Facebook Enhanced College Courses and the Impact of Personality on Sense of Classroom Community

The impact of personality type on students’ sense of classroom connectedness was examined in a study of university-level business courses that used Facebook to enhance classroom learning. The study was conducted using an independent measures static group comparison research design. Nearly 600 students registered in six different business courses at the regional campuses of two major universities participated in a study lasting one term. The study focused on the extent to which the Big Five personality variables – extroversion, agreeableness, openness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness – impacted students’ sense of connectedness in Facebook-enhanced and nonenhanced courses. Correlation and regression analyses demonstrated that extroversion and agreeableness were related to sense of connectedness, a significant pattern for students in the Facebook-enhanced group. Future research opportunities and provisos are discussed.

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