Understanding cognitive presence in an online and blended community of inquiry: Assessing outcomes and processes for deep approaches to learning

This paper focuses on deep and meaningful learning approaches and outcomes associated with online and blended communities of inquiry. Applying mixed methodology for the research design, the study used transcript analysis, learning outcomes, perceived learning, satisfaction, and interviews to assess learning processes and outcomes. The findings for learning processes and outcomes indicated that students in both online and blended courses were able to reach high levels of cognitive presence and learning outcomes. The results suggest that cognitive presence in a community of inquiry is associated with perceived and actual learning outcomes. It is recommended that future research efforts focus on quantitative measures to establish links between cognitive presence and the quality of learning outcomes.  Early research into computer conferencing and online learning focused on whether we could create social presence in a medium that was bereft of visual cues (eg, Gunawardena & McIsaac, 2003; Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997; Tu & McIsaac, 2002; Tu, 2000). While this question has essentially been answered in the affirmative, the current challenge for researchers in online and blended learning has shifted to understanding cognitive presence issues (Garrison & Cleveland-Innes, 2005). In this regard, one of the pressing questions is whether higher-order learning can be achieved in an online or blended context. To date, the study of the quality of online and blended learning outcomes has been largely assessed through the perceptions of the participants; that is, student satisfaction and perceived learning (eg, Richardson & Swan, 2003; Shea, Li & Pickett, 2006). The primary reason for this is that it is enormously challenging to British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 42 No 2 2011 233–250 doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.01029.x  Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. measure the depth of understanding of course-specific learning outcomes. Moreover, few studies have attempted to explore holistically the interactive and collaborative dynamics of the educational experience and epistemological learning outcomes (Garrison & Arbaugh, 2007). Traditional higher education has long held that a community of scholars and inquiry is the ideal for the construction of deep and meaningful knowledge (Lipman, 1991; Ramsden, 2003). Considerable effort has been devoted to studying the creation and maintenance of an online community of learners (Garrison & Arbaugh, 2007). Notwithstanding the strengths of online communities to support higher levels of learning through sustained discourse and reflection, assessing the quality of learning outcomes associated with deep approaches to learning has been an ongoing challenge. The point is that we need to focus on assessing actual learning outcomes in order to associate depth of learning with interactive and collaborative approaches to online and blended learning. If we are to understand how to support cognitive presence in online and blended learning communities, then greater focus needs to be placed on linking processes and outcomes. The purpose of this research is to provide a comprehensive review of processes and outcomes in online and blended educational communities of inquiry. The main research question is whether online and blended collaborative communities of inquiry can create cognitive presence that supports higher-order learning processes and outcomes. Secondary questions are as follows: (1) Is cognitive presence associated with perceived learning outcomes and grades? and (2)Are there differences between online and blended design approaches in terms of the strength of cognitive presence and perceived learning outcomes and grades? The study uses transcript analysis, learning outcomes (grades), perceived learning and satisfaction, and interviews to assess learning processes and outcomes (ie, cognitive presence). Theoretical framework There are two theoretical thrusts relevant to this study. The first is a framework that provides order and guidance into the complexities and dynamics of online and blended learning environments. This is the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework. The second perspective that provides theoretical and practical insight to the particulars of this study is the work on deep and surface learning approaches and outcomes.