Measuring Faculty Community of Inquiry and the Role of Technology

• In Event: Poster Session 16
  In Poster Session: Online Teaching and Learning: Faculty Development

Abstract

This research explores the Community of Inquiry (CoI) from the perspective of the instructor and compares it with students’ perceptions of community in an online course. We focus on issues surrounding the instructor’s perspective on the role of technology in developing an online community and examine their effectiveness as perceived by students. This study identifies several methodological issues, including the likely congruence of perspectives between students and faculty, and the different frames that can be adopted depending on the researchers’ perspective. We offer several alternative formulations of the widely-used CoI survey from a faculty perspective, and investigate one version by comparing it with student perceptions of the CoI.

Authors

• Beth Rubin, DePaul University

• Ron Fernandes, DePaul University

• Maria D. Avgerinou, DePaul University