Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate how Korean college students perceived online and offline classes in terms of their social interactions (with their peers and instructor) and senses of classroom community during their online and offline classes. To accomplish this purpose, two research questions were constructed: 1) How did Korean college students perceive online classes in terms of their social interactions and senses of classroom community? 2) How did they perceive offline classes in terms of their social interactions and senses of classroom community? Thirty-three students responded to the Rovai’s (2002) 20-item Classroom Community Scale modified for the current study. An independent sample t-test as a main analysis method was employed. Findings of data analysis indicated that, first, students perceived two different learning environments in nearly the same way in terms of social interactions with their peers and the instructor. Second, students were more likely to rely on or trust others in online classes than in offline classes. It indicated that they might have been more used to online classes than offline classes because they had longer experience with online classes because of the pandemic. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for further research are presented.