How Chemists Achieve Active Learning Online During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework to Support Remote Teaching

As numerous varsity campuses remain closed during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, educators must look for suitable digital tools to conduct lessons and engage learners online. In this report, we discuss how to structure the online lessons using the Community of Inquiry framework (CoI). The CoI was applied to the university elective course “Learning to Choose Better”, taught by chemistry faculty. By using the appropriate digital tools in our course, we found success in achieving engagement, active learning, and team teaching. Until the world finds a resolution to the pandemic, online teaching will continue to be the new normal. Educators could view this time as a prime opportunity to experiment, innovate, and break new grounds in the realm of remote online teaching.