This study examined the effects of different grouping methods in an undergraduate asynchronous online course. Findings indicated that the different grouping methods have no significant influence on the social presence, student satisfaction and outcome. However, the Permanent Small Group yielded more discussion posts than the Variably-Sized Group.
Although improving social presence in an online teaching setting has gained popularity during the past decades, little research has investigated the outcome of different grouping of students in an asynchronous online course during the pandemic. This quantitative study examined the effects of Permanent Small Group and Variably-Sized Group in an undergraduate asynchronous online course. Findings indicated that there is no statistical significance in terms of social presence between the two grouping methods. However, the Permanent Small Group yielded more discussion posts than the Variably-Sized Group. In addition, this research indicated the correlation between the social presence and students’ satisfaction is low. This study aims to call for more research attention on the impacts of social presence and methods of enhancing social presence for online teaching in the pandemic and post-pandemic era.