Abstract

Orientation programs are one of the first interactions that students have with their chosen institution; they are also one of the first opportunities for students to begin to build a sense of belonging. Traditional orientation programs are delivered as an in-person, interactive experience. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an immediate shift toward online programming, including orientation programming. This study utilized Strayhorn's theory of student sense of belonging as a framework. The purpose of this quantitative study was to compare student reported sense of belonging after virtual orientation programs to student reported sense of belonging after in-person orientation programs in two groups of students, international and domestic students. The findings of this study were the following: 1) a statistically significant difference in the mean reported sense of belonging of domestic students who attended in-person new student orientation programming and domestic students who attended virtual orientation programming, and 2) no statistically significant difference in the mean reported sense of belonging in international students who attended in-person new student orientation and international students who attended virtual new student orientation programming. The difference in the domestic students was shown to point toward a higher sense of belonging in the students who attended in-person new student orientation programming than in students who attended virtual new student orientation programming.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2021

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Cox, Thomas

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College

College of Community Innovation and Education

Department

Educational Leadership and Higher Education

Degree Program

Educational Leadership; Higher Education Track

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008821; DP0026100

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0026100

Language

English

Release Date

December 2024

Length of Campus-only Access

3 years

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Campus-only Access)

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