Categories: Technology, Theory & Rhetoric
Summary:
The results of a study of over 3000 students in online and hybrid courses from 42 higher education institutions found a positive relationship between element of the Communities of Inquiry framework and learning presence. The author's definition of learning presence includes self-efficacy and "other cognitive, behavioral, and motivational constructs."
The authors suggested a revised Community of Inquiry Model (see below) in which learner presence is added as an influening factor in online learning communities.
Citation-worthy:
"The CoI Framework focuses on the intentional development of an online learning community with an emphasis on the processes of instructional conversations that are likely to lead to epistemic engagement. The model articulates the behaviors and processes required to nurture knowledge construction through the cultivation of various forms of “presence”, among which are teaching-, social-, and cognitive presence (Garrison et al., 2001). The model outlines conceptual elements essential to successful knowledge construction in collaborative online environments. The framework theorizes online knowledge building as a result of collaborative work among active participants in
learning communities characterized by instructional orchestration appropriate to the online environments (teaching presence) and a supportive collegial online setting (social presence). The teaching presence construct outlines task sets such as organization, design, discourse facilitation, and direct instruction (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, & Archer, 2001) and articulates the specific behaviors likely to result in a productive community of inquiry (e.g., Shea, Li, Swan, & Pickett, 2005). Social presence highlights online discourse that promotes positive affect, interaction, and cohesion (Rourke, Anderson, Garrison, & Archer, 1999) that support a functional collaborative environment. The model also references cognitive presence, a multivariate measure of significant learning that results from the cyclical process of practical inquiry within such a community of learners. The specific form of interaction within the cognitive presence construct thus reflects a pragmatic view of learning (Dewey, 1933; Lipmann, 2003; Pierce, 1955) However the model as a whole can be seen to articulate the “epistemic” or knowledge construction features of Larreamendy-Joerns and Leinhardt’s model with teaching presence serving the overarching instructional function and social presence supporting productive and participatory 'engagement' (Shea & Bidjerano, 2010, p. 1722).
"In brief, self-efficacy can be viewed as a subjective judgment of one’s level of competence in executing certain behaviors or achieving certain outcomes in the future. Self-efficacy has been identified as the best predictor of college GPA and among the best predictors of college persistence through meta-analytic research (Robbins et al., 2004). Further, commenting on the state of the art in self-regulated learning research Winne suggested that self-regulation is contingent on positive self-efficacy beliefs, arguing that 'learners must subscribe to a system of epistemological and motivational beliefs that classifies failure as an occasion to be informed, a condition that is controllable, and a stimulus to spend effort to achieve better' (Winne, 2005). This contrast of failure attribution as trait (e.g., 'I’m just not good at math') versus failure as occasion to be informed ('I can control, adapt, and learn from this') is a classic view of maladaptive and adaptive self-efficacy beliefs" (Shea & Bidjerano, 2010, p. 1723).
"A strong correlation exists between constructs within the CoI framework and self-efficacy. As we conjectured, teaching presence and social presence are significantly correlated with student self-efficacy. While teaching presence and social presence are important factors in their own right, the extent to which students believe that they achieve significant learning and the effort they expend depends partly on their sense of efficacy.We further suggest that self-efficacy is just one component of the larger construct of online learner self-regulation (learning presence) and that these constructs contribute to our understanding of successful online learning" (Shea & Bidjerano, 2010, p. 1727).
