University of SaskatchewanHARVEST
  • Login
  • Submit Your Research
  • About
    • About HARVEST
    • Guidelines
    • Browse
      • All of HARVEST
      • Communities & Collections
      • By Issue Date
      • Authors
      • Titles
      • Subjects
      • This Collection
      • By Issue Date
      • Authors
      • Titles
      • Subjects
    • My Account
      • Login
      JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
      View Item 
      • HARVEST
      • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      • View Item
      • HARVEST
      • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      • View Item

      Re-Examining Teacher Presence in Online Communities of Inquiry: Can Gamified Learning Environments Replace Aspects of Teacher Presence?

      Thumbnail
      View/Open
      SEATON-DISSERTATION.pdf (2.386Mb)
      Date
      2016-03-31
      Author
      Seaton, Jennifer
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Doctoral
      Metadata
      Show full item record
      Abstract
      This research has examined the role of teacher presence in online education. The research has been guided by two research questions: 1) are there challenges to consistently establishing teacher presence in online courses?; and 2) can the role of teacher presence be assumed, in part, by the learning medium? The Community of Inquiry framework as outlined by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) has framed the discussion about the role of teacher presence in online education. Three research projects are presented to explore the research questions. The first study is a case study that examines twelve online instructors’ engagement and experience teaching online over a year at the University of Saskatchewan. The next study builds on that study by exploring teacher engagement and satisfaction of 28 online instructors at the University of Regina using survey techniques. Together the studies suggest that teacher engagement in online courses might be affected by the culture of the university. The third study addresses the second question by creating the NECSUS social computing environment, which assumes some functions of teacher presence. The NECSUS system has been tested in a graduate level ethics courses and demonstrates that it has the potential to support a community of inquiry. This is further demonstrated by the presentation of a NECSUS-like system design that could be modified to support a non-formal learning community for a commercial online education course for snowmobile safety. The outcome of this research suggests that the Community of Inquiry framework can inform the design of learning environments and that assume some responsibilities traditionally assumed by the instructor.
      Degree
      Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
      Department
      Interdisciplinary Studies
      Program
      Interdisciplinary Studies
      Supervisor
      McCalla, Gord; Schwier, Richard A.
      Committee
      Greer, Jim; Vassileva, Julita; Morrison, Dirk; Daniel, Ben K.
      Copyright Date
      March 2016
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/ETD-2016-03-2467
      Subject
      Community of Inquiry
      Online Education
      Gamification
      Collections
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      University of Saskatchewan

      University Library

      © University of Saskatchewan
      Contact Us | Disclaimer | Privacy