Dialogic inquiry: from theory to practice

This study used theories of social learning, dialogue and inquiry to develop an interactive website to support dialogic inquiry online. The literature on online learning often takes a technological rather than a pedagogic perspective which appears to assume that today’s university students know how to learn through inquiry using social media online. Yet there is a great deal of evidence that this is not the case. An examination of the literature of adult learning and primary school pedagogy in terms of their relevance for social learning online, together with an exploration of notions of dialogue and community, led to the identification of an existing dialogic community of inquiry model from which an “artefact” was developed. Both the model and the artefact were explored and redeveloped through three iterations of testing, using a design research methodology. Design research is sometimes considered too long-term an approach to be attempted in a PhD. However it has been possible to engage in the development stages of the process, to a point where the artefact is ready for wider testing. Thus, graduate level online discussion forums were examined using discourse analysis and social network analysis techniques as well as participant reflections which at each iteration were subjected to structured processes of evaluation and reflection in order to refine the model and develop the artefact for the next iteration of testing. As the community of inquiry model was redeveloped to take account of the shift from supported to independent inquiry through dialogue it was found that the community dialogue dimension was fundamental to the effectiveness of critical and creative dialogue. The artefact, a website containing 20 sets of open questions to facilitate community, creative and critical dialogue for inquiry in a university environment, is now ready for field trials.