This study investigated the learning impact of online scafolding in sustaining a community of inquiry in Physics instruction. The students’ a-priori e-learning activities in online discussion were used in leveraging the learning behaviors of the students. Online learning segments were included in the process of developing classroom tasks vis-à-vis with the course intended learning outcomes. | Journal of Technology and Science Education THE RECIPROCAL DETERMINISM OF ONLINE SCAFFOLDING IN SUSTAINING A COMMUNITY OF INQUIRY IN PHYSICS Romiro G. Bautista Natural Sciences and Mathematics Department AMA International University Bahrain Received April 2013 Accepted June 2013 Abstract This study investigated the learning impact of online scafolding in sustaining a community of inquiry in Physics instruction. The students’ a-priori e-learning activities in online discussion were used in leveraging the learning behaviors of the students. Online learning segments were included in the process of developing classroom tasks vis-à-vis with the course intended learning outcomes. This was done in a collegial, constructive and democratic learning towards classroom efcacy through online scafolding techniques. Two sections of 34 students enrolled in NATSC1D (University Physics 1) were used in this study. A questionnaire was adopted in determining the perceived relative magnitude of advantages of the online discussion. Pearson-r correlation results showed a very-highly positive correlation between the students’ a-priori e-learning experiences in online discussion and their success in online scafolding, and a highly to very-highly positive correlation to their performance in classroom interaction, formative assessment and summative evaluations. Keywords – A-priori e-learning experiences, Asynchronous and synchronous e-learning modality, Community of inquiry, Online scafolding, Reciprocal determinism and causation ---------- 1 INTRODUCTION The advent of advanced educational technologies is a vast array of digital resources and content in learning that ofers the magnanimity of theories towards educational opportunities. This ofers practices in sustaining a community of inquiry in a dynamic classroom. Sustaining a community of inquiry in any educative instruction requires greater options for quantity and quality of learning interactions in a .
