The formulation of a sense of community (SOC) among students has received significant attention in the literature in recent years. However, digitally enhanced learning and COVID-19 have amplified the challenges vis-à-vis connecting students and making them feel involved and recognized in virtual learning ecologies for higher educational…

Purpose: This study aims to delve into the evolution, trends and implications of scientific production related to service learning (SL) and community engagement for sustainability in higher education institutions (HEIs). Because HEIs play a crucial role in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs), experiential learning approaches are…

This paper reviews theories regarding online learning communities in higher education and their relevance to online degree programs. While these theories are used extensively to promote and maintain community within online courses, little attention has been placed on broader factors that can influence perceptions of online community. Based on our…

This systematic review aims to examine empirical literature about advancing the social role of college-based higher education (CBHE). A thematic analysis of empirical evidence from the 58 included articles offers insights into the social role of CBHE, and the characteristics of CBHE colleges, students, and lecturers. The review indicated a growing…

This article contributes a novel dataset mapping the partnership literature in the community engagement field and invites scholars of community-academic partnerships in this field to participate in the development of scoping reviews as a way to effectively scan extant literature as they seek to build upon or critique it. This scoping review…

This study aimed to map the distribution of publications on student support services provision (SSSP) in higher educational institutions in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) through a systematic literature review approach. To meet its objective, the study investigated the methodological approaches, stakeholder involvement and strategies as well as…

Purpose: This study aims to explore the contribution of Enactus sustainability initiatives to youth empowerment and community development, thus analysing how South African higher education institutions can increase student involvement in Enactus projects across all faculties. Design/methodology/approach: Using a systematic literature review…

The term transmedia learning is focused on how students learn in both formal and informal learning environments, across multiple platforms. This article identifies the literature on transmedia learning across the last decade and draws together a consistent definition. A conceptual model for transmedia learning is outlined and further advances a…

Given the theorized importance of college belonging for academic success, we conducted a scoping review of studies examining relationships between sense of belonging and academic achievement and persistence for postsecondary students. In our scoping review, we included 69 reports (78 unique samples) published between 2003 and 2023. We observed an…

This study is the first systematic review of research on outdoor learning occurring in all disciplines and interdisciplinary areas of study at higher education institutions in the United States and published in refereed English language journals. The article describes characteristics of outdoor learning research (OLR) and outdoor learning (OL). It…

This literature review applies Wenger's community of practice framework as a theoretical lens to generate insight about the complex collaborative processes of living labs. The authors explore this model with insights from the literature on labs and then set out to understand higher educational living labs. The findings show that current research…

This article presents playfulness as an emerging approach to learning in higher education that emphasises the arts and humanities across disciplines. The article is based on a qualitative, hermeneutical literature review in light of educational culture in higher education. The literature review indicates that playful approaches to learning stand…

The current study aimed to understand the trend in the community of inquiry that many researchers have been working on for over 20 years. Within the scope of this aim, 102 studies were reviewed with regards to some variables: most preferred keywords and words in abstract, year of publication, authors, journals, geographical distribution, academic…

In a context where learning mediated by technology has gained prominence in higher education, learning analytics has become a powerful tool to collect and analyse data with the aim of improving students' learning. However, learning analytics is part of a young community and its developments deserve further exploration. Some critical stances claim…

Gamification has been used in education since the early 2010s, however, the empirical studies on the effectiveness of gamification have yielded inconsistent results. Without a clear understanding of how gamification works, and which gamification design elements have a higher potential to influence learning outcomes, gamification intervention may…