Resumen de The sequential analysis of interaction in online collaborative learning: the interplay between social regulation patterns and social loafing

Can Xiao, Han Xie, Jianzhong Hong

• This study examined how sequential patterns of social regulation types including self-regulated learning (SRL), co-regulated learning (CoRL), and socially shared regulation of learning (SSRL) emerge and interact during online collaborative learning (OCL), and how these patterns relate to different levels of social loafing. Interaction in collaborative learning is a dynamic process involving both individual and group-level regulatory engagement. While many previous studies have examined how individual and group regulation types interplay during collaboration, few have explored how this interplay is enacted through specific conversational behaviors, and fewer have considered how social loafing may influence the interaction among regulation types. This study addresses these gaps. Data were collected from an online collaborative task involving 24 students (6 groups of four), resulting in 2635 coded audio segments analyzed through lag sequential analysis and comparative investigation. The findings showed that learners mostly engaged in CoRL information provision. The interaction patterns between SRL, CoRL, and SSRL were closely linked to specific conversational skills, with self-expressive acts facilitating transitions from individual to group regulation. Comparative analyses further indicated that groups with high levels of perceived social loafing exhibited more CoRL behaviors but engaged in less constructive, dialogic communication.