Abstract:
onnectedness between students positively
impacts the overall student experience and performance in
higher education. This study aims to establish the perception of
student-student connectedness and explore how connectedness
relates to learning in a cohort of second year environmental
health students at the National University of Lesotho. A
descriptive cross-sectional study design was used, applying the
mixed methods approach to collect data through a self-
administered questionnaire and semi-structured key informant
interviews. The population (n=31) responded to the
questionnaire while stratified random sampling was used to
select a 13% interview sample. Bivariate analysis results show
that connectedness increased at the end of the semester.
Furthermore, at the beginning of the semester, weak positive
and negative relationships existed between connectedness and
teaching-learning activities while stronger positive
relationships dominated at the end of the semester. Teaching
and learning methods should be varied and collaborative to
improve connectedness among students.
