No description available.

No description available.

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.

No description available.

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 courses are taken by nearly 31% of college students (Allen & Seaman, 2011). The majority of those enrolled in online learning are graduate and non-traditional undergraduate students. Survey data from multiple sources show a growing number of traditional students enrolling in online courses or online only universities. There is a lack of information about younger college students enrolling in online courses and those attending online only institutions. Without more research on the perceptions of this population, it is difficult to design an effective online learning environment. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework has been used as a process model that defines, describes and measures the tasks supporting online learning. The core elements are the three overlapping presences of teaching, social and cognitive and the interrelationships among those presences. Through more than a decade of work on the framework, a methodology and survey instrument emerged for studying the potential and effectiveness of online learning. Will younger college students enrolling today perceive the CoI framework and the presences from the model, the same way that non-traditional students have in the last decade? Most CoI studies sample non-traditional adults aged 25 and older. American Public University System (APUS) is a for-profit online only institution which publishes research studies that contribute to the growing number of CoI studies available. In the last four years APUS has provided large samples to validate the CoI model and investigate how CoI relates to retention and course design. The limited purpose of the research is to determine whether the CoI framework and its current results, is applicable to a select group of traditional students aged 21 and under who enroll in only online courses APUS. Through an exploratory study using statistical tests including a factorial analysis, the first sample population (n=2,019) consisted of students', 21 and under, responses to the CoI questionnaire and the second sample (n=125,039) was the responses of students older than 21. The samples were compared to determine if there was any significant difference between the perceptions of non-traditional and younger college students on the CoI model. Results indicated that the comparative means of the two populations are highly correlated at .924 but the p value is .000 at the 95% confidence interval. The two populations are different. A factor analysis showed that both samples perceived a three factor solution. The total variance explained was very similar for both samples. For the students who were 21 and under, the three factors accounted for 77.16% of the total and for the older students, three factors accounted for 74.17% of the total. The factor analysis results from the younger students also show that each item from the questionnaire is associated with the appropriate factor. The factor analysis results correspond to previous validated research conducted on the CoI model. The results continue to support the validity of the CoI model, but the differences in the populations are significant. The significance tests are useful but may not be as meaningful as the factor analysis due to the size of the samples. This research adds to the body of knowledge on the CoI model, a dominant theory that describes what learners perceive in an online environment. The results inform the understanding of the CoI model as it applies to younger college learners' perceptions of an effective online learning environment.

The principal and teachers of a small independent South African school noticed a significant gap in the implementation of an effective Intermediate Phase (IP) reading curriculum. The principal decided to establish a Community of Inquiry (CoI) at the school to focus on this problem, and to research the process. The main purpose of this research was to investigate the affordances and constraints of the establishment of a CoI for the professional development of teachers as an instructional leadership intervention by the principal. The sub-questions that emerged from the main research question were: what would be the affordances and constraints of the principal establishing, facilitating and researching the CoI; what would be to the benefit of the teachers (and their learners) of establishing such a community for professional development and reading instruction in the IP; and, what processes are entailed in establishing an in-school CoI? To what degree, if any, would the CoI be a generating space to answer the research questions and aims? The literature review for the study explored the means of professional development available to educators and principals, especially Professional Learning Communities and their more focused interventions – Communities of Inquiry, and that professional development needs to target four levels – the teacher, their teaching, the community and collegiality at the school, and the principal as a developmental leader, in order for there to be an improvement in students’ learning. The concerning South African context with regard to reading in the IP was outlined, as well as that in the school. The South African curriculum IP learning outcomes and assessment standards for reading were critically explored against the backdrop of international curricula. The process of learning to read was traced. Hindrances to effective reading were also explored. The qualitative research design was an applied case study. Grounded Theory methods were used to reduce the data from the transcripts of CoI sessions. The findings of the research were that there are many affordances to establishing an in-school CoI, and that these benefits far outweigh the constraints. The CoI provided a germinating locus in which participants could begin to address the problems related to reading and reading instruction in the IP. It enabled the principal to develop as an instructional leader, and the teachers to develop as professionals and reading instructors. In hindsight, this project was a vital one, but considerably ambitious, difficult to implement, and perhaps even constrained in the sense of the principal establishing, facilitating and researching this process herself. However, without the principal driving, facilitating and researching the CoI, the question emerges whether such an intervention would have been established. Sometimes external insistences from authority can provide valuable impetus for change at schools, as long as these are sensitively handled and one has the support and trust of participants. The actual acceleration in learning that the participants experienced was extensive, and, sometimes it is only the principal that can play this role – especially in newly established communities. Much more research and support for principals in becoming instructional leaders and in establishing CoIs at their schools is required in the South African context.

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.

Inquiry is a fundamental human undertaking. The present study investigated interests-based curriculum and pedagogy in early childhood education, through the creation of a community of inquiry between children, teachers and a researcher. In two case study settings, it explored ways teachers and children co-construct interests based curriculum and ways teachers might strengthen coherence between research, theory, practice and professional learning to support such curriculum construction. During year-long fieldwork, the researcher drew on participant observation techniques, interviews, documentation and co-constructed inquiry discussions as sources of data. Data analysis occurred on two levels: descriptive and theoretical. Sociocultural theory provides a foundation for the approaches to learning and teaching, inquiry, the research design and lenses of interpretation. The study uses two frameworks to explain its findings, challenging and extending current understandings of funds of knowledge and communities of inquiry. In addition, it illuminates the concept of working theories. Discussion of the notion of evidence-informed inquiry explains some types of evidence teachers bring to the complexities of curriculum decision making as their funds of knowledge and working theories, thereby arguing against narrow interpretations of evidence-based practice. This thesis argues that interpretation of children's interests, from a sociocultural perspective, requires a more analytical understanding of children's family and community experiences and their impact on children's inquiry, and of teacher interests and responsibilities in relation to culturally-valued knowledge. Further, the thesis contends that children's and teachers' co-constructed inquiry is dependent on reciprocal and responsive pedagogical relationships that provide meaningful responses during engagement in learning-and-teaching. Links between everyday knowledge and conceptual knowledge in children's learning may be brought together. In this way, participatory learning enables children and teachers to co-create a foundation for conceptual learning. Two inquiry continua and one model are offered to incorporate the key theoretical ideas and arguments of the thesis. It is argued that the model represents components of an interests-based sociocultural curriculum and pedagogy. A funds of knowledge approach has the potential to transform early childhood learning-and-teaching environments, and implement partnerships with families, communities (including the research community) and cultures authentically. Implications for teaching practice, teachers' professional learning, research and policy are discussed to recognise and strengthen both an inquiry focus in pedagogical relationships, and an awareness of funds of knowledge in early childhood education contexts.

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.