Supporting productive peer-to-peer interaction is a central challenge in online courses.  Although cooperative learning research provides robust evidence for the positive outcomes of face-to-face cooperative learning (Johnson & Johnson, 1989), online modes of cooperative learning have provided mixed results. This study examines the effects of synchronous versus asynchronous interaction on students’ sense of cooperation, belonging, and affect in online small-group discussions. Fifty-two undergraduate students were assigned to synchronous and asynchronous interaction conditions.  The findings support prior research that asynchronous communication interferes with the relationship between cooperative goals and the outcomes of cooperation. Results inform theory and practice, by showing that asynchronous cooperative learning may not work as designed because the presence of cooperative goals do not predict cooperative outcomes.

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This paper introduces the efforts of Michigan State University's Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education/College of Education (CEPSE/COE) Design Studio to utilize robotic telepresence devices in synchronous hybrid learning classes for the Educational Psychology and Educational Technology (EPET) Ph.D. program. Robotic telepresence devices are digital devices that can be piloted from a distance for the purpose of interacting with people in a remote location. Synchronous hybrid learning classes refer to classes in which online and face-to-face students interact during shared synchronous sessions. This design case describes the context, technologies, and strategies used to integrate robotic telepresence devices in a synchronous hybrid learning class format. We conclude by discussing our insights gleaned from our existing designs for student telepresence in synchronous hybrid learning contexts. John Bell is a professor in the Counseling

A picture-word interference paradigm tracked patterns of activation during picture naming in 87 individuals (age range 17-80 years old). Distractor words were presented at stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of -200, -100, and 0 ms bearing a has a-, location, or no relationship to the picture. Analyses of group naming reaction times revealed significant facilitation effects for both semantic relation types for all age groups. Analyses of temporal patterns of activation revealed significant effects primarily at SOAs of -200 and -100 ms. These findings provide evidence that both thematic relations are particularly salient in how semantic knowledge is organized, and that the patterns of effects from these semantic relations remain the same as one ages.