Social presence is difficult to achieve, but an imperative component of online learning. In this study, we investigated the effect of group size on students' perceptions of social presence in two graduate-level online courses, comparing small group versus whole class discussions. Our results indicated that when in small group discussions, students…

When problem based learning occurs in a social context it is open to a common social behaviour, scrounging. In the animal behaviour literature, scroungers do not attempt to find resources themselves but rather exploit resources found by other group members (referred to as producers). We know from studies of animal behaviour (including humans) that…

Although researchers and educators agree that small group collaboration is an essential part of teacher education, not much attention had been paid to examining the dynamics, characteristics, and processes of online group collaboration involving teachers in a peer-led context. Yet, understanding how online teacher learning groups evolve and what…