SCALING THE COMMUNITY OF INQUIRY FRAMEWORK FOR MOOC DESIGN

A community of inquiry is most often applied where a limited number of students engage meaningfully with peers and the instructor for the realization of deep learning. To explore beyond this situation, this chapter describes the application of the Community of Inquiry theoretical framework in a high enrollment course. A set of guiding principles allowing for sub-sets of students in high enrollment courses to connect with one another in support of inquiry-based learning activities is provided here. Outcomes from this approach, underpinned by findings from several examples of Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs, illustrate the value of the Community of Inquiry theoretical framework for learners in high enrollment courses.