The Impacts of Teaching Presence, Cognitive Presence and Social Presence on Student Engagement
Abstract
Technology has undoubtedly enhanced the significance of convenience in learning, especially in tertiary educational institutions, as the dynamic integration between online and traditional learning is demonstrated. However, it is fair to debate whether this technology has also helped to enable the students to be more engaged in the classroom or whether the learning related factors are more prominent determinants. This descriptive research was a correlational study which was intended to examine relationship between elements of Community of Inquiry, comprised of teaching, learning and social presence and student engagement in UiTM Puncak Alam. The study has applied convenience sampling method, involving 378 respondents from 22,441 undergraduates of UiTM Puncak Alam. A self-administered questionnaire of three sections was used as instrument for this study to collect the students’ perspectives on how elements can influence their student engagement. A Pearson correlational and multiple regression analysis was conducted to ensure achievement of the research objectives. The results have found that social presence has the strongest relationship with student engagement, supporting a similar finding from the regression analysis. Regardless, it was also found that independent variables have explained 35.3% of the dependent variables, whereas the remaining 64.7% of student engagement can be explained by other variables that are not included in this study. Therefore, all three research objectives were achieved, and three hypotheses were supported. The researchers have then discussed and recommended further actions that can be taken by the authorities involved in ensuring that a quality education is accessible to all students in Malaysia.
Downloads
References
Carroll, N., Michael, L., & Connolly, C. (2025). An extended community of inquiry framework supporting students in online and digital education. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 62(2), 369-385. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2024.2326658
Carstens, K. J., Mallon, J. M., Bataineh, M., & Al-Bataineh, A. (2021). Effects of Technology on Student Learning. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 20(1), 105-113.
Caskurlu, S., Maeda, Y., Richardson, J. C., & Lv, J. (2020). A meta-analysis addressing the relationship between teaching presence and students’ satisfaction and learning. Computers & Education, 157, 103966. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103966
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Earlbaum
Daoayan Biaddang, L. M., & Caroy, A. A. (2024). Student voice and choice in the virtual classroom: engagement strategies. Discover Education, 3(1), 162. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-024-00269-6
Daumiller, M., Fasching, M. S., Dickhäuser, O., & Dresel, M. (2023). Teachers’ achievement goals and teaching practices: A standardized lesson diary approach. Teaching and Teacher Education, 127, 104079. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104079
Demirba?, ?., & Sezgin, S. (2021). Book Review: Guidelines on the Development of Open Educational Resources Policies. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 22(2), 261-263. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v22i2.5513
Doo, M. Y., Bonk, C. J., & Heo, H. (2023). Examinations of the relationships between self-efficacy, self-regulation, teaching, cognitive presence, and learning engagement during COVID-19. Educational technology research and development, 71(2), 481-504. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-023-10187-3
Garrison, D. (2009). Communities of Inquiry in Online Learning. In P. Rogers, G. Berg, J. Boettcher, C. Howard, L. Justice, & K. Schenk (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Distance Learning (Second ed., pp. 352-355). https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60566-198-8.ch052
Garrison, D. R. (2007). Online community of inquiry review: Social, cognitive, and teaching presence issues. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11(1), 61-72.
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999). Critical Inquiry in a Text-Based Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2), 87-105. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S1096-7516(00)00016-6
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2010). The first decade of the community of inquiry framework: A retrospective. The Internet and Higher Education, 13(1), 5-9. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2009.10.003
Göko?lu, S., Karao?lan Y?lmaz, F. G., & Y?lmaz, R. (2024). Student Engagement, Community of Inquiry, and Transactional Distance in Online Learning Environments: A Stepwise Multiple Linear Regression Analysis. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 25(4), 107-127. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v25i4.7660
Gurcan, F., Erdogdu, F., Cagiltay, N. E., & Cagiltay, K. (2023). Student engagement research trends of the past 10 years: A machine learning-based analysis of 42,000 research articles. Education and Information Technologies, 28(11), 15067-15091. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11803-8
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2018). Multivariate Data Analysis (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Haleem, A., Javaid, M., Qadri, M. A., & Suman, R. (2022). Understanding the role of digital technologies in education: A review. Sustainable Operations and Computers, 3, 275-285. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.susoc.2022.05.004
Hambali, N., Zaiton, S., Sidik, N., Hanib, N., Zahid, F., & Rahim, N. (2022). Exploring Online Education Experience through the Teaching, Social and Cognitive Presences. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12(10), 1378 – 1397. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v12-i10/14871
Imran, I., Rehan Ahmed, K., & Kinza, A. (2023). The Development and Validation of Student Engagement Questionnaire. Proceedings Shaikh Zayed Medical Complex, 37(4), 26-30. https://doi.org/10.47489/szmc.v37i4.389
Istijanto, & and Nathalie, C. C. (2024). Factors influencing student engagement and intention to attend lectures. Cogent Education, 11(1), 2415287. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2415287
Joshi, D. R., Khanal, J., & Dhakal, R. H. (2023). From Resistance to Resilience: Teachers’ Adaptation Process to Mediating Digital Devices in Pre-COVID-19, during COVID-19, and Post-COVID-19 Classrooms in Nepal. Education Sciences, 13(5), 509. https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/13/5/509
Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining Sample Size for Research Activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30(3), 607-610. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316447003000308
Lasekan, O. A., Pachava, V., Godoy Pena, M. T., Golla, S. K., & Raje, M. S. (2024). Investigating Factors Influencing Students’ Engagement in Sustainable Online Education. Sustainability, 16(2), 689. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/689
Lee, Y., & Pillai, V. (2022). The Impact of Online Learning on 7th Grade Students’ Perception of Engagement, Social Presence, and Satisfaction During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Student Research, 11(3), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v11i3.3685
Leng, C., Abedalaziz, N., Orleans, A., Naimie, Z., & Islam, A. Y. M. A. (2018). Teaching Practices of Malaysian Science Teachers: Role of Epistemic Beliefs and Implicit Intelligence. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 6(2), 48-59.
Li, J., & Xue, E. (2023). Dynamic Interaction between Student Learning Behaviour and Learning Environment: Meta-Analysis of Student Engagement and Its Influencing Factors. Behavioral Sciences, 13(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13010059
McCarroll, J., & Hartwick, P. (2022). Facilitating" Cognitive Presence" Online: Perception and Design. Online Learning, 26(2), 78-101.
Md Nawi, S., Mohd Yusof, S., Kamaludin, P., & Sain, N. (2021). exploring-malaysian-tertiary-students-behavioural-cognitive-emotional-and-social-engagement-and-disengagement-in-odl. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(4), 1296 - 1311 https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i4/9826
Meganathan, P. M. (2024). Enhancing Student Engagement and Active Learning through Student Presentation-Based Effective Teaching (SPET) Method among Malaysian Undergraduate Students. International Journal of Infrastructure Research and Management 12(2), 79-93.
Odhiambo, A. (2024). The Impact of Social Presence on Online Student Engagement. Journal of Online and Distance Learning, 3(1), 14-27. https://doi.org/10.47941/jodl.1690
Shea, P., & Bidjerano, T. (2010). Learning presence: Towards a theory of self-efficacy, self-regulation, and the development of a communities of inquiry in online and blended learning environments. Computers & Education, 55(4), 1721-1731. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.07.017
Stratton, S. J. (2021). Population Research: Convenience Sampling Strategies. Prehosp Disaster Med, 36(4), 373-374. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x21000649
Subramainan, L., & A. Mahmoud, M. (2020). A Systematic Review on Students’ Engagement in Classroom: Indicators, Challenges and Computational Techniques. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 11(1), 105-115. https://doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2020.0110113
Supardi, S., & Ashari, S. (2021). Determinan Tingkat Kepuasan Mahasiswa Vokasi Mengikuti Kuliah Daring di Masa Pandemi Covid-19. E-Jurnal Akuntansi(3), 677-692. https://doi.org/10.24843/EJA.2021.v31.i03.p12
Teoh, H. C., Abdullah, M. C., Roslan, S., & Daud, S. (2013). An Investigation of Student Engagement in a Malaysian Public University. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 90, 142-151. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.07.075
Thaoprom, P. (2004). Relationship Between Quality of Work Life and Job Performance for Police Office-Crime Prevention and Suppression Division: Case Study Thonglor Metropolitan Mahidol University.
Wilson, K. E., Martinez, M., Mills, C., D'Mello, S., Smilek, D., & Risko, E. F. (2018). Instructor presence effect: Liking does not always lead to learning. Computers & Education, 122, 205-220. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.03.011
Zhang, Y., Tian, Y., Yao, L., Duan, C., Sun, X., & Niu, G. (2023). Teaching presence promotes learner affective engagement: The roles of cognitive load and need for cognition. Teaching and Teacher Education, 129, 104167. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104167
Copyright (c) 2025 Nur Athirah Sumardi, Natasha Dzulkalnine, Ruzanifah Kosnin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Author (s) should affirm that the material has not been published previously. It has not been submitted and it is not under consideration by any other journal. At the same time author (s) need to execute a publication permission agreement to assume the responsibility of the submitted content and any omissions and errors therein. After submission of revised paper in the light of suggestions of the reviewers, the editorial team edits and formats manuscripts to bring uniformity and standardization in published material.
This work will be licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) and under condition of the license, users are free to read, copy, remix, transform, redistribute, download, print, search or link to the full texts of articles and even build upon their work as long as they credit the author for the original work. Moreover, as per journal policy author (s) hold and retain copyrights without any restrictions.
