Creating a Community of Inquiry in an Online Learning Environment

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 9:45 am - Gold 4
  In Roundtable Session: Student Engagement in Online Learning Environments

Abstract

This study employs a mixed-method sequential design to understand the impact of collaborative learning on graduate students’ sense of community in online learning. Data sources are responses from 87 graduate students at a university in the United States as well as responses to interviews with an instructor and students. The quantitative data confirmed the positive relationships between the measured constructs as well as the mediating role of learning satisfaction and self-regulation for the relationships between social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence. The qualitative data provided a more comprehensive picture of student learning experience. This study contributes to the community of inquiry framework by identifying additional factors that might foster online learning and highlighting the role of self-regulated learning.

Authors

• Lan Liu, University of Macau

• Chuang Wang, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Lijia Lin, University of Macau

• Susan Oyarzun, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Heather Ramsey, University of North Carolina - Charlotte