Mattering and vulnerability : a phenomenological study of experiences within the community of inquiry

Abstract

Understanding how adults perceive learning experiences online can help institutions, administrators, instructional designers, and teachers to develop, design, and deliver programs that support, motivate, engage, and retain learners. Researchers have shown that motivational factors, including the learner's self-concept, play a significant role in learning. Using multiple qualitative methods, including discourse analysis and interviews, this research will explore adult learners' experiences of mattering and vulnerability in online learning through the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Model which focusses on teaching, cognitive, and social presence. The main focus of this research centres on learners' experiences, but considers a variety of perspectives, including a small group of adult online learners, instructional designers and teachers. Phenomenology has been used as the primary theoretical resource in developing both method and analysis, since it is the body of communication thought that is especially sensitive to the study of experience.