January, 2010 HICE Conference

The Community of Inquiry Framework:

A Review of Research & Practice

D. Randy GarrisonPhil Ice

Zehra Akyol

Hawaii

Overview

Background Community of Inquiry Framework Update on Recent Research CoI Dynamics CoI Survey Instrument Discussion

Background Studies have emphasized the importance

of community as a key factor in successful online/blended learning (Conrad, 2005; Haythornthwaite & Kazmer, 2004; Rovai, 2002).

Sense of community is found to be significantly associated with perceived learning (Shea, 2006; Shea, Li, & Pickett, 2006).

Community of Inquiry Framework provides a well structured guideline to create an effective and sustained learning community (Arbaugh, 2008).

Value of a Framework

A theoretical framework takes us beyond craft know how and recipes.

Theoretical frameworks provide order and allow us to understand complex situations in greater depth.

This increases adaptability to new contexts and environments.

Community Of Inquiry

The importance of a community of inquiry is that, while the objective of critical reflection is intellectual autonomy, in reality, critical reflection is “thoroughly social and communal”.

Lipman, 1991

Community of Inquiry Framework

Social PresenceThe ability of participantsto identify with the community (e.g., course of study), communicate purposefully in a trusting environment, and develop inter-personal relationships by way of projecting their individual personalities.

Cognitive PresenceThe extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse in a critical community

of inquiry.

Teaching PresenceThe design, facilitation and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose

of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes.

ELEMENTS CATEGORIES INDICATORS

(examples only) Social Presence Open Communication Learning climate/risk-free expression Group Cohesion Group identity/collaboration Personal/Affective Self projection/expressing emotions Cognitive Presence Triggering Event Sense of puzzlement Exploration Information exchange Integration Connecting ideas Resolution Appling new ideas Teaching Presence Design & Organization Setting curriculum & methods Facilitating Discourse Shaping constructive exchange Direct Instruction Focusing and resolving issues

CoI Categories/Indicators

SOCIAL PRESENCE

The ability of participants to identify with the community (e.g., course of study), communicate purposefully in a trusting environment, and develop inter-personal relationships.

(Garrison, in press)

Rogers and Lea (2005)

If the intended result of social presence is to confer on the group greater capacity to communicate and collaborate, then the group will work more productively to the extent that group members identify with the group [emphasis added], … [p. 153]

SP Research Findings

When students feel comfortable participating in online asynchronous dialogue they also report higher levels of cognitive presence (Shea, 2008).

COGNITIVE PRESENCE

What are the challenges of observing and assessing what is essentially a latent or hidden process?

The following model is how we addressed this enormous challenge.

Moving Beyond Exploration

Early research revealed an apparent difficulty moving inquiry through to resolution.

However, there is evidence that this pervasive finding may have more to do with aspects of teaching presence than to the other possible factors.

Garrison & Arbaugh, 2007

Nature of Task

Where learners specifically were tasked to formulate and resolve a problem, “participants engaged more in problem resolution than in problem formulation” (Murphy, 2003)

When questions specifically asked students to engage in practical applications, discussions did progress to the synthesis and resolution phase (Arnold & Ducate, 2006)

Emerging CP Research

In two small samples (n = 18) students reached exploration and integration in discussion postings, then after personal reflection on discussions, used knowledge to reach resolution in personal work products

Interview data indicates that students need time to fully evaluate discussion postings before reaching the resolution stage

(Ice, in progress)

CP and TP

Others have concluded that the reason discussions do not reach the highest levels of inquiry is related to the role of the instructor (Celetin, 2007; Luebeck & Bice, 2005 ).

Blended and Online Learning

BL course had higher levels of all presences as well as perceived learning and satisfaction compared to fully online course.

"these differences suggest that the blended course format may have provided better conditions for higher-order thinking” Akjol & Garrison,

unpublished

TEACHING PRESENCE

The body of evidence is growing rapidly attesting to the importance of teaching presence for successful online learning …

TP Research

The consensus is that teaching presence is a significant determinate of student satisfaction, perceived learning, and sense of community. (Akyol & Garrison, 2008; Arbaugh, 2008; Shea et al. 2004, 2005)

TP is needed to establish CP and SP; lowest CP scores were reported by students who rated TP as weak (Shea & Bidjerano, in press)

TP Research

Various factor analyses have produced an unexpected 4 factor solution in which instructional design and organization load separately from facilitation of discourse and direct instruction

Mixed methods analysis reveals that students may be able to detect the instructor’s “voice” / students can differentiate whether or not an instructor authored the course content

(Ice, in progress)

CoI DYNAMICS

Role of Time Why time?

“Community grows; it is not made or given”

(Conrad, 2005)

Time is an important variable to understand how a community of inquiry develops and progresses(Garrison & Cleveland-

Innes, 2004)

Dynamics of Presences

The dynamics among the three presences have not been explored until recently.

PLOT OF ELEMENTS OF CoI OVER TIME

Time Periods321

Es

tim

ate

d M

arg

ina

l M

ea

ns

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

Social Presence

Teaching Presence

Cognitive Presence

(Akyol & Garrison, in press)

CP

TP

SP

Categories of Presences

The sub-elements (ie, categories) of the presences also develop differentially over time and have practical implications.

(Akyol & Garrison, 2008)

SOCIAL

PRESENCE

COGNITIVE

PRESENCE

TEACHING PRESENCE

SupportingDiscourse

EDUCATIONALEXPERIENCE

ConfirmingMeaning

SettingClimate

Beginning of Course

SOCIAL

PRESENCE

COGNITIVE

PRESENCE

TEACHING PRESENCE

SupportingDiscourse

EDUCATIONALEXPERIENCE

ConfirmingMeaning

SettingClimate

Middle of Course

SOCIAL

PRESENCE

COGNITIVE

PRESENCE

TEACHING PRESENCE

SupportingDiscourse

EDUCATIONALEXPERIENCE

ConfirmingMeaning

SettingClimate

End of Course

Structural Equation Model

Using the CoI survey instrument, two studies have explored causal relationships among the presences in the CoI framework (Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung; Shea & Bidjerano, in press)

The results confirm the theoretical predictions of the framework.

Q6 Q11 Q19 Q23 Q25 Q26 Q27

Q2

Q29

Q7

Q8

Q10

Q14

Q15

Q20

Q22

Q24

Q5

Q33

Q1

Q30

Q4

Q12

Q13

Q16

Q17

Q18

Q21

Q28

Q3

Q32

.41* .59* .67* .82* .68* .68* .49*

.40(.10)*

.57*

.77*

.77*

.76*

.70*

.71*

.51*

.58*

.74*

.66*

.73*

.50*

.52(.11)*

.51(.09)*

.74*

.55*

.71*

.44*

.72*

.72*

.75*

.78*

.74*

.70*

.83*

.86* .03(.07)

-.02(.07)

-.04(.07)

-.03(.05) .03(.07)

.10(.05)*

Figure 1: Model of the relationships among teaching, cognitive and social presence

Q31 Q34

.80* . 70*

* Significant at .05

Q9 .64

Gender Program

Program Gender

1.00 1.00

( ) Standard Error

SOCIAL PRESENCE

COGNITIVE PRESENCE

TEACHING PRESENCE

Summary

Much more work needs to be done.

Creating and sustaining a collaborative community of inquiry will require an understanding of the dynamics among and within the presences.

CoI Survey

To investigate disciplinary effects thoroughly and to establish generalizable predictors of on-line course effectiveness, greater emphasis on multi-course, multidisciplinary, and multi-institutional studies must become a priority in on-line course research.

Arbaugh, 2005, p. 70

CoI Instrument Development

Dec 2006 – review of CoI research; agreement upon survey items

Spring 2007 – beta testing; items revised

Fall 2007 – data collected (n=287) across spectrum of courses at four institutions in USA and Canada; factor analysis conducted

Two subsequent studies have confirmed these findings (Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung; unpublished; Shea, in

press)

TEACHING PRESENCE

1 2 3

1. The instructor clearly communicated important course topics. 0.826 0.088 0.067

2. The instructor clearly communicated important course goals. 0.877 -0.021 0.046

3. The instructor provided clear instructions on how to participate in course learning activities. 0.592 0.246 -0.035

4. The instructor clearly communicated important due dates/time frames for learning activities. 0.611 0.078 0.040

5. The instructor was helpful in identifying areas of agreement and disagreement on course topics that helped me to learn. 0.579 0.162 -0.138

6. The instructor was helpful in guiding the class towards understanding course topics in a way that helped me clarify my thinking. 0.575 0.091 -0.281

7. The instructor helped to keep course participants engaged and participating in productive dialogue. 0.633 0.149 -0.160

8. The instructor helped keep the course participants on task in a way that helped me to learn. 0.579 0.042 -0.285

9. The instructor encouraged course participants to explore new concepts in this course. 0.523 0.099 -0.233

10. Instructor actions reinforced the development of a sense of community among course participants. 0.569 0.174 -0.176

11. The instructor helped to focus discussion on relevant issues in a way that helped me to learn. 0.425 0.146 -0.374

12. The instructor provided feedback that helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses relative to the course’s goals and objectives. 0.649 -0.123 -0.201

13. The instructor provided feedback in a timely fashion. 0.513 -0.025 -0.103

SOCIAL PRESENCE1 2 3

14. Getting to know other course participants gave me a sense of belonging in the course. 0.050 0.619 -0.233

15. I was able to form distinct impressions of some course participants. 0.172 0.473 0.013

16. Online or web-based communication is an excellent medium for social interaction. -0.181 0.674 -0.226

17. I felt comfortable conversing through the online medium. -0.039 0.814 0.015

18. I felt comfortable participating in the course discussions. 0.109 0.788 0.005

19. I felt comfortable interacting with other course participants. 0.286 0.701 0.038

20. I felt comfortable disagreeing with other course participants while still maintaining a sense of trust. 0.103 0.620 -0.034

21. I felt that my point of view was acknowledged by other course participants. 0.319 0.556 0.025

22. Online discussions help me to develop a sense of collaboration. 0.047 0.561 -0.340

COGNITIVE PRESENCE1 2 3

23. Problems posed increased my interest in course issues. -0.099 0.172 -0.785

24. Course activities piqued my curiosity. 0.064 0.070 -0.712

25. I felt motivated to explore content related questions. 0.082 -0.031 -0.770

26. I utilized a variety of information sources to explore problems posed in this course. 0.078 -0.158 -0.759

27. Brainstorming and finding relevant information helped me resolve content related questions. -0.106 0.130 -0.794

28. Online discussions were valuable in helping me appreciate different perspectives. -0.096 0.286 -0.699

29. Combining new information helped me answer questions raised in course activities. 0.101 0.043 -0.716

30. Learning activities helped me construct explanations/solutions. 0.128 0.030 -0.732

31. Reflection on course content and discussions helped me understand fundamental concepts in this class. 0.008 0.237 -0.640

32. I can describe ways to test and apply the knowledge created in this course. 0.239 -0.097 -0.619

33. I have developed solutions to course problems that can be applied in practice. 0.147 0.026 -0.653

34. I can apply the knowledge created in this course to my work or other non-class related activities. 0.171 -0.041 -0.687

The CoI, Age & Level

Recently completed study (n = 4397) revealed that age and program level may have an impact on the loading of teaching and cognitive presence on separate factors

Come to Sea Perl 4 at 1:15 on Tuesday to find out more

Conclusion

???? Website http://communitiesofinquiry.com/