The Community of Inquiry Framework in Writing Studies: Designing for Learning with Peer Review
By Jennifer M. Cunningham, Mary K. Stewart, Natalie Stillman-Webb, and Lyra Hilliard
Copy edited by Karen P. Peirce. Designed by Mike Palmquist.
Applying the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework—a social constructivist model of online learning comprised of cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence—to writing studies, this book investigates peer review in hybrid and online first-year writing courses. The authors draw on both theory and disciplinary practices to analyze multi-institutional case studies, interviews, and artifacts, offering scholarship that is both data-driven and pedagogically pragmatic. The results of their analysis present a pragmatic and pedagogically sound approach to navigating the complicated task of designing and facilitating courses that incorporate collaborative activities such as peer review.
Table of Contents
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Chapter 3. Cognitive Presence: Peer Review Learning Goals and Application
Chapter 4. Social Presence: Beyond “Feeling Real”
Chapter 5. Teaching Presence: Designing for Social and Cognitive Presence
Appendix A. Instructor Invitation Email
Appendix B. Instructor Consent Form and Intake Survey
Appendix C. Student Invitation Email Message and Video Script
Appendix D. Student Consent Form
Appendix E. Course Observation Field Notes Template
Appendix F. Instructor Interview Protocols and Questions
Appendix G. Student Interview Protocols and Questions
About the Authors
Jennifer M. Cunningham is Professor of English and the Writing Program Coordinator at Kent State University, where she oversees first-year composition and online writing instruction. She serves as an editor for Online Literacies Open Resource (OLOR) Effective Practices and has been an At-large Executive Board member of the Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE) as well as the Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Online Writing Instruction (OWI) Standing Group. Along with her research team, she has articles published in Composition Forum and College Composition and Communication. Her work has also been published in Written Communication, Computers and Composition, Online Learning, and the Journal of Response to Writing.
Mary K. Stewart is Associate Professor and the General Education Writing program coordinator in the Literature & Writing Studies Department at California State University San Marcos, where she teaches first-year writing and MA-level composition theory and pedagogy. Her research interests include hybrid and online writing instruction, writing program administration, and writing assessment.
Natalie Stillman-Webb is Professor-Lecturer in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric Studies at the University of Utah, where she coordinates an online major and serves as Co-Director of Undergraduate Studies. Her research and teaching interests include online writing pedagogy, user experience, community engaged learning, and writing in the disciplines. She has published in Computers and Composition, Kairos, and Journal of Business and Technical Communication, as well as in the edited collection Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication.
Lyra Hilliard is a Principal Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she co-directs the online and blended teacher training program for writing faculty, is the online and blended learning coordinator for the Academic Writing Program, coordinates the Undergraduate Teaching Assistants program, and teaches professional, academic, and creative writing. Her research interests include online and hybrid writing pedagogy, faculty development, creative nonfiction, and women’s rhetoric.
Publication Information: Cunningham, Jennifer M., Mary K. Stewart, Natalie Stillman-Webb, and Lyra Hilliard. (2025). The Community of Inquiry Framework in Writing Studies: Designing for Learning with Peer Review. The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado. https://doi.org/1010.37514/PRA-B.B.2025.2715
Digital Publication Date: November 9, 2025
Print Publication Date: TBD
ISBN: 978-1-64215-271-5 (PDF) | 978-1-64215-272-2 (ePub) | 978-1-64642-833-5 (pbk.)
DOI: 10.37514/PRA-B.2025.2715
Contact Information:
Jennifer M. Cunningham: jcunni17@kent.edu
Mary K. Stewart: mkstewart@csusm.edu
Natalie Stillman-Webb: natalie.stillman-webb@utah.edu
Lyra Hilliard: lyrahill@umd.edu
Practices & Possibilities
Series Editors: Aimee McClure, Clarke University; Aleashia Walton, University of Cincinnati; Jagadish Paudel, Clemson University; and Mike Palmquist, Colorado State University
This book is available in whole and in part in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). It will also be available in a low-cost print edition from our publishing partner, the University Press of Colorado.
Copyright © 2025 Jennifer M. Cunningham, Mary K. Stewart, Natalie Stillman-Webb, and Lyra Hilliard. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License. 158 pages, with notes, illustrations, bibliography, and index. This book will be available in print from University Press of Colorado as well as from any online or brick-and-mortar bookstore. Available in digital formats for no charge on this page at the WAC Clearinghouse. You may view this book. You may print personal copies of this book. You may link to this page. You may not reproduce this book on another website. For permission requests and other questions, such as creating a translation, please contact the copyright holders.