Exploring communities of inquiry in Massive Open Online Courses. (April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kovanović, Vitomir; Joksimović, Srećko; Poquet, Oleksandra; Hennis, Thieme; Čukić, Iva; de Vries, Pieter; Hatala, Marek; Dawson, Shane; Siemens, George; Gašević, Dragan
• Is Part Of: Computers & education. Volume 119(2018)
• Page Start: 44
• Page End: 58
• Publication Date: 2018-04
• Subjects: Community of inquiry model -- Massive open online courses -- Online learning -- Exploratory factor analysis; Education -- Data processing -- Periodicals; Education -- Periodicals; Computers -- Periodicals; Computer-Assisted Instruction -- Periodicals; Éducation -- Informatique -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 370.285
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2017.11.010
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-1315

Abstract

Abstract: This study presents an evaluation of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) survey instrument developed by Arbaugh et al. (2008) within the context of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The study reports the results of a reliability analysis and exploratory factor analysis of the CoI survey instrument using the data of 1487 students from five MOOC courses. The findings confirmed the reliability and validity of the CoI survey instrument for the assessment of the key dimensions of the CoI model: teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence. Although the CoI survey instrument captured the same latent constructs within the MOOC context as in the Garrison's three-factor model (Garrison et al., 1999), analyses suggested a six-factor model with additional three factors as a better fit to the data. These additional factors were 1) course organization and design (a sub-component of teaching presence), 2) group affectivity (a sub-component of social presence), and 3) resolution phase of inquiry learning (a sub-component of cognitive presence). The emergence of these additional factors revealed that the discrepancies between the dynamics of the traditional online courses and MOOCs affect the student perceptions of the three CoI presences. Based on the results of our analysis, we provide an update to the famous CoI model which captures the distinctive characteristics of the CoI model within the MOOC setting. The results of the study and their implications are further discussed. Graphical abstract: Highlights: We evaluated the Community of Inquiry (CoI) instrument within the MOOC context. Results indicated a good fit of the original three-factor structure of CoI instrument. Results also indicated the optimal fit of the six-factor model. Additional factors captured the unique characteristics of the MOOC setting. We provide an updated CoI model which emphasizes the specifics of the MOOC context.