The Pragmatism of Evolving Social Presence in Online Discussion Forums - Educators' Perspectives -- A Case Study

Online learning environments and activities via learning management systems have become the new normal in most educational institutions after the COVID-19 pandemic. An online discussion forum is ideal for online and hybrid courses to enhance collaborative participation between learners and instructors. The problem addressed in this study is the pragmatism of timely interventions to evolve social presence in a discussion forum. The lack of techniques and literacy to assess and foster social presence increases faculty workload. Research exists showing the importance of social presence in collaborative assessments. However, only a few studies have been done to see the pragmatism in fostering and measuring the social presence, which is a prudent additive in teaching and learning. This qualitative case study aimed to explore how faculty at the Metropolitan State University of Denver explains the relationship between teaching and social presence when designing an online discussion activity for undergraduate students. Further, the study explored the feedback strategies implemented while mediating a balanced cognitive and social presence in online discussion forums. The problem was addressed by conducting a qualitative study among faculty based on the conceptual framework built upon the community of inquiry (CoI) learning theory and the social presence model (SPM). The data was analyzed from open-ended surveys, one-on-one interviews, instructor transcription, and discussion data. Both deductive and inductive coding were used in coding responses. Epistemic network visualization for the discussion data was also used to solidify the results. The study identified the primarily used social presence aspects for an online discussion activity and the challenges in implementing aspects of social presence in a discussion forum. Based on the study results, a social presence checklist and a proposal for using Learning Analytics (LA) tools for facilitating were given as practice recommendations. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]