The collective classroom “we”: The role of students’ sense of belonging on their affective, cognitive, and discourse experiences of online and face-to-face discussions

•Across modes, more belongingness was tied to more enjoyment, utility, involvement.•Lower-belonging students felt most comfortable in online discussions.•Lower-belonging students felt judged by peers, yielding negative affective experiences.•Patterns in students’ use of the pronoun We aligned with their sense of belonging.