Institutional presence: Toward a further developed Community of Inquiry model integrating institutional functions in online and blended learning environment

In this research we examine the Community of Inquiry model and further develop the model by integrating a complementary institutional presence. For this purpose, a questionnaire including five presences and 73 questions was designed. In total, a response of 762 questionnaires from five universities were collected. Correspondingly, statistical analysis like factor analysis and structural equation model were conducted. The present paper is, duly, a quantitative investigation of the correlations between institutional presence and other presences in the new model as well. Finally, a further developed Community of Inquiry model that integrates institutional presence is generated. With a relatively large sample, the results meet the applicable requirements, indicating that the generated model is acceptable and fits well with the data.

Automated summary

In this study, we further develop the Community of Inquiry model by integrating a complementary institutional presence. We designed a questionnaire with five presences and 73 questions, and collected 762 responses from five universities. Statistical analysis including factor analysis and structural equation model was conducted to investigate the correlations between institutional presence and other presences in the new model. The results indicate that the generated model is acceptable and fits well with the data.