September 24, 2012 Boosting a First-Time Online Adult Student's Self-Esteem By: Dawn M. Kaiser, PhD in Online Education As professors, we all have seen first-time students who are so nervous that they do not even know where to begin, let alone how to achieve their educational goals.
An educational community of inquiry is a group of individuals who collaboratively engage in purposeful critical discourse and reflection to construct personal meaning and confirm mutual understanding. The Community of Inquiry theoretical framework represents a process of creating a deep and meaningful (collaborative-constructivist) learning experience through the development of three interdependent elements - social, cognitive and teaching presence.