This article expands Garrison, Anderson, and Archer's Community of Inquiry framework by adding a mechanism to understand the interactions among presences and domains in an online course. Based on a qualitative content analysis of student reflections, elements that create an optimal learning experience. The article discusses three findings and offers visual representations of each: how emotions are pervasive among the presences, a chronological representation of components in two phases, and a logic model showing if-then interactions among the components in a linear form. As a result of these findings, the gear model is proposed, which accounts for current research findings such as emotional and learner presences. The 'gears in motion' model offers a new, holistic perspective that illustrates the five elements necessary to create an optimal learning experience.