Exploring Online Collaborative Learners’ Socially Shared Regulation of Learning Behavior Patterns in Different Engagement Groups

Online collaborative learning has become an important way of learning, and focusing on the socially shared regulation of learning behaviors is important for improving learning performance. Based on an online collaborative learning course, this study collected discussion data from 18 collaborative learning groups over 6 sessions. Behavioral patterns of socially shared regulation of learning were explored through frequency statistics and lagged sequence analysis. Learning engagement variables were also introduced to compare the differences in significant behavioral sequence patterns between high- and low-engagement groups. It was found that (a) most of the regulation behaviors in the early stage were focused on the task itself and the work of the members, while the regulation behaviors in the later stage were more concerned with the progress and results of the group. (b) The high-learning engagement groups had a higher frequency of socially shared regulation of learning behaviors and more appropriate temporal characteristics. The study shows that appropriate regulation behaviors guarantee the smooth progress of collaborative learning activities and the stability of the group in learning engagement. Finally, the study suggests recommendations for improving online collaborative learning performance.