Cognitive presence in mobile instant messaging : a content analysis of students’online discussions in higher education

Abstract

This empirical study aims to investigate the students' perception on the use of mobile instant messaging (MIM) as an online discussion tool for academic purpose in higher education in the University of Hong Kong as well as explicate how students assemble and develop cognition during discourse. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework formulated by Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2000) provided a strong research framework for the adaptation of the coding scheme. A total of 1897 messages were retrieved from WhatsApp and WeChat, which posted in the online discussion groups of three separate master level courses. Semi-structured interviews were conducted separately and voluntarily with four postgraduate students. Content analysis was utilized to assist in describing how students construct high-level thinking in online discussion via MIM. The results indicate that students tend to use MIM apps to communicate for social purpose such as building interpersonal relationships rather than academic pursuit such as generating higher-order thinking. Efficiency is the factor that influences students' choices on selecting MIM apps to deliberate or not. Future studies may focus on how cognitive presence, social presence and teaching presence jointly impact students' participations in online discussion.