Reducing Isolation through Peer-Modeled Posts

Creating a supportive community in introductory programming courses is vital to student success, yet forums meant to facilitate this can cause stress due to social comparison. According to social identity theory, students are more likely to engage and feel a sense of belonging when they perceive connections with their peers. This study investigates whether peer-modeled posts that simulate students exhibiting desirable engagement behavior can reduce feelings of isolation and foster social connection among students. We introduced curated posts modeling expected student behavior -- covering content, providing emotional support, and offering study tips -- into Q&A forums for two introductory computing courses. These posts were inserted using different student accounts. Surveys and forum data were analyzed to measure the impact on students' feelings of isolation. Students responded positively to the seeded posts, reporting a significant reduction in feelings of isolation. Notably, women reported feeling less isolated after seeing the posts more than men, and many students reported feeling relieved that other students had the same worries and concerns as them. Seeding peer-modeled posts can significantly reduce student isolation and foster a greater sense of belonging in competitive academic contexts. However, future work may explore alternative delivery mechanisms, such as instructor posts framed as ''questions from last year,'' to determine if they can achieve similar effects.