Assessing emotional presence in Communities of Inquiry : From the instructors point of view

• For Garrison, a Community of Inquiry is a group of individuals who collaboratively engage in purposeful critical discourse and reflection to construct meaning and confirm mutual understanding. In this study, we add Lehman’s argument that emotions are necessary to create a presence in an online learning environment and suggest that emotional presence supports reflection and knowledge construction. Using the Community of Inquiry theoretical framework and measurement tools as a base, this study measures to the extent to which instructors identify the existence of emotional presence among their students. This identification of emotion may allow instructors to respond according, if and when needed, to deflect or direct emotion in reference to building presence and, ultimately, a community of inquiry.In 2016 pilot testing of a revised CoI measurement tool, written from the instructor ‘s point of view, was tested in faculty development workshops. Following this pilot test, the instrument was used with a total of 287 higher education faculty from Portland, Oregon USA, in Beijing, China, and Sundsval, Sweden. Results indicate a correlation between years of teaching and acknowledgement of emotion but not a separate place for emotional presence in the community of inquiry framework. This is in contrast to studies of online learners where emotional presence emerges as a unique element in a community of inquiry. This paper presentation will review these findings in contrast to other similar studies and facilitate discussion of possible differences in perceptions of emotional presence between instructors and learners.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)