Abstract
This study aims to investigate a collaborative synchronous learning environment in terms of students’ community of inquiry perceptions (cognitive, social, and teaching presences) and interaction levels. This quantitative study was conducted with the participation of fifty-nine freshmen (twenty-nine in the control group and thirty in the experimental group) in the department of Information Technologies at a university. The study lasted nine weeks, including two weeks of data collection and seven weeks of implementation procedure. After the implementation, the Community of Inquiry Scale and the Online Course Interaction Level Determination Scale were administered to the participants. The results revealed that co-operative synchronous learning experiences positively influenced students’ community of inquiry perceptions and interaction levels in the experimental group. Further results and implications are discussed at the end.
Highlights
Online learning environments are often used in addition to face-to-face learning environments (Al Mamun et al, 2020) in order to help students to achieve required skills (Tareef, 2014)
Our study focuses on the perceptions of interaction and community of inquiry in distance education given that these are the issues that have not been examined in detail yet
The results of this study examining collaborative synchronous learning environments (CSLE) in terms of community of inquiry and interaction are presented within the framework of the research questions
Summary
Online learning environments are often used in addition to face-to-face learning environments (Al Mamun et al, 2020) in order to help students to achieve required skills (Tareef, 2014). An increase in interaction between teachers and students results in an increase in students‟ perceptions towards learning (Paswan & Young, 2002) and satisfaction (Lee, Srinivasan et al, 2011) Within this context, through the use of pedagogical approaches, with the support of the adaptable communication and interaction capacity of online environments (Anderson, 2008), improvements can be achieved in many dimensions affecting the success of online learning, such as academic achievement, perceived learning, and satisfaction. Considering that using the perceptions of the community of inquiry is an effective approach in predicting the success of the online learning environment and student satisfaction (Lee et al, 2020; Maddrell et al, 2017), it is thought that the obtained research results will contribute to the literature. Is there a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of interaction levels?
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