Assessing cognitive, social and teaching presences during emergency remote teaching at a South African university

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to examine how lecturers at a South African university navigated teaching and learning in the current educational landscape obscured by the global pandemic. The authors examine how lecturers employed a community of inquiry (CoI) in their online classrooms within the context of emergency remote teaching (ERT). The study further aims to ascertain students’ feedback concerning current ERT practices at the university toward cultivating a CoI. Doing this would offer more appropriate interventions and support for lecturers and students from, within and for an African context. If not, instructors might risk reproducing and perpetuating the same outdated pedagogies before the pandemic.Design/methodology/approachA mixed-method research design informed by a pragmatist paradigm was used. Primary data were collected from 40 lecturers at the university through online questionnaires of which 10 lecturers responded to e-mail interviews. The original CoI survey was distributed among 150 students in the Faculty of Education at the university.FindingsThe findings revealed that, despite the rushed and trial nature of the use of ERT, there were instances of a CoI among students. The findings further revealed that the majority of the lecturers were not adequately prepared for ERT as a result of limited experience with asynchronous and synchronous online teaching. There was evidence of an absence of a strong active teaching presence that was found to have negatively influenced the development of social and cognitive presences during ERT.Research limitations/implicationsOnly a single faculty at one university was selected in this single case.Practical implicationsThe results of the study have significant implications for faculties and academic staff who are currently teaching online in response to the teaching challenges paused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings will assist lecturers in developing appropriate pedagogical intervention strategies to enhance strong and active teaching and social presences necessary for cultivating the cognitive presences among students during ERT.Originality/valueThis is one of the first empirical studies to explore the influence of ERT on the cognitive, social and teaching presences at a university in an African context. The findings and conclusion of the study are novel as they relate to the development of appropriate pedagogical practices and intervention strategies suitable for ERT in response to the current education crisis.

Integration of Nursing Care as Education Approach in the Implementation of Flexible Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…They spend more time and effort studying the materials given by their respective teachers. It further confirms the study of Waghid, Meda, & Chiroma (2021) in South Africa, which underscores the vital role of teachers' presence in guiding students in establishing appropriate cognitive and social presence in an online community in the midst of the pandemic.…”

Using teaching, social and cognitive presences as a lens to reflect on teaching a research module amid COVID-19

“…Another study conducted in Egypt by Zalat, Hamed and Bolbol (2020) on the experiences of the academics during the COVID-19 pandemic reveals that synchronous (Zoom and Microsoft Teams) and asynchronous (recorded lectures, supportive videos, external links for recommended websites and electronic books) e-learning were used via a learning management system (LMS). Similarly, to the aforementioned study, Waghid, Meda and Chiroma (2021) found that lecturers in the Kenyan context used synchronous classes and asynchronous methods. The lecturers engaged students in discussions during synchronous classes using Zoom breakout rooms and Blackboard Collaborate .…”

“…The findings of the aforementioned study reports that the instructor focused more on content and skills development, while to a certain extent overlooking the necessity to foster social presence (Carlon, 2020). Waghid, Meda and Chiroma (2021) have assessed cognitive, social and teaching presences during emergency remote learning at a South African university. These authors established that exposing students to all three presences give them opportunities to attain 21st-century skills that are essential graduate attributes.…”

Student engagement and teaching presence in blended learning and emergency remote teaching

“…Given that engagement was a complex factor, it is suggested that administrators, teaching staff, and technical staff work together to propose strategies to engage students in blended and ERT modes. For example, following the CoI framework and inspired by Waghid et al ( 2021 ), course instructors can design interactive activities between students and teachers facilitating social presence, offer feedback for students’ self-reflection to enhance their cognitive presence, and give necessary explanations and guidance if required to strengthen teaching presence. Through establishing logic connections between teaching, social, and cognitive presence, students may perceive that learning in blended and ERT situations is well supported and justified, probably improving their engagement.…”

“…Direction means that instructors “provide intellectual and scholarly leadership and share their subject matter knowledge with students” (Anderson et al, 2001 , p. 8). Waghid et al ( 2021 ) examined how lecturers established a CoI among their students within the context of ERT, finding that they focused on developing students’ cognitive capacities, while social presence was the least concerned. Regarding TP, there was a higher level of design than facilitation and direction.…”