Engagement and the Community of Inquiry Model

Revisiting the CoI model through the lenses of Multiple Means of Engagement and anti-oppressive educational frameworks, we can use the overlapping areas in the Venn diagram to design guiding questions for reflective practice:

Source: Adapted from: https://coi.athabascau.ca/coi-model/ Alt: Three overlapping circles form a Venn diagram. Each circle is a different colour. Where two circles overlap, the shading is darker. Where all three circles overlap is white with the words “Educational Experience” at the centre. The top left circle is labeled “Social Presence.” Underneath this label are the words: “Risk Free Expression, Collaboration and Open Communication.” The top right circle is labeled “Cognitive Presence.” Underneath this label are the words: “Explore and Connect Ideas Collaboratively.” The third circle at the bottom, centred, is labeled “Teaching Presence.” Underneath this label are the words: “Share Personal Meaning and Provide Clear Direction.” In a curve that follows at the base of this circle is the label “Setting Curriculum (UDL Design).” Where Social Presence and Cognitive Presence overlap at the top centre is the label “Supporting discourse.” Where Cognitive Presence and Teaching Presence overlap is the label “Selecting content.” And where Teaching Presence and Social Presence overlap is the label “Setting climate.”

Social Presence

• Does the environment provide a space to acknowledge social inequities and power structures that have marginalized some learners while providing privileges to dominant cultures?
• Are we promoting an environment where learners and instructors can speak to their mistakes, share their authentic selves, and develop learning communities?
• Is variability modelled in the educational space as the norm, not the exception? Are diversity and the learning that arises from lived experience welcomed and celebrated?

Cognitive Presence

• Do learners have multiple and varied ways to engage, without preference or privilege given to one form over another, at different times during a lesson or the course of the semester?
• Can learners choose from a variety of options to manage their emotional capacity needs depending on space, time, and context?
• Are varied and differing ideas welcome and allowed to inspire respectful debate and provide entry points for different levels of knowledge and experience?

Teaching Presence

• Are learners invited to contribute to the exploration of content through their own lived experience?
• Are students supported to develop a positive attitude about themselves as learners and build self-efficacy?
• Are learners provided ongoing options for reflection and feedback as well as supporting and building on prior knowledge?