Can learning presence be the fourth community of inquiry presence? Examining the extended community of inquiry framework in blended learning using confirmatory factor analysis

Abstract

Researchers continue to extend the community of inquiry (COI) framework, highlighting its utility in online and blended learning environments for providing a successful learning experience. Recent studies have added the learning presence dimension to the classic COI framework which contains teaching, social, and cognitive presences, to represent online students’ traits of self-regulation. However, there is a need to examine whether this additional presence structurally represents relationships with other COI presences. Attempting to fill this gap, this study examines the statistical structure of the extended COI framework (integrating the classic COI presences with the additional learning presence) as well as the structural path between the four presences, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Data were collected from 205 undergraduate students who were enrolled in blended courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study findings revealed that learning presence has strong correlations with the classic COI counterparts, especially cognitive presence. Furthermore, learning presence has significant positive relationships with cognitive presence and social presence. Overall, the validity and reliability of the extended COI framework (which integrates the classic COI presences with the additional learning presence) had been proven in this study. This study contributes to the literature by providing a comprehensive framework of the extended COI framework, proving their multi-dimensionality and inter-relationality.

Higher education students’ learning perception in the blended learning community of inquiry

“…The study results also demonstrated that social presence and learning presence significantly influence cognitive presence, illustrating that students who perceive high social interactions and apply motivational, behavioural, and developmental strategies during their learning process are likely to apply cognitive learning practices. Consistent with , Wertz (2014), Lin (2021), andElSayad (2023), who argued that students' social interactions and selfregulation are essential in online and blended learning environments to encourage their cognitive practices of inquiry, this study also emphasises their importance to encourage students' cognitive presence during the emergency blended learning environment. On the contrary, the findings showed an insignificant relationship between teaching presence and cognitive presence, which contradicts previous studies' findings Wertz, 2014;Zhang & Lin, 2021).…”

“…Teaching presence is a key factor in the community of inquiry framework because it has a significant role in building a sense of community (Garrison et al, 2010;Tolu, 2013). During the online and blended learning processes, instructors' presence facilitates students' social interactions, promotes their motivations, behaviours, and intellectual development, and encourages their cognitive presence (ElSayad, 2023;Law et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2010). Jansen et al (2020) and Zhang and Lin (2021) asserted that teaching presence, by providing structural teaching activities and immediate interventions during the online learning process, promotes students' self-regulation.…”

“…The survey of this study comprised pre-validated scales from previous studies (Arbaugh et al, 2008;Bolliger & Halupa, 2018;ElSayad, 2023;Shea & Bidjerano, 2009a;Swan et al, 2008;Wertz, 2014Wertz, , 2022Zhang, 2003). The original community of inquiry measurement survey comprised 34 indicators (Arbaugh et al, 2008;Shea & Bidjerano, 2009a;Swan et al, 2008): 13 teaching presence indicators, nine social presence indicators, and 12 cognitive presence indicators.…”

Instructors and Underrepresented Students in Microbiology: Educational Digital Tool Use, Trends, Perceptions, and Success

“…The findings provided evidence of a strong correlation between learning presence and cognitive presence of the classic COI, along with positive relationship significance between cognitive and social presence, implying that learning presence impacts social and cognitive presence. The findings suggest the extended COI framework's validity and reliability, including learning presence (ElSayad, 2022).…”

“…The classic COI framework model describes presence as a combination of teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence (Garrison et al, 2000). ElSayad (2022) conducted a study to explore learning presence, as a fourth presence of COI "to reflect online students' self-regulation process," and its correlation with the three presences of the classic COI to establish validity and reliability of the extended COI framework. The findings provided evidence of a strong correlation between learning presence and cognitive presence of the classic COI, along with positive relationship significance between cognitive and social presence, implying that learning presence impacts social and cognitive presence.…”