Designing a Community of Inquiry in Online Courses

• Published in: International review of research in open and distance learning Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 135 - 153
• Main Author: Fiock, Holly S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Athabasca Athabasca University Press (AU Press) 01.01.2020; International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning; Athabasca University Press
• Subjects: Active Learning; Best Practices; collaborative learning; Communication; Communities of Practice; community of inquiry; Cooperative Learning; Course Content; Designers; distance education; Distance learning; Educational Research; Educational Strategies; Electronic Learning; Expectation; Feedback (Response); Higher education; Inquiry; Instructional Design; instructional strategies; Learner Engagement; Learning Activities; Literature reviews; Online Courses; Online instruction; online learning; Reflection; Sense of Community; Students; Teacher Student Relationship; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Time Management
• ISSN: 1492-3831; 1492-3831
• DOI: 10.19173/irrodl.v20i5.3985

This article describes a practical approach for implementing instructional strategies in order to build a Community of Inquiry (CoI) into an online course. Online community building has positive effects on the quality of student learning, increases student engagement, and encourages motivation of students in online courses. The CoI is a theoretical framework focusing on facilitating meaningful learning experiences through three presences: cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence. This article will introduce the CoI framework by way of literature review focusing on CoI instructional strategies. Using Sorensen and Baylen’s (2009) seven principles of good practice, the author will structure CoI instructional activities into presence categories for practitioner use.