Exemplary Online Educators: Creating a Community of Inquiry

Exemplary Online Educators: Creating a Community of I nquiry Associate Professor Beth PERRY RN, PhD Centre for Nursing and Health Studies, Athabasca University-CANADA Associate Professor Margaret EDWARDS RN, PhD Centre for Nursing and Health Studies, Athabasca University, CANADA w w w .athabascau.ca November 18, 2004 ABSTRACT As more university courses are offered online educators have much to learn regarding how to use this technology to facilitate effective learning. Some educators have mastered online teaching and are regarded by their students as highly effective. Researchers in this study consulted graduate students w ho had completed their degrees by online distance learning and asked them describe w hat they found made certain professors exemplary. Findings reveal that highly effective online instructors challenge and affirm learners. As w ell, the exemplary online educators establish a clear presence in the virtual classroom and are regarded by students as persons of influence. When the “Community of I nquiry” ( Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, n.d.) model is used to situate the findings, elements of social, cognitive and teaching presence are evident in the approaches used by exemplary online educators. These study results have implications for the recruitment and selection of new faculty members and for the ongoing coaching and development of current faculty w ith the overall goal of enhanced quality of online education. Keyw ords: online educators, effective learning, online distance Community of I nquiry, exemplary online educators. learning, I NTRODUCTI ON Within most disciplines there are those w ho are recognized as being exceptionally competent practitioners. These people are sometimes called exceptional or exemplary. I n the educational realm, students remember these individuals at the teachers w ho most positively influenced their learning. The commonality of these exemplary practitioners is that they do their w ork in a remarkable w ay and their teaching strategies and interpersonal interactions are regarded by their students as highly successful. Although there has been a “virtual explosion of online education” ( Thiele, 2003) the literature remains lacking in terms of studies focused on w hat makes some online educators more effective than others. This paper outlines the initial findings of a qualitative study that asked students w ho study online their perspectives on w hy they recall certain online educators as outstanding. The “Community of I nquiry” model developed by Garrison, Anderson and Archer provides a framew ork for 1 analysis of the findings of this study ( n.d.) . Specifically, the data reveals that exemplary online teachers create a community of inquiry that is comprised of a strong social, cognitive and teaching presence. The outcomes of this study have implications for all those w ho teach online and for administrators w ho are proposing to move their curriculum from class-room based to the online method of delivery. I n order to develop high quality online teachers, w e need to understand w hat makes online educators not only effective, but exemplary. LI TERATURE REVI EW Although technology, especially the I nternet, is revolutionizing the w ay people learn, there is very little literature on the topic of effective teaching online. Recent studies such as the one by Thiele ( 2003) focused on the learning patterns of online students. The particular focus of Thiele’s study w as on the effect of online courses on learning styles. Kenner, Androw ich, and Edw ards ( 2003) concurred that distance education has grow n over recent years. These authors in w riting about a particular program offered by Excelsior College to prepare nurse executives again focus on elements of online education such as program cost and factors that attract students to this mode of learning. Christner ( 2003) cautions that online education should not be seen as the cure for higher education’s ills or as the ultimate in educational technology. He observes that problems exist in this new format: balancing the needs of students and faculty can be challenging and not all subjects w ork as online courses. White, Roberts and Brannan ( 2003) focused particularly on course design in online education. Their major premise is that “unless the course is reconceptualized using an interactive learning pedagogy, the results are nothing more than a correspondence course via e-mail and that simply transferring a traditional classroom-based course to an online format is doomed to failure ” ( White, Roberts & Brannan, 2003, p. 172) . How ever, the unansw ered question beyond course design is how does the instructor influence the learning experienced by the student. White, Roberts and Brannan go on to describe an online nurse refresher course provided by University of Wisconsin that promotes the follow ing four components - humanizing or creating a good learning environment; getting the learners to participate; using the right message so that it is received, understood, and remembered; and eliciting feedback from the learner ( White, Roberts & Brannan, 2003, p. 173) . These elements may provide some clues as to w hat makes online educators exemplary yet a major gap remains in our understanding of effective online teaching. Congruent w ith the White etal. ( 2003) model, Archer, Garrison, Anderson and Rourke ( 2001) have conducted research that show s that “creation of adequate levels of cognitive, social, and teaching presence are associated w ith high levels of deep and meaningful learning.” Garrison, Anderson and Archer ( n.d.) situate their findings in a model they call the “Community of I nquiry” ( see figure 1) . The Community of I nquiry features three major elements: social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence w hich overlap to form the educational experience of the learner ( Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, n.d.) . The Garrison etal. and White etal. models provide the framew ork for analysis for this study and provides direction for further research possibilities. Methodology 2 Narrative inquiry w as the method used in this study. For centuries people have told stories to convey values and explore life ( Taylor, 1996) . Carter ( 1993) argues that stories as a mode of know ing are “particularly suited to explicating the issues” that are relevant to educators ( p. 6) . As Carter explained stories capture and richness and nuances of meaning in human affairs. We believe that the effective teacherlearner relationship is probably rooted, at least in part, in the human interaction betw een the participants in this relationship. I n designing this study w e w ere influenced by Elbaz ( 1991) w ho w rote, “story is the very stuff of teaching, the landscape w ithin w hich w e live as teachers and researchers and w ithin w hich the w ork of teachers can be seen as making sense” ( p. 3) . This w e began to understand exemplary online education using narrative inquiry. This initial study involved questioning graduates of the Masters in Health Study ( MHS) , Masters in Nursing ( MN) and the Advanced Nurse Practitioner ( ANP) programs from Athabasca University. These learners had all completed their degree requirements entirely online. Specifically the goal w as to ask their perspectives about w hat makes an online educator exemplary. Participants w ere asked the follow ing question on a survey that w as sent to all MHS, MN and ANP graduates one month after convocation for the years 2002 and 2003. They w ere asked to provide a narrative that is to focus on specific interactions and experiences w ith their exemplary teachers rather than on a list of characteristics or adjectives in the follow ing question: We seek to recruit and hire faculty w ho are exemplary online educators. I n order to achieve this, w e need to have your perspective on w hat makes online educators exceptional. Please tell us about an incident or interaction you had w ith a faculty member during your Master's program that you w ould categorize as an exceptional moment of learning. We are interested in going beyond a list of characteristics of exceptional educators to look at the context and process of these learning moments. Therefore please provide as much detail as possible regarding the interaction. Perhaps you w ould be able to tell us the “story” of your learning moment. The surveys w ere completed online and returned anonymously. The total number of responses to the research questions w as nine out of 17 graduates from 2002 and 14 out of 47 graduates from 2003 w ith a total of 23 participants in this initial study. This is a participation rate of 36% . Data Analysis One of the most challenging aspects of qualitative method is the analysis and interpretation of data ( Priest, Roberts & Woods, 2003) . I n this study w e used w hat Priest, Robert and Woods ( 2003) call narrative analysis. Narrative analysis is a method by w hich interpretation of meaning may be made from data w hich is in story form. Narrative analysis allow s researchers to attempt to communicate w hat w as experienced by the study participants. I n narrative analysis elements of the narratives ( or stories) are organized into common themes. The major themes that emerged from the study w ere exemplary online educators as challengers, affirmers and influences. Theses themes w ere determined from narratives that w ere rich in description of how the exemplary online educators affected the learners in these w ays. I n the sections that follow each theme is 3 review ed and a verbatim excerpt from the narrative that illustrates these themes is provided. Additional analysis is achieved by applying the Community of I nquiry ( Garrison, etal. n.d.) and White et.al. models to the findings. Exemplary Online Educators as Challengers Many of the narratives characterize the online educators as very demanding individuals w ith high standards. The students illustrate how they came to value the teachers w ho had high expectations for them, those w ho challenged them to perform at levels that w ere beyond their ow n prospects for themselves. Consider three excerpts that illustrate the theme of educators as challengers. I once w rote a brief posting regarding common treatments patients sometimes use at home that are harmless, but that may reflect outdated information and learning needs. The instructor w rote to challenge w hat evidence I used to deem the treatments harmless. I retrieved it, and never forgot her valuing of evidence, and of basing even seemingly harmless statements on evidence to w ithstand relevant challenges. Online learning is limited by personal interaction; my best experiences w ith instructors w ere those w here the instructors challenged my thinking or perspective. A couple of the instructors w ere particularly good at questioning my assumptions and pointing out other view s to broaden the perspective of the students. I had one instance w here the instructor explained that a paper that I had submitted did not meet my "usual" standards. I had indeed had trouble w ith it and she suggested a rew rite and a chance to submit it again. I nitially, I w as not looking forw ard to the extra w ork but she challenged me to do a more professional job….I w as grateful eventually and expressed that to her. Her feedback w as so encouraging and you never w anted to let her dow n. As Garrison etal, ( n.d.) point out, cognitive presence of the teacher is a core concept in creating a community of inquiry. The responses of the participants in this study give examples of how the online instructors challenged the student to think critically, provide additional examples from practice, and improve the quality of their assignments. These strategies might all be considered to enhance the cognitive presence in the online environment. I n another study by Garrison and Cleveland-I nnes, ( 2004) of cognitive presence in online learning, they concluded that teacher learner interaction is not sufficient on its ow n to create effective learning. Rather they conclude that “structure and leadership are crucial for online learners to take a deep and meaningful approach to learning.” I n the White etal., study the theme of “using the right message” could be seen as a strategy for achieving cognitive presence. These findings provide additional insight into how cognitive presence in the online teaching environment might be manifested. EXEMPLARY ONLI NE EDUCATORS AS AFFI RMERS The second major theme relates to exemplary online educators as affirmers. The students identified instructors w ho found opportunities to let their students know that they w ere succeeding in their studies and to encourage them in their learning. Specifically exemplary educators affirmed students by recognizing their potential, 4 treating learners w ith respect and recognizing potential problems and taking actions to assist w ith this. I n all of these w ays the teachers identified by the study participants demonstrated to the learners that they valued them as individuals. This affirmation seemed to have a positive influence on the learning experience. Here are tw o specific examples from the data to illustrate instructors affirming learners by recognizing and acknow ledging their potential. The best part came w hen my instructor, w hose expertise and w isdom I greatly admire, noted that she had learned something new from the means by w hich I had presented my understanding of the concepts of nursing theory. I also enjoy being asked to share my w ork w ith future students or having input for improving courses. The data also revealed that treating learners w ith respect provides positive affirmation and enhanced the educational experience. For example, Sometimes I thought my peers w ere rejecting or ignoring my ideas or focusing on non-course content ( e.g. seemingly unrelated w ork life issues) . At these times, encouragement and validation by the instructor w as validating and uplifting. Validation of student needs and respect helped me to stay committed to the long hours of study. The first w as in a particularly difficult semester for me and I had to be aw ay for ten days and the instructor w as very accepting of this fact and assured me that catching up could be done later. At the time that I w as to leave ( several w eeks after I had notified her) she sent me an email to w ish be w ell and to enjoy my time aw ay and not to w orry about catching up. I w as able to take the much needed break and came back w ith renew ed interest and enthusiasm. I felt that this demonstrated a true interest in me in this otherw ise seemingly cold impersonal learning. I t gave me much more of a feeling that she w asn’t just doing her job but that she cared about the students as people and that our learning w as also important to her. Finally, here is an example of how the exemplary online educator recognized a potential problem common in adult learners w ho are balancing competing priorities in their lives and thus made the learner feel valued thus enhancing the learning experience. I appreciated being able to ask for flexibility in scheduling of assignments and deadlines on several occasions w ith different instructors to meet my personal needs. This reduced stress and stress reduction certainly helps to improve readiness for learning. Applying the Community of I nquiry model to the educator as affirmer theme draw s attention to the concepts purposed by Garrison etal., ( n.d.) , of teaching presence and social presence. The overlap of teaching presence and social presence as depicted in the model forms w hat Garrison and his colleagues have labeled “setting climate” ( see figure 1) . We suggest that the affirmation of the learner by the online educator assists in creating a positive, supportive learning climate. When interactions betw een learner and instructor are one-on-one in a private online venue, the climate may be student specific. Likew ise affirming student-teacher interactions in public form w ould have the possibility of enhancing the virtual classroom climate. I n either case the educator by acknow ledging student success, 5 interacting in a respectful manner and being astute to arising problems and taking appropriate action all served to enhance the virtual classroom climate setting a positive tone that facilitated learning. Likew ise, White etal., conclude that one essential component of effective online teaching is creating a humanizing learning environment w hich is w as achieved in this study by affirming the learners. EXEMPLARY ONLI NE EDUCATORS AS I NFLUENCERS The final theme is exemplary online educators as influencers. The stories told by the study participants illustrated that the exceptional teachers had influenced them significantly. The students recalled examples of how the expertise of the teacher in a particular subject area and the strong online presence of the instructor w ere specific w ays that they w ere influenced. Consider these examples of the pow er of the content and process expertise of the instructor. My best "learning moments" often occurred as I w as struggling to grasp a complex concept and the instructors provided clarity through the use of practical examples. Professor X’s feedback on my assignment--publication of article, stands out as a "special learning occasion." Her method of putting together feedback in a positive format w ould stay w ith me for the rest of my life. Although I received an exceptional mark, the feedback w as so w ell documented that I think Dr. X can instruct other instructors on how to give feedback. The follow ing are examples of strategies online instructors used to convey their presence. The study participants concluded that the sensed presence of their instructors contributed to their success in the online course. She w ould send you a little email just out of the blue to let you know you w ere on track. Another instructor similarly demonstrated how she though of us as real people w as in the w ay that she w ould send thoughts of the day/ w eek or season. These w as closely timed w ith times of high stress obvious by the type of conversation in the forums, w hen the subject matter w as more difficult to grasp or the times w hen assignments w ere due. I t lessened the stress, w hich for me, led to a better performance. Linking these findings to the Community of I nquiry ( Garrison, et.al., n.d.) model is obvious. The narratives provide examples of how teachers can achieve w hat is documented in the model as teaching presence. Further, the findings are congruent w ith results from study of the influence of social presence of the instructor in online courses by Sw an ( 2003) . She found that social presence evidenced by teacher immediacy behaviors affected student, and possibly instructor, satisfaction w ith a course. Specifically, Sw an found that students w ith high overall perceptions of social presence also scored high in terms of perceived learning and perceived satisfaction w ith the instructor ( 2003) . Perceived online presence of the instructor as recommended by Sw an, combined w ith a presence that is considered by the learners to be positive and influential as suggested by the participants in this study, seems to be a necessary goal for online 6 teachers w ho strive to be effective. Further study to determine additional strategies that online instructors use to successfully achieve online presence is desirable. EMERGI NG THEMES The analysis of the data in this study continues. There are still many themes beginning to emerge that require additional data for support. For example, there is an emerging theme related to the idea of “learning w ith.” Some narratives convey that students are motivated w hen the teacher-learner relationship involves a mutual learning experience. This reciprocal arrangement in the teacher-learner relationship w ill be explored more fully in the follow -up to this initial study. One example of this emerging concept taken from the current study follow s. I n one of the courses the instructor w as openly honest about how much she w as learning from each of us during our conference dialogues and assignments. What struck me about this w as how important it is for the instructors to guide, share and participate and not to assume or present themselves as being the authority on a subject. I n some w ays the Community of I nquiry model speaks to this experience of mutuality ( Archer, et.al, 2003) . The educational experience that forms the centerpiece of the model is a convergence of the experiences of both the learner and the teacher. We propose that this educational experience can be more or less positive situated along a continuum, but that it is likely a similar experience for both the teacher and the learner. This proposition requires further study in follow -up research w here the perspectives of both teachers and learners are gathered and compared. 7 CONCLUSI ON AND DI SCUSSI ON Technology is revolutionizing the w ay people learn. The heart of the challenge facing online educators is “the need to create a critical community of inquiry- the hallmark of higher education – w ithin a virtual text-based environment” ( Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, n.d., p. 1) . This study focused on exemplary online educators w ith the goal of discovering w hat teaching approaches and strategies used by the group students identify as being exceptionally effective. I n other w ords, how do outstanding online educators create a critical community of inquiry? The research data provides rich examples of how students experience the elements of social, cognitive and teaching presences w ithin the virtual classroom. This know ledge may assist those w ho teach courses online to improve their teaching effectiveness thus creating exceptional learning environments that w ill enhance student learning. As the use of online as a method of delivery grow s, the interest in effective delivery using this method is also developing. The narratives and analysis of these that are the major component of this study provide specific examples that can be situated into the Community of I nquiry model of online learning proposed by Garrison et.al. ( n.d.) . This model also stimulates additional areas for further research. For example, how can the educator further enhance the online educational experience through interventions that promote a positive climate? How does the online educator effectively support discourse and w hat content is most appropriate for online learning? Further, there is much to learn about the student-teacher relationship in the virtual classroom. The findings of this study give rise to an emerging theme of “learning w ith” w ith implications for the reciprocity of the teacher-learner relationship. Through further study w e may discover that the effective teacher-learner relationship is probably rooted, at least in part, in the positive human interaction betw een the participants in this relationship w hich w as alluded to by White et al., 2003. Further research to unveil the components of such a relationship and the contribution it could make to learning is needed. Online learning is not just a learning enhancement, it is an entirely new w ay of learning and teaching that is likely here to stay, and thus additional research aimed at the largely unansw ered question of how the instructor can positively influence the learning experienced by the student should be a priority. The next phase of this study is underw ay and it involves a much larger sample of online students. A richer and fuller description of the phenomena w ill be sought by augmenting the questionnaire w ith interview s of selected participants. Perhaps some of w hat has been learned about excellence in online education is encapsulated in this participant’s comments, “Having a good educator can be likened to the experience of having a fine w ine. Your senses are stirred but not assaulted leaving you w anting more and recalling the experience w ith pleasure.” This study provided a beginning description of the approaches and strategies used by effective online educators. This know ledge can be used in the recruitment and selection of new faculty members and in the ongoing coaching and development of current faculty w ith the overall goal of enhanced quality of online education. But most importantly, online teaching, if done in an effective w ay, has the potential to significantly enhance the intellectual quality of learning environments and learning outcomes. Exemplary online teaching can create a true community of inquiry. 8 Figure 1 Source: Garrison, D., Anderson, T. & Archer, W. ( n.d.) . p.16. BI ODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESSESS OF AUTHORS Beth Perry RN, PhD is a member of the Athabasca University Center for Nursing and Health Studies. Beth completed her undergraduate nursing degree at the University of Alberta in 1982 and w as aw arded her PhD from the Department of Educational Administration at the same university in 1994. Her professional experience includes staff nurse and nurse educator positions at the Cross Cancer I nstitute and the Grey Nuns Hospital in Edmonton. Beth loves to teach and taught courses for the Faculties of Education and Nursing at the University of Alberta and for Royal Roads University in their Master's of Leadership program before joining Athabasca University. Beth also enjoys w riting and has published tw o books, Moments in Time: I mages of Exemplary Nursing Care ( 1998) and Through the Valley: I ntimate Encounters With Grief ( 1998) . Dr. Beth Perry Centre for Nursing and Health Studies Athabasca University 1 University Drive Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3 Canada Telephone: 780.675.6647 9 Email: [email protected] Dr. Margaret Edw ards is the Coordinator, Graduate Programs in the Centre for Nursing and Health Studies at Athabasca University in Canada. She is responsible for the online-delivered Master of Health Studies and Master of Nursing programs. Margaret Edw ards, Ph.D., R.N. Professor and Coordinator, Graduate Programs, Centre for Nursing and Health Studies Athabasca University 1 University Drive Athabasca AB T9S 3A3 Canada E-mail: [email protected] REFERENCES Archer, W., Garrison, D., Anderson, T. & Rourke, L. ( 2001) . A framew ork for analyzing critical thinking in computer conferences. Paper presented at EUROCSCL 2001 , Maastricht. Retrieved online at November 18, 2004 at http:/ / w ebct3.athabascau.ca/ SCRI PT/ research/ scripts/ student/ serve_bulletin. Carter, K. ( 1993) . 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