One of the most widely used frameworks for building communities online is the Community of Inquiry (CoI) theoretical framework developed by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000). Applying the CoI framework as a lens, the purpose of this article is to provide a collection of CoI instructional strategies based in cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000), for practitioners (instructors, online course developers, instructional designers) to use in online courses. This collection of CoI instructional strategies is built using Sorensen and Baylen’s (2009) seven principles of good practice. Garrison and Arbaugh (2007) indicated the need for practical strategies and guidelines for how to facilitate presence from a real-world pedagogical perspective as a future area for CoI research. This article hopes to fill this void.

History of CoI Grounded in John Dewey’s (1938) view of practical inquiry, Garrison et al. first introduced the Community of Inquiry (CoI framework) in 2000 (as cited in Swan & Ice, 2010). With inquiry and community at the core of his philosophy, Dewey believed individual development was dependent upon community (Swan, Garrison, & Richardson, 2009). “Community,” a word used copiously in educational research, is often used to refer to the cognitive or emotional connections established between physically separated learners. A broad construct of community has been defined by McMillan and Chavis (1986) as “a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together” (p. 9). Wang, Laffey, and Poole (2001) argue that community can result from shared knowledge among online learners, and this online community is especially important as Rovai (2000) stated, “strong feelings of community increase the flow of information, the availability of support, commitment to group goals, cooperation among members, and satisfaction with group efforts” (p. 286).

The literature specifically advocates that within online environments, interaction between learners is of great importance to student success (Akyol & Garrison, 2008; Arbaugh, 2008; Richardson, Maeda, Lv, & Caskurlu, 2017). The CoI framework that highlights three core elements –cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence-is used to create a meaningful educational experience (Garrison et al., 2000). These presences are interdependent as depicted in Figure 1. The CoI framework assumes that effective online learning, particularly higher order learning, is dependent on the development of a community (Swan et al., 2009). Since its publication in 2000, researchers have suggested additions to the original framework in terms of presences, dimensions, and influences (Kozan & Caskurlu, 2018; Peacock & Cowan, 2016). This article will focus on three original presences as defined by Garrison et al. (2000). For additions to the CoI framework, refer to Kozan and Caskurlu (2018) and Peacock and Cowan (2016). The three presences of the CoI framerwork as discussed in this article are multidimensional, but in order to understand how they work collectively we must examine them individuall.

Cognitive presence, the ability to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, & Archer, 2001), is demonstrated in the Practical Inquiry Model (PIM) created by Garrison et al. (2000) and depicted in Figure 2. The PIM includes four phases: (1) a triggering event, where a problem is identified for further inquiry; (2) exploration, where an individual explores the issue; (3) integration, where learners concept meaning from ideas formed in the exploration phase; and (4) resolution, where students can apply the new skills and knowledge learned from the previous phases into real-world application(s) (Garrison et al., 2000). Reflection is a key aspect of the CoI framework and helps learners to increase their cognitive presence as Redmond (2014) states, “reflecting on learning content and outcomes relates to knowledge acquisition where learners identify their increased knowledge and skills in the subject area” (p. 50).

According to Lowenthal and Lowenthal (2010), “social presence is a theory that explains the ability of people to present themselves as ‘real people’ through a communication medium. Most studies on social presence focus on how students present themselves and/or are perceived as ‘real’ people online” (p. 1). Garrison et al. (2000) determined three categories of social presence indicators. These categories are: (1) emotional (affective) expression, where learners share personal expressions and values; (2) open communication, where learners develop aspects of mutual awareness and recognition; and (3) group cohesion, where learners build and sustain a sense of group commitment (Garrison et al., 2000). A study conducted by Richardson and Swan (2003) found that social presence positively affects student and instructor course satisfaction. During the study, a relationship between social presence and perceived learning was identified; students who perceived high social presence learned more than those who perceived low social presence (Richardson & Swan, 2003).

Garrison and colleagues describe teaching presence as the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes to support learning (Garrison & Arbaugh, 2007; Garrison et al., 2000). Teaching presence has three components: (1) instructional design and organization (e.g., setting curriculum, designing methods, etc.); (2) facilitating discourse (e.g., setting course climate, acknowledging or reinforcing student contributions, etc.); and (3) direct instruction (e.g., summarizing the discussion, presenting content/questions, etc.; Anderson et al., 2001).

The analysis of cognitive presence in the CoI framework is guided by the Practical Inquiry Model first presented in Garrison et al. (1999). Based upon Dewey's (1933) conception of practical inquiry, the model describes critical thinking as "a holistic multi-phased process associated with a triggering event" (Garrison et al., 1999, p. 98):

        The model presented here assumes an iterative and reciprocal relationship between the personal and shared worlds. That is, there is a synergy between reflection and communicative action. Critical thinking is the integration of deliberation and action. This reflects the dynamic relationship between personal meaning and shared understanding (i.e., knowledge). Purposeful thinking and acting are essential to the educational process. (Garrison et al., 1999, p. 98)

        ... The reflective phases of practical inquiry or critical thinking presented here are grounded in the pre- and post-reflective phases of the world of practice. The two axes that structure the model are action-deliberation and perception-conception. The first axis is reflection on practice. The second axis is the assimilation of information and the construction of meaning. Together, they constitute the shared and personal worlds. The quadrants reflect the logical or idealized sequence of practical inquiry (i.e., critical thinking) and correspond to the proposed categories of cognitive presence indicators.

        The first category of cognitive presence represented in the model (lower left quadrant of [the figure above]) is a state of dissonance or feeling of unease resulting from an experience. This category is described as that of a triggering event or communication. The second category (upper left quadrant of [the figure above]) is that of exploration in a search for information, knowledge and alternatives that might help to make sense of the situation or problem. This category is described as that of searching for clarification and attempting to orient one's attention. The third category is integrating the information and knowledge into a coherent idea or concept. The description here is looking for insights and gaining some understanding of the acquired information and knowledge. The fourth category is the resolution of the issue or problem. This category is described as an application of an idea or hypothesis. The success of the application and whether the idea is confirmed will determine whether the process of inquiry continues. (Garrison et al., 1999, pp. 98-99).

The Practical Inquiry Model has recently been adapted by Nasr et al. (2025) to support critical thinking in learning contexts incorporating generative AI. Recent studies, including Nasr et al. (2025), consider the extent to which generative AI tools such as ChatGPT can support or improve cognitive presence, with or without human guidance. Nasr et al.'s adapted model is shown below.

小组协作深度分析引导单

参考资源： 

（论文类）基于Claroline平台的网络课程学习社区的模型设计_陈卫东      教学存在、社会存在及认知存在关系研究——以基于MOOC的混合课程为例_白雪梅

（平台类）：包括但不限于

Coursera：https://www.coursera.org/

中国大学MOOC：https://www.icourse163.org/

国家高等教育智慧教育平台：https://higher.smartedu.cn/

学堂在线：https://www.xuetangx.com/

UMU：https://www.umu.cn/product/enterprise

edX：https://www.edx.org/

Udacity：https://www.udacity.com/school/artificial-intelligence?ref=openi.cn

Khan Academy：https://pt.khanacademy.org/

网易云课堂：https://study.163.com/

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CoI：The Community of Inquiry （The Community of Inquiry is a project of Athabasca University, Mount Royal University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, as well as researchers and members of the CoI community.）

论文：“半衰期”_虚拟学习社区研究的新方法_白继芳      基于e-Learning平台的网络学习社区的评价方法应用研究_陈淑洁

极客、联结与建构_网络学习社区类型比较_叶韦明