شبكة المعلومات العربية التربوية

Communities of learning and practice represent a prolific social, instructional, and educational environment for the undergraduate students. Preferred communities of learning and practice help students acquire social, research and academic skills, that are required by university education. The need for communities of learning and practice increased recently due to the expansion of university education for international students, where the internationalization of university education increased, compared to local education. There is an urgent need among undergraduate students for communities of learning and practice because of the difficulties and challenges they face away from their homes and families. Hence, the present research aims to investigate the communities of learning and practice that are preferred by the students of minorities, and identify the relationship of these communities with some psychological and educational variables; psychological burnout, language anxiety, social skills, and scientific research skills. The sample consisted of (318) of the Islamic University students who belong to different countries. The research utilized the descriptive method, represented in the correlational method, in identifying the nature of preferred communities of learning and practice among the students and the relationship of communities of learning and practice with the aforementioned variables‎. The research utilized the following instruments; Questionnaire of the Preferred Communities of Learning and Practice, Psychological Burnout Scale, Language Anxiety Scale, Social Skills Inventory, and Scientific Research Skills Scale. Findings revealed that the general mean score of the responses of the students, regarding the preferred learning and practice communities was (2.08), representing a moderate degree. The research revealed, also, a statistically significant and positive correlation between learning and practice communities and the variables of language anxiety, social skills, and scientific research skills, but no correlation between communities of learning and practice and psychological burnout was found. (Published abstract)