Assessing Institutional Presence Within the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Survey Instrument for Online Graduate Programs

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 5:25 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Unpacking Educational Complexity: Survey-Based Investigations of Diverse Constructs (Table 3)

Abstract

We updated an extended version of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) survey instrument to
measure the extent to which online graduate programs yield effective learning opportunities for
graduate students. Prior researchers have also adapted the CoI instrument to examine online
programs, but they have only accounted for a set of CoI “presences” (i.e., teaching, social, and
cognitive) meant to support effective CoIs. Given the importance of another “institutional
presence,” meant to help integrate institutional functions in online and blended learning
environments, we constructed and added survey items to account for this additional presence
dimension. In addition, we integrated technology subdimensions into our instrument to better
understand the relationships between technology use and students’ learning experiences in online
graduate programs.

Authors

• Minji Kim, Arizona State University

• Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, Arizona State University