Community of Inquiry Chapters 10-12
Learning Objectives
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1. Contrast the purpose of a formative and a summative assessment.
2. Describe some reasons that educators may be hesitant to move to online assessment. 3. Contrast the role of social media and eLearning in communication and the spread of knowledge. 4. Summarize how an assessment can stress group engagement and participation while still evaluating each student individually. 5. List 3-5 reasons that faculty will give for not wanting to move to blended learning in the classroom. 6. Contrast the resistant faculty point of view with some solid reasons why blended or online education makes sense in today's world. 7. Explain the purpose of the Community of Inquiry survey. |
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Assessment and Evaluation Overview
Assessment is necessary in any educational activity to determine the learner's processes and outcomes. Assessment should be in the form of both formative (throughout the course) and summative (at the end of the course). Students will tailor their efforts towards the assessment criteria if they feel they lack discretionary time. If collaborative learning and inquiry are meant to be the course outcomes then the assessment must clearly show that. Formative feedback must be designed to evaluate both the collaborative and the individual effort. Garrison (2017) suggests designing a comprehensive group project in which each member identifies their own contribution. Assessments in the way of formative feedback allow students to compare their work to benchmarks in the activity rubric as well as keep them motivated to stay on course. Since participation is such an integral part of an online course, it must also be assessed. Teachers should make sure that their assessments do not lead to overly structured discourse. Students must also have input into the assessment process. If they have no input they will not buy in to the community aspect of eLearning. For this reason, the assessment criteria for participation should be readily available to students and be easily understood.
One idea suggested was to have students submit a final paper in which they quote their own discussion posts with the thought being that if they did not participate they will not have anything to quote. Teaching is a fluid role and students must assume some responsibility for it as a course develops and to better develop shared metacognition. Studies cited by Garrison (2017) showed that student's perceived learning was directly correlated to the participation grade weight in the course. Course management systems can be used to track discussion posts and logins and new technologies are being developed to better assess discussion post content (Garrison, 2017).
Evaluation is a different process and results in determining the effectiveness of a particular course in both its delivery method and in fulfilling its stated intent. Course evaluation should assess the content delivered for accuracy and biases as well as the assessment methods use by the instructor. Surveys should be utilized to determine how well the students felt supported. Finally, the course outcomes should be evaluated for effectiveness (Garrison, 2017).
Organizational Issues Overview
There is a higher education movement away from lectures in large classes and towards online and blended learning. This will help alleviate both financial and large class size concerns. Campuses have always been the physical location for a scholarly community, but with the internet that is no longer a requirement. The first step in moving from the antiquated lecture based delivery method is policy development. Institutional policy must be developed that is focused, endorsed by all and provides necessary resources for real change. The goals and objectives must be attainable and clearly laid out. A collaborative, not a hierarchical, management structure must be designed to be adaptive and willing to advocate for change. Just as the community of inquiry framework provides a method for collaborative inquiry in the classroom, this same collaborative community of inquiry should be utilized at the leadership level (Garrison, 2017).
A major stumbling block to movement away from lecture based curriculum delivery to a more collaborative inquiry based curriculum using an online or blended delivery method is the faculty. Lecture based curriculum delivery is all many of them have ever known. An intensive, longitudinal faculty development program will need to be put in place to help with both understanding new curriculum methods as well as developing familiarity with technology.The community of inquiry framework can be used in these sessions to both familiarize faculty with the different key elements of the framework in a trusting environment as well as begin to use the necessary technology. It will take time for all of the faculty to learn and adopt new curriculum methods. They must be supported both in time and finances by leadership to allow this to occur successfully (Garrison, 2017).
Future Directions Overview
Garrison (2017) summarized all of his points in the final chapter of the book. He said that e-learning educators must be careful not to confuse either social media or the glitz of technology with utilization of technology for a collaborative blended learning experience. Early concerns that universities would outlive their usage have been unfounded, but universities who do not move away from antiquated lecture based education in large lecture halls will be left behind. The community of inquiry framework has been in place for 15 years and has undergone significant research as well as provided a platform for future research. A future area of research focuses on how to incorporate the community of inquiry framework into a vast array of disciplines, student levels and technologies (Garrison, 2017).
In one study on adaptation of a community of learning in a K12 setting, after once per week sessions students were found to have a marked increase in cognitive abilities that was still present in follow-up two and three years later when compared to a control group. The community of learning survey was developed to provide a tool to quantitatively assess the utility of the framework (Garrison, 2017) .
Garrison (2017) make the point that looking too far into the future has only shown a 10% success rate, but the marked contrast between the passive lecture based curriculum method and the collaborative community of inquiry is stark. The movement from a competitive assessment method to a collaborative effort for inquiry and meaning making is the only method that makes sense in the current world where people can get any information they want at any time. Creativity and innovation in a collaborative environment will continue to nurture further achievement (Garrison, 2017).
Community of Inquiry Survey Overview
The Community of Inquiry Survey Instrument is organized around the three presences: teaching, social and cognitive. In the teaching presence the three main areas: design and organization, facilitation and direct instruction are all assessed. This area of the survey is clearly focused on the instructor and assesses their ability to design a clear and organized curriculum as well as balance facilitation with direct instruction. In the social presence the areas assessed are affective expression, open communication and the ability to develop group cohesion. The final part of the survey assesses the cognitive presence. It asks learners about the four phases of curriculum development: triggering event, exploration, integration and resolution. Learners are asked to evaluate the effectiveness and utility of each step in the process (Garrison, 2017).
Shared Metacognition Questionnaire
The shared metacognition questionnaire was developed to delineate the responsibilities of a student when they are engaged in the learning process as an individual and when engaged in the learning process as a member of the group. These strategies for maximizing shared metacognition can be utilized in an online classroom, blended classroom or a face-to-face classroom (Garrison, 2017) .
Voicethread Session
Below is a voice thread session discussing the purpose of assessment in the community of inquiry as well as some challenges that the faculty and the administration may have trying to implement Blended and eLearning in the classroom. Please take the time to comment on both the questions asked as well as respond to others who have posted.
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Assessment
Please take the assessment below to consolidate your understanding of the community of inquiry framework and the role of assessment in the framework.
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References
Garrison, D.R. (2017). E-learning in the 21st century: A community of inquiry framework for research and practice. (3rd ed.). New York,
NY: Routledge.
NY: Routledge.
