Course Delivery Modes and Difficulty Levels on the Community of Inquiry Framework

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Learning in Online Communities

Abstract

While the number of online students has increased and online learning has expanded in higher education, one of the major concerns about online learning is low student retention rates. Using the community of inquiry (CoI) framework, this study examined course delivery modes and students’ perceived course difficulty levels in an online and a face-to-face sections of a technology-intensive course and how the delivery modes and difficulty levels were related to the elements of the CoI framework and course satisfaction. The findings revealed that more students felt difficult in online courses and that different delivery modes and course difficulty resulted in a significant difference in the presences. Additionally, this study confirmed that the CoI presences were closely related to course satisfaction.

Authors

• Sang Joon Lee, Mississippi State University

• Jeremiah Nuatomue, Mississippi State University