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The impact of Internet technology on critical thinking is of growing interest among researchers. However, there still remains much to explore in terms of how critical thinking can be fostered through online environments for higher education. Ten years ago, Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) published an article describing the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework which provided an outline of three core elements that were able to describe and measure a collaborative and positive educational experience in an online learning environment, namely teaching presence (design, facilitation, and direct instruction), social presence (the ability of learners to project themselves socially and emotionally), and cognitive presence (the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse). This dissertation extends the body of research surrounding the CoI framework and also the literature on developing critical thinking in online environments by examining and exploring the extent to which teaching and social presence contribute to cognitive presence. The researcher was able to do this by offering 189 learners enrolled in 10 research methods courses and educational research courses an opportunity to use an innovative online resource (Research Design Learning Resource – RDLR) to assist them in learning about educational research and developing research proposals. By exploring how participants used this resource the researcher was able to gain insight into what factors contributed to a successful online learning experience and fostered cognitive presence. Quantitative and qualitative research approaches (mixed methods) were used in this study. The quantitative results indicated that both social and teaching presence had a strong positive relationship with cognitive presence and that learners generally perceived to have a positive learning experience using the RDLR. The qualitative findings helped elaborate the significant quantitative results and were organised into the following themes: making connections, multiple perspectives, resource design, being a self-directed learner, learning strategies, learning preferences, and barriers to cognitive presence. Future directions for critical thinking in online environments are discussed.

abstract: The purpose of the project was to explore the extent to which an asynchronous online professional development (PD) model focusing on instructor presence would improve feedback and interactions with students. The study is grounded in Community of Inquiry theory, which situates learning at the intersection of teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence. The study aimed to improve student success by empowering instructors to integrate engaging strategies and technology tools into fully online courses. The participants were 4 higher education instructors teaching in fully online degree programs delivered to 160-200 undergraduate students. For eight weeks the 4 instructors participated in the PD. The goals of the PD were to learn strategies for improving instructor presence and integrating student engagement opportunities in a collaborative online format. Data was collected from pre- and post-intervention offerings of the instructors’ courses to determine the impact of participation in the PD. Results suggest that the PD model was an effective intervention to increase presence and engagement. Presence and engagement were found to have increased in participants’ courses. Interactive video was found to serve multiple purposes including increasing instructor presence and student engagement, facilitating feedback between instructors and students, and elevating the level of cognitive presence of students. As a result, instructors and students both indicated a perception of improved interactions and feedback. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2020

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The Community of Inquiry model provides a framework for recognizing and evaluating interpersonal behaviors in online educational settings. One of its three components, teaching presence (TP), describes those behaviors that are under the auspices of the online instructor. By examining these interactions and behaviors through the theoretical lens provided by teaching presence, and by measuring them with the Teaching Presence Scale (TPS), it may be possible to gain greater understanding of the practices employed most effectively by online instructors. This dissertation describes the background, theoretical and empirical foundations, methods, and results of a study on TP. The purpose of the study was threefold: to validate the use of the TPS in an online professional development setting outside of the higher education context in which it was designed and tested; to confirm the factor composition of TP among facilitators in an online professional development course; and to determine the extent and direction of the relationship between teaching presence and student satisfaction. The participants in this study (n = 718) were in-service educators enrolled at the Florida Online Reading Professional Development program. They responded to an instrument that included the 28 original TPS questions, plus 17 student satisfaction and 11 demographic items. Confirmatory factor analysis and Pearson's correlation were used to answer the three research questions and corresponding hypotheses. The research questions were answered in the affirmative, and the null hypotheses rejected. There was support for the use of the TPS in an online professional development setting (all 28 TPS items loaded as hypothesized on the three TP factors); support for a three-factor model of TP using 17 of the 28 TPS items (X2 [116, N = 718] = 115.56, p = .49, CFI = .999; NNFI = .999; SRMR = .02; and RMSEA = .03); and evidence of a strong relationship between components of TP and student satisfaction (statistically significant correlations [p < .001] between TP and student satisfaction, r2 values ranging from .25 to .57). A discussion of the results, implications for practice, implications for further research, and limitations of the study were presented following the data analysis.

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Online learning is increasingly common (Allen & Seaman, 2016). The number of online language teacher education programs also continues to rise to address the growing need for qualified language teachers worldwide (England, 2012b; Hall & Knox, 2009; Murray, 2013). Although technology offers a plethora of possibilities, course design and implementation significantly influence students' online learning experience, likelihood of success, and satisfaction. Using a socio-constructivist, student-centered learning approach can engage students through interaction and collaboration (Garrison, 2013; Murray, 2013). Murray (2013) reported details on what language teacher education programs are offered online, their challenges and how institutions have dealt with them, and highlighted the need for further research to explore the experiences and attitudes of instructors and students. The goal of this three-article dissertation is to gain insights into one online program that prepares teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), which was recently revised to make it more student-centered by implementing a group project. The first article examines benefits and challenges of the group project according to students, teachers, and the teacher training coordinator to determine its value and to provide suggestions. The second article explores instructors' perspectives of their role in the online class and group project and offers suggestions for good practice. Recognizing that online students have diverse needs, the last article analyzes profiles of students enrolled in one class in this program and their perceptions of the Community of Inquiry presences, which have been shown to support intellectual development in online courses. Mixed methods were used including an individual semi-structured interview with students, teachers, and the teacher training coordinator, observations of archived online course documents and posts, an entrance survey, the Community of Inquiry survey as well as anonymous instructor and program evaluations completed by students at the end of the course. Findings provide detailed insights into participants' perceptions of these areas addressed in each article, which shine light on strengths of the student-centered curricular innovation and areas that may need more attention.

Online learning, which began in the area of tertiary and adult learning and professional development, has been spreading rapidly as an alternative way for students to pursue learning in the K-12 sector. While adult learners may be expected to be more experienced students and cope with the variations in the implementation of online learning, younger K-12 students need a more structured approach to organize their online learning experiences. Formative assessment has been promoted as a means of enhancing all learning, including online learning. This study explored the use of the formative assessment process in the design and facilitation of an asynchronous discussion among high school students. The community of inquiry model provided a lens for the evaluation of the learners' experiences, and students' cognitive presence was assessed in this quasi experimental study. The study addressed whether implementation of an assessment for learning approach in the design and facilitation of an asynchronous discussion would result in significant differences in cognitive presence messages. Content analysis was used to classify discussants' statements according to levels of cognitive presence. Chi-squared analysis was performed to determine independence among levels of cognitive presence and assessment for learning. The findings indicated that there was a significant relationship between the incidence of different levels of cognitive presence statements and assessment for learning. The findings also suggested a way to empower K-12 online learners to play a more significant role in their learning and make their experiences more impactful. However, study with more diverse populations and incorporating measures of achievement is recommended.

The methodology by which to teach these outcomes was not clear. An intervention programme, Philosophy for Children (P4C) is used in some countries across the world to promote thinking. Research across the world has shown that this programme has the ability to enhance the cognitive abilities of learners exposed to it. Stories for Thinking (SFT) is an intervention programme based on the principles of Philosophy for Children and was introduced in some schools in an Education District of the Western Cape. This study investigates the perceptions of Intermediate Phase educators about the implementation of Stories for Thinking in this Education District. Educators were asked their strengths and challenges of the approach, their way of using it and the support they received. A qualitative research method was used and data were gathered to answer the research questions by means of questionnaires and interviews. Research findings indicate that educators perceived that Stories for Thinking was able to enhance the reading ability of the learners, it showed a significant improvement in their confidence levels, and a positive change in their general behaviour. Language was seen as a barrier to learning, but the evidence indicates that the community of inquiry can be used as a tool to overcome some of the barriers. It seems as if educators valued the support from the project leaders. It is concluded that this kind of intervention programme is worth introducing as long as all the role-players play their part and the setting is conducive.