense of Belonging in First-Year Undergraduate Health Sciences Students Enrolled in an Inquiry-Based Course Abstract Literature suggests post-secondary students feel disengaged and socially isolated while learning virtually, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we explored whether a sense of belonging is differentially achieved in an inquiry-based course between two different delivery formats: virtual and blended (combination of virtual and in-person). Our primary measurement instrument was a modified version of the 26-item Sense of Belonging-Revised Scale, which we distributed to all first-year Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) (Honours) Program students enrolled in an Inquiry course at McMaster University during the 2021-2022 school year. Data analyses revealed no statistically significant difference between the two groups across the four subscales of the Sense of Belonging-Revised Scale: perceived peer support, perceived classroom comfort, perceived isolation, and perceived faculty support. As promoting community is a core skill in our Inquiry course, this may have reduced the perceived difference between the two groups. Future directions include exploring facilitators’perceptions and experiences across course delivery formats. La littérature suggère que les étudiants du postsecondaire se sentent désengagés et socialement isolés tout en apprenant virtuellement, en particulier pendant la pandémie de COVID-19. Ici, nous avons exploré si un sentiment d'appartenance est obtenu de manière différentielle dans un cours basé sur l'enquête entre deux formats de prestation différents: virtuel et mixte (combinaison de virtuel et en personne). Notre principal instrument de mesure était une version modifiée de l'échelle révisée sentiment d'appartenance révisé de 26 points, que nous avons distribuée à tous les étudiants du programme de première année du baccalauréat en sciences de la santé inscrits à un cours d'enquête à l'Université McMaster au cours de l'année scolaire 2021-2022. Les analyses de données n'ont révélé aucune différence statistiquement significative entre les deux groupes sur les quatre sous-échelles de l'échelle révisée du

FAQs

What delivery formats were compared in this study?

The study compared virtual learning with blended learning, defined as a combination of virtual and in-person instruction.

How was sense of belonging measured?

Belonging was measured using a modified version of the 26-item Sense of Belonging-Revised Scale.

What did the study find regarding differences between the two formats?

Data analyses showed no statistically significant differences between virtual and blended groups across four belonging subscales.

Oct 15, 2026

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