Fostering Social Presence in a Blended Learning Faculty Development Institute

Author(s):  
David S. Goldstein ◽  
Carol Leppa ◽  
Andreas Brockhaus ◽  
Rebecca Bliquez ◽  
Ian Porter

To help faculty develop well-designed blended courses, the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000) was used to design and deliver a ten-week Hybrid Course Development Institute (HCDI) for faculty members from a variety of disciplines. The faculty experienced a blended format and developed courses based on the three components of the CoI framework: cognitive presence, teaching presence, and social presence, the last of which is particularly challenging to achieve. This chapter provides an overview of the HCDI structure, content, and assessment, and suggests ways to foster social presence in and beyond a blended learning institute for faculty members.

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanne Yuet Ching Lam*

Blended learning evolved from educational technology and it connects learning in and beyond the classroom. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) is a framework for blended learning from a socio-constructivist perspective in which learning is based on educational experiences in the environment with collaboration and interaction. The purpose of this paper is to explore student experience in a blended learning course from the viewpoint of the CoI. A case study approach using qualitative methods is used in the research. By examining the experiences of the students, social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence were found. Although these three elements are required for educational experiences in blended learning, an unexpected issue about students' learning in the community without teaching presence was identified. This paper suggests that the role of learning autonomy and its relation to the community should be considered in the CoI framework. The value of this paper is that it confirms the elements in the CoI and proposes the addition of a new element in the framework.


Author(s):  
Dodzi J.-A. Amemado

This research was undertaken in fifteen Canadian universities, using interviews of higher education teaching center managers and IT specialists, all of them having university-teaching backgrounds. The study concerned the ramifications to teaching requirements as university education shifts into the digital era. The research was predicated upon the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000). In the light of this theoretical framework, the results demonstrated the importance of the elements of the framework: teaching presence, cognitive presence, and social presence. Interestingly, in the responses collected, the frequency of some indicators over others, such as information exchange, discussion, and collaboration, led to the conclusion that some categories, such as group cohesion, should be given a greater consideration in the CoI framework and, therefore, should be given more weight toward the pedagogical requirements for online/blended teaching and learning.


2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoraini Wati Abas ◽  
Mansor Fadzil

Online discussion forums have the potential to add value to the total learning environmental in open distance learning. A study analyzing more than a hundred online forums from twenty offered by four faculties was conducted at the Open University Malaysia (OUM). The study aimed to determine how effective online forums were in contributing to the blended learning pedagogies adopted by the university. Using the Community of Inquiry model to evaluate the effectiveness of the forum discourse, the forums were examined to determine the extent of social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence in the forums. The study also looked at similarities and differences in interactions in the various forums. Several interesting observation were made as a result of the analysis. One major observation made was the need for tutors to be trained on how to field questions, pose questions and lead as well as moderate the discussions. The study was timely to ensure that online discussion forums contribute further to the blended learning environment at OUM.


2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zehra Akyol ◽  
D. Randy Garrison

The purpose of this study was to explore the dynamics of an online educational experience through the lens of the Community of Inquiry framework. Transcript analysis of online discussion postings and the Community of Inquiry survey were applied in order to understand the progression and integration of each of the Community of Inquiry presences. The results indicated significant change in teaching and social presence categories over time. Moreover, survey results yielded significant relationships among teaching presence, cognitive presence and social presence, and students’ perceived learning and satisfaction in the course.


Author(s):  
Beth Rubin ◽  
Ronald Fernandes

<p>This article examines the effects of teaching behaviors in online university classes, focusing on the agreement among class members. Literature on group leaders’ effects on group agreement about workplace climate is reviewed. Hypotheses are generated about the effects that teachers of online courses, as class leaders, have on both the level and agreement about the community of inquiry. They are tested with a sample of 874 students in 126 online courses. The aggregate class level and strength of agreement about the teaching presence have significant effects on the level and agreement about cognitive presence and social presence. Although the aggregate levels and agreement about community of inquiry are related, different patterns emerge.</p><p>The paper explores the interaction effects of level and agreement, finding that in classes with high levels of teaching presence, the higher the agreement about teaching presence, the higher the agreement about cognitive and social presence especially for classes reporting stronger levels of cognitive and social presence. In classes with lower levels of teaching presence, agreement has a different effect.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. R. Garrison

This paper explores four issues that have emerged from the research on social, cognitive and teaching presence in an online community of inquiry. The early research in the area of online communities of inquiry has raised several issues with regard to the creation and maintenance of social, cognitive and teaching presence that require further research and analysis. The other overarching issue is the methodological validity associated with the community of inquiry framework.The first issue is about shifting social presence from socio-emotional support to a focus on group cohesion (from personal to purposeful relationships). The second issue concerns the progressive development of cognitive presence (inquiry) from exploration to resolution. That is, moving discussion beyond the exploration phase. The third issue has to do with how we conceive of teaching presence (design, facilitation, direct instruction). More specifically, is there an important distinction betweenfacilitation and direct instruction? Finally, the methodological issue concerns qualitative transcript analysis and the validity of the coding protocol.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Dempsey ◽  
Jie Zhang

Despite the prevalence of research on the community of inquiry framework and its associated measurement instrument, more research is needed to re-evaluate the factor structure, study the effects of covariates or measurement invariance, and explore the relationships amongst the three presences. Results of this study indicated that (a) teaching, social, and cognitive presence are each multidimensional and higher-order constructs; (b) measurement invariance was fully achieved for gender and partially for age, ethnicity, discipline, and online experience; (c) structural relationships of the three main constructs—teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence—suggested potential psychometric adjustments. The teaching presence construct in particular should be reconstructed to appropriately reflect and measure the construct as conceptually defined—as a distribution of teaching responsibility and authority—as opposed to how it is currently operationalized in the community of inquiry instrument—as a centralization of responsibility and authority with the instructor.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zehra Akyol ◽  
Randy Garrison

The purpose of this study was to explore the dynamics of an online educational experience through the lens of the Community of Inquiry framework. Transcript analysis of online discussion postings and the Community of Inquiry survey were applied to understand the progression and integration of each of the Community of Inquiry presences. The results indicated a significant change in teaching and social presence categories over time. Moreover, survey results yielded significant relationships among teaching presence, cognitive presence and social presence, and students’ perceived learning and satisfaction in the course. The findings have important implications theoretically in terms of confirming the framework and practically by identifying the dynamics of each of the presences and their association with perceived learning and satisfaction.


Afrika Focus ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustapha Almasi ◽  
Chang Zhu ◽  
Haruni Machumu

This study examines teaching, social, and cognitive presences in relation to students’ academic performance in blended learning courses in a Tanzanian university. The study involved 353 stu- dents and examined several aspects of blended learning including face-to-face lectures, online and offline group assignments, online feedback, discussions, and online messaging via Moodle. A community of inquiry survey was used to measure students’ perceptions of teaching, social, and cognitive presences. Performance scores consisted of students’ coursework and final exami- nation grades. The results showed no statistically significant differences in the reported scores of teaching, cognitive, and social presences based on gender and age groups. Students with more advanced ICT skills reported higher teaching, social, and cognitive presences. Reported teaching presence was significantly different among the blended learning courses. Teaching, social, and cognitive presences showed a positive correlation with each other. The conclusion shows that although positively correlated, social and cognitive presences were not predictors of students’ performance; however, ICT skills were important in the studied courses. Key words: teaching presence, social presence, cognitive presence, academic performance, blended learning


2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zehra Akyol ◽  
D. Randy Garrison

The purpose of this study was to explore the dynamics of an online educational experience through the lens of the Community of Inquiry framework. Transcript analysis of online discussion postings and the Community of Inquiry survey were applied in order to understand the progression and integration of each of the Community of Inquiry presences. The results indicated significant change in teaching and social presence categories over time. Moreover, survey results yielded significant relationships among teaching presence, cognitive presence and social presence, and students’ perceived learning and satisfaction in the course. The findings have important implications theoretically in terms of confirming the framework and practically by identifying the dynamics of each of the presences and their association with perceived learning and satisfaction.


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