Effectiveness of community of inquiry based online course: Cognitive, social and teaching presence

Seda Aktı Aslan,Yiğit Emrah Turgut

doi:10.33902/jpr.2021371365

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study aimed to examine students’ community of inquiry perceptions through online learning activities designed based on the community of inquiry model. The participants of the study consisted of 81 freshmen enrolled in two different departments of a Turkish state university. The process for the experimental procedure was carried out as part of the Information Technologies course. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the research process was carried out with synchronous distance education. While the control group received instruction through direct instruction and question/answer technique, the experimental group received instruction based on the community of inquiry model. For data collection, a demographic information form and the community of inquiry scale were administered. According to the results, students in the experimental group had significantly higher scores in terms of cognitive and teaching presence compared with the students in the control group. On the other hand, no significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of their social presence scores. Overall, the students in the experimental group had higher community of inquiry score than the students in the control group.

Highlights

With the rapid shift to online learning environments at all educational levels due to COVID-19 pandemic, it has been discussed how learning activities and interaction in face-to-face learning environments take place in online environments (Horzum, 2015; Kılıç et al, 2016)
To determine whether there was a significant difference between the teaching presence (TP) levels of the students in the experimental and control groups, an independent samples t-test was conducted
The eta square value represents a medium effect of online learning activities conducted within the scope of the community of inquiry model on students’ TP

Summary

Introduction

With the rapid shift to online learning environments at all educational levels due to COVID-19 pandemic, it has been discussed how learning activities and interaction in face-to-face learning environments take place in online environments (Horzum, 2015; Kılıç et al, 2016). CoI, which is based on collaborative and constructivist learning perspectives (Garrison et al, 2003), is used to design online learning experiences and to make them meaningful for learners as well as to evaluate their effectiveness (Garrison et al, 1999). This model posits that learning takes place in a community as a result of three elements including social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence.

Objectives

Results

Conclusion