Investigating the Effectiveness of Interactive Online Interventions to Promote Belonging

Belonging interventions have been shown to improve student success and engagement in STEM courses, but their effectiveness when delivered as web-based interventions is not well studied. This presentation shares results of a study which compared student responses to structured belonging interventions delivered face-to-face and online. Free-response data reveal that students' written reflections in the online format are just as robust as those from the in-person intervention. Log data indicate engagement with the online module, with students providing thoughtful written responses, selecting multiple optional learning opportunities, and fully completing each module. Pre- and post-intervention survey results that measure belonging across both groups will also be shared. Our findings suggest that well-designed online interventions can be as effective as the more common in-person formats in fostering student belonging. Our results have implications for scalable, accessible interventions that support student success in physics.