As so many teachers have realized over the past months, building community in online classes is a central challenge, a fact that veteran remote educators have alway known. Unfortunately, many proposed solutions are of the “getting to know each other” variety. But authentic community is created not when students simply know each other but when they share values and goals. And one way to create such shared values and goals is through the course-based undergraduate research experience or “CURE.”

Anyone who has created even a small competitive game in class knows that shared goals can be created entirely artificially. There are wonderful and robust arts and humanities methods that use this strategy such as the Reacting to the Past (RTTP) simulations from Barnard. But because undergraduate research, as defined by CUR, involves “original intellectual or creative contributions to the discipline,” it relies on meaningful goals that go beyond the classroom. Getting students to share those goals means helping them value the arts and humanities themselves, an important learning outcome. Here are some ways to shape your course-based undergraduate research experience for maximum community building.

Make dissemination visible

Look for projects in which dissemination is timely and visible. Many valuable projects in the humanities ask for material from participants that may not see the light of day for years. Contributions to the arts and humanities infrastructure, such databases and curation may not appeal to students who are already experiencing the distancing of remote education. If you do want to use projects like these, seek out opportunities to create immediate feedback, like inviting the director of a project or organization to thank the students and to help them imagine the value of their contributions. Consider whether the project can make any immediate acknowledgment of students while their work is being processed, such as listing them on contributor pages.

Involve a known audience

It is tempting to incorporate creative and scholarly experiences that speak to a national or global audience since that is what faculty themselves consider to be the ultimate audience for any contribution to the field. But valuable work in the arts and humanities can also be directed at more local audiences, especially when the “public humanities” and non-expert audiences are considered. It’s easier for students to feel the reality and immediacy of their work when its audience includes peers, mentors, and family members. Virtual presentation opportunities have actually expanded the possibilities. For example, if students’ work will be part of an online conference, consider requiring them to invite a number of family and friends to listen in.

Give prizes

Creative and scholarly experiences are serious and meaningful, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t improved them with a bit of community-building fun, and nothing builds community as fast as friendly competition. Look for opportunities to award non-serious prizes separate from any course related benefits. For example, local groups participating in the annual transcribathon for EMROC may be encouraged by silly prizes awarded for the first person to spot a given word in a manuscript.

Reduce the stakes for collaboration

Collaboration is a powerful tool for building community in any setting because it focuses small groups on shared goals. But when collaboration is also a course expectation it risks working against community through the dreaded “group project” syndrome. High-performing students either worry on the one hand that their performance will be held hostage to that of their peers or on the other hand that they will end up doing all the work. These problems are exacerbated in online classes because students may feel that they have reduced opportunities to encourage each other.

One solution is to make collaboration involve both independent and group responsibility. For example, ask students collaborating on a single scholarly or creative outcome to create their own independent contribution and then to work with others to merge the best aspects of their independent work. Assign course credit based on individual merit for the first part and on participation and engagement for the second part. This reduces the responsibility for effective teamwork while still producing successful outcomes since the best student work will end up in the final product whether or not a group is successful as a team.

Collaborate with undergraduates at other institutions

School spirit doesn’t disappear after high school, and it’s a well-tested way to create a sense of community that can be adapted for undergraduate research experiences. Look for opportunities to pair projects with colleagues at other institutions. Students can make presenting to their peers at other institutions a part of the research experience. Not only is emulation a powerful motivator, but students at each institution will grow closer together as they seek to put their best foot forward.

Have you used CUREs for building community in online classes? Let the CURAH editors know at @curartsandhumanities.org.