1. THE LMS DOES MATTER
GREG KETCHAM , SUNY OSWEGO

2. AGENDA
• Project rationale
• Past/Present survey focus
• Community of Inquiry reviewed
• CoI and Learning Theories
• Survey Results
• Next Steps
• Q &A

3. RATIONALE
• Rationale for updated survey
• Rubin et al. research on LMS and CoI (2010)
• Hypothesis: utilization of communication and information
sharing tools in the LMS by faculty and students will support
the elements of the Community of Inquiry model.
• LMS transition

4. SURVEY DESIGN: PAST
Previous surveys:
• Focus
• Course design
• Instructor&student interaction
• Instructor characteristics
(effectiveness, participation, enthusiasm, extra help)
• Overall course rating/satisfaction
• Return rate: 39% mean; range: 12%-85%

5. SURVEY DESIGN: UPDATE
New survey:
• Focus on interrelationship between LMS satisfaction
and CoI elements
• Pros: richer question set
• Cons: twice as long; hard to toss old (relevent)
questions

6. COMMUNITY OF INQUIRY

7. COI &LEARNING THEORY
Where does CoI fit
on the continuum of
learning theories?

8. LEARNING THEORY 101
Behaviorism
• observable behavior (Pavlov, Skinner)
• Development of specific objectives (classic ID process)
Cognitivism
• Knowledge exists outside the mind, as in behaviorism
• Focus on information processing and memory structure
(Tennyson & Schott)
• Learners actively organize the learning process
• Advance organizers (Ausubel)
• Events of Instruction (Gagne)

9. LEARNING THEORY 101
Constructivism
• Knowledge is constructed based on interaction and prior
experience
• Cognitive contructivism (Piaget) –individual learner
characteristics: impact on learning
• Social constructivism (Vygotsky) –meaning making through
social interaction
Connectivism
• “learning theory for the digital age” (Siemens)
• Learning as creating connections (nodes) and developing
networks
• "to teach is to model and demonstrate, to learn is to practice
and reflect” (Downes)

10. LEARNING THEORY 101
Instructivism
• Sometimes leveled as a critique of behaviorist/cognivist
approaches
• “Direct Instruction” as an example of practice- instructor
centered and controlled
Rhizomatic Learning Theory
• Based on rhizome theory (Deleuze and Guattari)-resistant to
organizational structure, “favoring a nomadic system of
growth and propagation”
• Relationship to self-determined learning (heutogogy)(Hase
and Kenyon)
• Community as Curriculum (Cormier)
• Rooted in connectivist and constructivist theories

11. LEARNING THEORY 101
Problem Based Learning (PBL)
• Problem definition and solutions development
• Based on constructivism
• Student centered, small group interactions
• Instructor as facilitator and/or guide

12. CONNECTION OF COI TO PBL
• “collaborative constructivist approach”
• Elements of CoI directly derived from John Dewey
(Swan, Garrison, and Richardson, 2010)
• Practical inquiry (Dewey): Cognitive Presence
• 4 phases of inquiry, leading to resolution(triggering
event, exploration, integration, resolution)
• Contextually based, socially situated learning
(Dewey): Social Presence
• Purpose, structure and leadership (Dewey):
Teaching Presence

13. METHODOLOGY
• Student survey; anonymous administration over time
through LMS transition
• Faculty survey: phase 2 of inquiry; focuses on faculty
perceptions
• Same instruments used in DePaul study

14. OVERALL QUALITY

15. LMS SATISFACTION

16. MOST LIKED FEATURES
383 free text responses(83% response rate):
• Easy to use
• Easy to navigate
• The lay out is user friendly and all information is easy
to find.
• Not much, Blackboard is better

17. MOST DISLIKED FEATURES
360 free text responses(78% response rate):
• It is impossible to follow discussion posts because of
the way the threading works.
• Email is frustrating.
• Incompatibility with up to date browsers.
• The only thing I disliked was ANGEL itself.
• Just about everything... Angel can be equated to
using a crayon to try to write Mozarts Requiem.

18. SOCIAL PRESENCE

19. COGNITIVE PRESENCE

20. COGNITIVE PRESENCE

21. TEACHING PRESENCE

22. TEACHING PRESENCE

23. NEXT STEPS
• Code free-text LMS responses for emergent themes
• Break down data to individual course surveys
• Prune redundant questions
• Continue to administer through LMS transition
• Begin faculty survey

24. QUESTIONS?
Collective meaning making time…