Practical Inquiry Model Research Articles

Instructional Engineering for Acceptance of Web 2.0 Technologies to Promote Critical Thinking

One of the major aims of science and technology instruction is to promote learners conceptual understanding and thinking skills. The main goal of this paper is to explain an e-Learning framework on the use of web 2.0 technologies to promote critical thinking skills with Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB) and Practical Inquiry Model (PIM) in educational environment. Technology application such as web 2.0 tools in the teaching and learning environment has increased over the past years, but majority of them are limited to content delivery. Using the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB) allows us to uncover specific factors that influence the acceptance or use of new technologies to supplement in–class learning. In addition, the rapid growth of web 2.0 tools has made an increasing amount of information available. Students access different pieces of knowledge. Therefore, they must be aware not only how access information but also more significantly how to manage information, analyze, integrate, and evaluate into usable knowledge. Practical Inquiry Model (PIM) is the instructional process to guide online learners to higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy to have them thinking and writing at the levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Applying the Practical Inquiry Model to investigate the quality of students’ online discourse in an information ethics course based on Bloom’s teaching goal and Bird’s 3C model

The goal of this study is to better understand how the study participants' cognitive discourse is displayed in their learning transaction in an asynchronous, text-based conferencing environment based on Garrison's Practical Inquiry Model (2001). The authors designed an online information ethics course based on Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives and Bird's 3C model (Content-Construction-Consolidation). The content analyzed included the participants' message posts, the quality of the dialogue and the scaffolding strategies for mentoring used by group leaders and teachers. The findings revealed that the discourse quality was influenced by hard scaffolding (i.e., the teaching goal and the nature of the issue at hand). Given this fact, if issues were either theoretical (Issue 1) or controversial (Issue 4), resources that were explicitly related to the issue must be provided to allow for discussion; otherwise, opportunities were limited for follow-up scaffolding intervention. If the issue was related to life experience (Issue 2) or case discussion (Issue 3), it would be easier to promote improved discourse quality and maintain the flow of discourse through adaptive and dynamic scaffolding (i.e., providing related material to enrich prior knowledge, weaving it into the discussion and summarizing it to provide resonance).

Investigating students' level of critical thinking across instructional strategies in online discussions

Online discussion questions, which reflect differing instructional strategies, can take many forms and it is important for designers and instructors to understand how the various strategies can impact students' critical thinking levels. For the purpose of the study three instructional strategies used in the development and implementation of online discussion questions were examined: a case-based discussion, a debate, and an open-ended (or topical) discussion. Using a mixed method approach, the study focused on critical thinking levels as described in the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and operationalized in the Practical Inquiry Model (PIM). The study investigated (1) participants' preferred instructional strategy and rationales for the selection, (2) the contribution of student background and demographic criteria to students' preferred instructional strategy, (3) the contribution of students' strategy preferences in predicting level of critical thinking, based on the Practical Inquiry Model's (PIM) indicators, and (4) comparisons of participants' critical thinking levels across instructional strategies. Implications for the design of online discussions that foster critical thinking are discussed.

Exploration of an e-learning model to foster critical thinking on basic science concepts during work placements

We designed an e-learning model to promote critical thinking about basic science topics in online communities of students during work placements in higher education. To determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the model we explored the online discussions in two case studies. We evaluated the quantity of the interactions by looking at quantitative data of the discussion ‘threads’ and we evaluated the quality of the discussion by content analysis of the individual messages. Both the procedural facilitation of the discussion and the instrument for content analysis were based on Garrison’s ‘Practical Inquiry model of Cognitive Presence’. Furthermore, we explored the experiences of the students and moderators by interviewing them and we organised their perceptions using the framework of an activity system. On the basis of the quantitative and qualitative data we conclude that the e-learning model was successful in establishing a dialogue among a group of students and an expert during work placements at different locations. The ‘Practical Inquiry model’ was useful in facilitating a sustained on-topic discourse involving critical thinking. Although the amount of critical thinking was moderate, the results suggest ways to increase integration and resolution activities in the online discussions.

Online Professional Communities

Online communities offer teachers a forum to discuss ideas, seek support, engage in professional discussions and network with a wider peer group. The popularity of online communities for teachers is self-evident by the quantity that has emerged in recent years and they present as opportunities to engage in continued pedagogical growth. The study presented in this paper has focused on the electronic discussions of three online communities for teachers, two Australian-based communities and one UK-based community. The aim was to analyse the content of the messages, via content analysis using the Practical Inquiry Model (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2001) in an attempt to determine if membership had an impact pedagogy. This study will present findings that support the conclusion that membership to online communities provides genuine opportunities for continued pedagogical growth for teachers. It will also show that they are being used as a problem solving resource, provide opportunities for professional discourse and professional support.

The influence of social presence and teaching presence on the quality of online critical inquiry

THIS STUDY EXPLORED the use of Garrison, Anderson, and Archer's (2000) version of Dewey's (1933) practical inquiry model for assessing the influence of social presence and teaching presence on the quality of critical inquiry experienced by online learners. Students (N=33) enrolled in an online version of a graduate-level, educational statistics course were randomly assigned to either a control, social presence, or social presence combined with teaching presence experimental discussion group. Results showed that the social presence combined with teaching presence group posted significantly more responses at the highest levels of cognitive presence than either the control or the social presence discussion groups.

Creating shared understanding through chats in a community of inquiry

This study investigated the process by which shared understanding develops in a chat learning space. It used a practical inquiry model to assess the development of cognitive presence. The study also explored how the pattern of conversation in synchronous discussion supports cognitive presence and how cognitive presence changes over time. Results show that there is a pattern among group members that involves reacquainting themselves through social presence and orienting themselves to the cognitive task through teaching presence. Individual meaning contributed by each member of the group through triggering events and exploratory statements is transformed as members see the text on the screen and respond to it through questioning and collective exploration. This group exploration enables the transition to shared understanding.

Visualizing interaction patterns in online discussions and indices of cognitive presence

THIS PAPER discusses Mapping Temporal Relations of Discussions Software (MTRDS), a Web-based application that visually represents the temporal relations of online discussions. MTRDS was used to observe interaction characteristics of three online discussions. In addition, the research employed the Practical Inquiry Model to identify indices of cognitive presence in discussions. MTRDS made the topology of discussions apparent as well as individual user communication patterns. The results of this inquiry appear encouraging in terms of the software’s utility. The three discussions analyzed did not exhibit the four phases of the Practical Inquiry Model. Most discussion occurred at a questioning or elaboration level. However, two discussions showed evidence of higher cognitive processing in terms of students synthesizing and integrating ideas.

Validating an Approach to Examining Cognitive Engagement Within Online Groups

Tools for measuring cognitive engagement within online groups have been concerned only with measuring an individual participant's cognitive engagement, without any concern for measuring cognitive engagement within groups. There remains a serious need for a scheme that measures cognitive engagement of groups and the validation of such a scheme against existing methods. The SQUAD (coding categories that are being measured, a semistructured approach for scaffolding online groups' engagement) approach to computer-mediated communication (CMC) discourse invites students within their respective groups to post messages based on five given categories: (a) suggestion, (b) question, (c) unclassified, (d) answer, and (e) delivery. In this article, the authors validated the SQUAD approach at the message level with an established framework called the practical inquiry model for assessing cognitive presence of CMC discourse. They adopted the alignments suggested by one of the developers of the Transcript Analysis Tool at sentence level to assess students' cognitive engagement within online groups in three case studies presented in this article. The authors argue that the cognitive presence attributed to the SQUAD approach has been empirically validated with respect to cognitive engagement within groups online.

Creating cognitive presence in a blended faculty development community

The focus of this study was to understand how a blended learning approach can support the inquiry process (cognitive presence) in a faculty development context. The findings from this study indicate that there are several key differences and similarities in cognitive presence between face-to-face and online discussions. These differences and similarities are specifically related to the four phases of cognitive presence of the practical inquiry model. A comparison of the face-to-face and online discussion forums indicates that: a slightly higher percentage of triggering events occurred in the face-to-face discussions; exploration was the dominant phase in both environments; a noticeably greater percentage of comments were coded for integration in the online discussions; and the resolution/application phase was almost non-existent in both forms of discussion. The results from this study imply that an increased emphasis should be placed on teaching presence within a blended learning environment to ensure that participants achieve resolution in the inquiry cycle.

Interaction and cognition in asynchronous computer conferencing

This paper is based on a multiple-case study of the learning process in three asynchronous computer conferences. The conferences were part of the distance learning component in doctoral degree courses in computing technology in education offered at an American university. The conferences were analyzed from a number of perspectives, the emphasis in this paper being on the dimensions of interaction and cognition. Although similar interaction patterns were identified in the three conferences, each conference also showed distinctive patterns, which were related to factors such as instructor moderation, structuring of the instructional task and the emergence of student moderation of the discussion in specific threads. Three models were used to evaluate cognition: Bloom's Taxonomy (Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill, & Krathwohl, Handbook 1, Cognitive Domain, Longman, London, 1956), the SOLO Taxonomy (Biggs & Collis, Evaluating the Quality of Learning: The SOLO Taxonomy, Academic Press, New York, 1982) and the Practical Inquiry Model of Cognitive Presence (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, The American Journal of Distance Education 15(1)7, 2001). Correspondences were found among the three models and all three conferences were characterized by higher-order thinking. When higher-order thinking was defined in terms of the distributed cognition occurring during practical inquiry, the advanced phases of cognition were found to be related to synergistic interaction in the conference threads. The findings serve to define the knowledge-building processes occurring in asynchronous computer conferencing. They also lend support to views of learning as dialogical and to social constructivist approaches to learning and teaching.

Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education

This article describes a practical approach to judging the nature and quality of critical discourse in a computer conference. A model of a critical community of inquiry frames the research. A core concept in defining a community of inquiry is cognitive presence. In turn, the practical inquiry model operationalizes cognitive presence for the purpose of developing a tool to assess critical discourse and reflection. The authors present encouraging empirical findings related to an attempt to create an efficient and reliable instrument to assess the nature and quality of critical discourse and thinking in a text‐based educational context. Finally, the authors suggest that cognitive presence (i.e., critical, practical inquiry) can be created and supported in a computer‐conference environment with appropriate teaching and social presence.