Enhancing Social Presence in an Online Graduate Course Through Collaborative Learning Activities: Design-Based Research

This design-based research (DBR) study investigated how non-traditional graduate students perceived their social presence with peers in a collaborative online activity. This study also explored the design elements that enhanced students’ social presence. To fulfill these objectives, the study was conducted at a four-year public university in the Southwestern United States, which offers a fully online graduate program in Instructional Technology. Grounded in the Community of Inquiry framework and principles of collaborative learning, the activity was intentionally designed to incorporate key elements such as instructor facilitation, structured task design, and technology integration to support the online group activity. A team goal tracker was also introduced as a new instructional intervention to further support students’ social presence. Given that DBR is an iterative methodological approach, the study involved two cycles of implementation and refinement of the intervention. By analyzing multiple data sets (i.e., surveys, student reflection papers, and an instructor interview transcript), Phase 1 findings revealed that students’ self-regulation, along with guidance from team leaders, had shaped their positive perceptions of social presence in collaborative activities. At the same time, some challenges related to task complexity and time management were observed as factors that hindered their social presence. The instructor’s role in providing formative feedback was identified as particularly important in assisting students to overcome the impact of task complexity and management issues. Insights from Phase 1 informed the refinement of the instructional intervention for Phase 2. Consistent with earlier results, students’ regulation skills emerged as key drivers of group cohesion and open communication, which serve as indicators of social presence. Nevertheless, challenges persisted in teams where some members misunderstood their roles and failed to demonstrate accountability. Teaching presence remained the core design element influencing social presence, particularly through instructional management practices (e.g., strategically sequencing learning activities) and offering constructive feedback to each team. Overall, this study offers design principles for creating collaborative online learning environments tailored to the needs of non-traditional students. Additionally, it offers both practical and theoretical insights for instructional designers and course instructors aiming to promote learner-centered approaches to online collaboration and to strengthen social presence among non-traditional graduate students.