Sense of Community in Academic Communities of Practice: Predictors and Effects

Autor/inn/en	Nistor, Nicolae; Daxecker, Irene; Stanciu, Dorin; Diekamp, Oliver
Titel	Sense of Community in Academic Communities of Practice: Predictors and Effects
Quelle	In: Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, 69 (2015) 2, S.257-273 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0018-1560
DOI	10.1007/s10734-014-9773-6
Schlagwörter	Communities of Practice; Predictor Variables; Role; Group Dynamics; Professional Identity; College Faculty; Collegiality; Interpersonal Competence; Emotional Intelligence; Foreign Countries; Germany; Romania + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Community; Prädiktor; Rollen; Gruppendynamik; Fakultät; Kollegialität; Interpersonale Kompetenz; Emotionale Intelligenz; Ausland; Deutschland; Rumänien
Abstract	Sense of community (SoC) in communities of practice (CoP) seems to play a similar role to that of group cohesion in small groups: Both sustain participants' knowledge sharing, which in turn substantiates the socio-cognitive structures that make up the CoP such as scholar identities, practical repertoires in research and teaching or relationships between colleagues. However, empirical evidence of relationships between SoC and other CoP variables is scarce. A correlation study among German and Romanian scholars (N = 136) investigates predictors and effects of the social component of SoC (SoC-S) in academia. A conceptual model is validated, displaying CoP members' socio-emotional interpersonal knowledge as the strongest predictor of SoC-S and of knowledge sharing acceptance. Further, SoC-S significantly mediates the effect of time and centrality in CoP on knowledge sharing acceptance. The model explains a relatively large part of the variance of SoC-S (27 %) and of knowledge sharing acceptance (33 %). For academic practice, the study emphasizes the importance of SoC and interpersonal knowledge in academic communities as major factors of community building and knowledge sharing motivation. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01