The Community of Inquiry Informed Pedagogy

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 The Community of Inquiry Informed Pedagogy


My interest in the community of inquiry (CoI) leads me to explore previous studies that advocate this framework. The CoI has been widely used as a framework in instructional design for online and blended learning. This framework consists of three interrelated components pivotal for the successful teaching-learning activities of the learning mentioned above deliveries. The three components are cognitive, social, and teaching presence. However, we will not discuss the framework and its components in detail here. The articles I am talking about here have also used the framework as the foundation of the studies. 

Both of the articles are reliable. I took them from two reputable publishers, the MDPI and the Springer. The second article, for example, is taken from TechTrends journal, supported by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT). In addition, both articles are peer-reviewed, which I believe adds to the trustworthiness of the articles' quality. Hence, the quality of the two articles is arguably stellar. 


The first article is from Lyu (2024). Lyu's study investigates the relationship among self-regulated learning (SRL) effects, three aspects of the CoI framework, and learners' engagement in online education (Lyu, 2024). The study, which involved 154 participants in an online Chinese as a Foreign Language course, revealed that the SRL directly correlated with learners' engagement. In addition, the SRL fosters learners' perceived CoI in that learning context, where the CoI aspects also affect learners' engagement. Therefore, the study argues that learners should receive SRL strategies to foster their engagement in online learning, and teachers should guide learners in creating and facilitating a supportive online learning community.


Meanwhile, the second article discusses a formal context, higher education, involving pre-service teachers instead of informal learners. The study by Kormos et al. (2023) investigates the comparison of discussions by using Flipgrid, a video-based tool, with text-based modality as a discussion tool in a course. The researchers compared two groups with different treatments and learning deliveries. The study concluded that Flipgrid, compared to text-based discussion, enhanced students' mastery of the lesson. The tool also increased students' motivation to learn and contributed to the social presence in CoI.


After reading the articles, I have some questions that lead me to explore further and conduct further research in addition to filling the gaps as proposed in the articles. For the first article, below are the questions that I have in mind:  

  1. What about the level of success in terms of language mastery in the research? 
  2. What workable SRL strategies can teachers adopt to teach learners about SRL in their classes? 
  3. If the strategies are available, should teachers have a dedicated session just for teaching SRL strategies, or can they be embedded in teaching activities? 

For the second article, the questions that I have are: 

  1. Will the findings be the same as using other types of video-based tools? 
  2. What about the combination of text-based and video-based discussions? 
  3. Will the outcome be the same if the strategy is applied to a different context? 
  4. To what extent does Flipgrid foster the CoI in the research?

I used to specify the area of research I wanted to focus on within the community of inquiry. I used to focus on the area of online or blended learning delivery that covered language teaching and learning for pre-service English teachers. However, after reading the articles, I see how the community of inquiry can be cross-sectioned with other theories, SRL, or how the framework informs the adoption of new technology as a medium for teaching and learning purposes. The latter creates a supportive classroom learning environment to help students attain targeted learning outcomes. The area of research is becoming vast, and I should explore more to expand my understanding while finding gaps at the same time. In addition, I have to ensure that my interest will be applicable to my home country, particularly to the community where I work. 


I am glad that I found the articles that focus on education. Ultimately, both of them raise the framework I am interested in, the community of inquiry. Even though the first article is more on a non-formal education context, it still focuses on teaching language as a foreign language. I suggest bringing the idea in the first article to the area of English as a foreign language involving pre-service teachers, the participants that the second study involved. Further, the second article can serve as one of the best practices for those who wish to use a video-based approach for online or blended learning discussions. Unfortunately, as I researched further, Flipgrid is no longer available and has been changed to the Microsoft team. This new tool is not readily available in my country, neither its tool nor the people themselves. Therefore, if I adopt the same strategy, I should find another way to replace the Microsoft Team with another workable tool. However, the idea is still the same: using video-based discussion tools in an online learning environment. 


Reading the two articles give me more knowledge about the community inquiry framework. The framework is so flexible that it can be adopted and combined with other theories. In addition, the framework also guides how to orchestrate a class when a new technology is introduced. The two articles ignite my spirit to read other articles or references in the community of inquiry and beyond. I plan to interconnect this framework with the different theories. 


References 

Kormos, E., Julio, L., & Morgan, A. (2023). Preservice teacher perceptions of using video discussions to foster a community of inquiry: Does the learning environment matter? TechTrends, 67(2), 354–364. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-022-00827-5


Lyu, B. (2024). The effect of self-regulated learning and community of inquiry on the online learning engagement of Chinese as foreign language learners. Education Sciences, 14(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14070691


  

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