ABSTRACT
The Community of Inquiry (CoI) theoretical framework is intended to focus on the challenge of engaging in purposeful collaborative inquiry. From the inception of the Practical Inquiry construct (cognitive presence), the question is whether higher-order thinking and discourse could be realized in an asynchronous, largely text-based educational environment. More specifically, can cognitive presence be created in an online environment and can students successfully move through the phases of practical inquiry that defines cognitive presence? The goal in this chapter is to describe the cognitive presence construct and Practical Inquiry (PI) model and provide an explanation of the nature and quality of inquiry conducted in an online learning environment. It is to the collaborative thinking and learning experience and the required
cognitive presence that we focus our attention. We use the cognitive presence construct to describe the academic process that supports sustained critical thinking and discourse and higher-order knowledge acquisition and application. More specifically, in the context of this discussion, cognitive presence means facilitating the analysis, construction and confirmation of meaning and understanding within a community of learners through sustained reflection and discourse. In an online learning context this includes being supported primarily through text-based communication. We begin our discussion by turning our attention to the genesis of the
cognitive presence construct.
