Theme 3, Quantitative Methods

Main points in the paper "Emotional presence, learning and the online environment"

In preparation for this theme we read the article "Emotional presence, learning and the online environment(Cleveland-Innes, Campbell, In press). Below follows a brief summary and critique of some of the main point pf the paper.

What is the purpose of the study?

The main purpose of the study is to evaluate through exploratory research if it's possible to expand the model of Community Inquiry applied to an online learning environment, with a fourth element of emotional presence added to the three elements: social presence, teaching presence and cognitive presence. 

The community of inquiry model(CoI model)

The community of inquiry(CoI) model is briefly explained in the paper as the way community emerges in suport of learning through the relationship between social presence, teaching presence and cognitive presence(Cleveland-Innes, Cambell, In press). The common illustration of the model is seen in figure 1.

Figure 1(http://communitiesofinquiry.com/model).

The purpose of the paper is thus to expand this model to include emotional presence as its own part in the model illustrated in figure 1.

What method is used?

The method used in the article could in my opinion be called a quantitative content analysis. However it's a bit unclear since the authors refer to the data analysed as qualitative. The data was collected from open-ended questions and conference discussion transcripts from online college courses. Then it was examined for indicators of the different parts of the CoI model, plus indicators for emotional presence.

The paper is in my opinion insufficient in the way it describes the method used. Especially in when it comes to explaining how the content analysis of the data was conducted. It's stated in the paper that

 "..coders discussed the range of emotions noted in the textual data, and discussed the use of terms to label expressions deemed to be 'emotional.'..."(Cleveland-Innes, Campbell, In press).

Whats lacking is an explanation of what was discussed, and how they came to the conclusion of what emotional labels to use.

Mixed research

The second paper read in preparation for this theme was a paper on key points for improving mixed research in the field of online learning by Patrick R. Lowenthal and Nancy L. Leech(2009).

What are the difficulties in mixed research?

One of the main point in the paper is: mixed research is such a new type of research that most researchers doesn't feel comfortable in conducting it. Most researchers come from a background of either qualitative or quantitative research wich influences the approach they have on mixed research. The main difficulty in mixed research is thus to construct research that is fittet to a mixed approach, instead of applying a mixed approach to a research question and design appropriate for a quantitative or qualitative method.

The paper is much to the point in describing what obstacles lay in the way of conduction good mixed research, and most cases it proposes a solution to how one should approach these obstacles. One component that I believe is missing however is a discussion of why to conduct mixed research, which also would to som extent answer the question of when to do it.

References

Lowenthal, P. R. and Leech, N. 2009. "Mixed research and online learning: Strategies for improvement" Online education and adult learning: New frontiers for teaching practices. Hersey, PA: IGI Global.

Cleveland-Innes, M. and Campbell, P. In press "Emotional presence, learning and the online learning environment" The International Review of Research i Open and Distance Learning.