Using a community of inquiry framework to teach a nursing and midwifery research subject: An evaluative study

Background: Postgraduate nursing students' negative perceptions about a core research subject at an Australian university led to a revision and restructure of the subject using a Communities of Inquiry framework. Negative views are often expressed by nursing and midwifery students about the research process. The success of evidence-based practice is dependent on changing these views. A Community of Inquiry is an online teaching, learning, thinking, and sharing space created through the combination of three domains-teacher presence (related largely to pedagogy), social presence, and cognitive presence (critical thinking). Objectives: Evaluate student satisfaction with a postgraduate core nursing and midwifery subject in research design, theory, and methodology, which was delivered using a Communities of Inquiry framework. Setting, Participants, and Methods: This evaluative study incorporated a validated Communities of Inquiry survey (n = 29) and interviews (n = 10) and was conducted at an Australian university. Study participants were a convenience sample drawn from 56 postgraduate students enrolled in a core research subject. Survey data were analysed descriptively and interviews were coded thematically. Results: Five main themes were identified: subject design and delivery; cultivating community through social interaction; application-knowledge, practice, research; student recommendations; and technology and technicalities. Student satisfaction was generally high, particularly in the areas of cognitive presence (critical thinking) and teacher presence (largely pedagogy related). Students' views about the creation of a "social presence" were varied but overall, the framework was effective in stimulating both inquiry and a sense of community. Conclusions: The process of research is, in itself, the creation of a "community of inquiry." This framework showed strong potential for use in the teaching of nurse research subjects; satisfaction was high as students reported learning, not simply the theory and the methods of research, but also how to engage in "doing" research by forging professional and intellectual communities.