Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Education

Advisor

Dr. Jennifer Courduff

Abstract

The problem that was the focus of this qualitative case study was the lack of identification of college students' perceptions how participation in community of inquiry (CoI) influenced self-efficacy, motivation, and student relationships in developmental blended courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify college students' perceptions how social, cognitive, and teaching presences build a sense of community and influence self-efficacy, motivation, and relationships as they participated in developmental blended courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The conceptual framework of this study was built upon the theoretical foundations of Dewey's cognitive learning and Bandura's social learning theories as outlined in the CoI model. The main research question and sub-questions of this study inquired about college students' perceptions, while participating in CoI in developmental blended courses during the COVID-19 pandemic and how these perceptions influenced self-efficacy, motivation, and student relationships. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews from 12 participants who had completed developmental blended courses during COVID-19 pandemic and was analyzed by hand-coding. The results of the study indicated mostly positive perceptions of participants with six themes emerging from the data. The conclusions indicated positive relationships among CoI presences and self-efficacy, motivation, and student relationships, with some relationships being more significant than others. Recommendations included studies focused on a larger participant sample, which could create social change by informing future course design, improving student learning, and further addressing the research gap.

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