Abstract
Student perceptions of social and cognitive presence in online learning for a postgraduate Teaching Agricultural Sciences module at a HEI.
As more and more students opt to register for online qualifications, this quan-QUAL case study sought to investigate students' perceptions of online learning based on the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, also known as the CoI model. A quantitative study was embedded within a primarily qualitative approach to collecting and analysing data. Although the three sub-research questions could be explained using the qualitative data only, the quantitative stage of the research study clarified and informed the qualitative stage. Using the CoI model and its associated survey instrument, this research study first collected quantitative data to determine the levels of the CoI presences (social, cognitive and teaching) according to the students enrolled in a Teaching Agricultural Sciences (TAS) methodology module. Furthermore, this research study explored the relationships between the presences and the degree to which social and teaching presence predict cognitive presence. Following the quantitative data collection, qualitative data was gathered in two stages: firstly, using an online questionnaire to confirm and clarify the data from the CoI survey, and secondly, using online interviews to better understand the quantitative study’s findings as well as the perceptions of the students regarding the affordances of this online module. SPSS software version 26.0 was used to analyse the quantitative data, whilst thematic analysis was used to examine the qualitative data. According to the results, the students did perceive the community of inquiry for the online module to be sufficient, and cognitive presence was rated highest, followed by teaching and social presence. However, each presence's scores were slightly lower than the original study by Arbaugh et al. (2008) to validate the CoI survey instrument. As a result, the researcher used the instructional design principles advocated by the CoI model together with the qualitative data from the interview sessions to formulate recommendations for improving the module design and enhancing online education within a community of inquiry. Even with the modest evidence, this study exemplifies how the CoI model can provide a benchmark for determining the effectiveness of online learning and improve learning design.
Keywords: community of inquiry, social presence, cognitive presence, teaching presence, online learning