What effects of a community of inquiry are there on teaching in a blended learning mode?

The instructional effects of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework on teaching in blended learning contexts are yet to be fully explored. This paper reports on a case study of a course instructor who adopted the framework as an instructional approach to designing a course on creative music teaching. This course was delivered in a blended learning mode in a university context. How did the instructor practice the framework as an instructional approach to course design in a university context? What journey has the instructor experienced in teaching the course as a community of inquiry in the blended learning mode? The findings show that the instructor experienced the leading instructional role of teaching presence in fostering students’ collaborative participation in learning as if in a blended learning community. However, the potential instructional challenges facing the instructor were context-specific, depending on differences in individual student groups and variations in university contexts. Implications for the enhancement of course design with the CoI instructional approach in the blended learning mode are discussed. Copyright © 2016 International Conference on New Horizons in Education (INTE).