Relationships between interactive network patterns and students’ cognitive and emotional processes: Evidence from the individual and group levels

Abstract

Analysing the processes of effective computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is a prominent area of research in education. Within the community of enquiry framework, group social interaction patterns are essential for enhancing learners' cognitive and emotional processes. This study examined the online collaborative learning processes of 66 university students over an eight-week blended course. Process and perception data were collected from multiple sources, including surveys, log records, and sentence content analysis. Employing social network and content analyses, we examined the network patterns formed by different group interactions and identified individual and group differences. The multilevel analysis results indicated that group density and centralisation were generally not correlated with the learners’ expressions of cognitive viewpoints, perceived task value, or satisfaction. However, the individual degree centrality was significantly and positively correlated with the expression of viewpoints, perceived task value, and satisfaction, whereas the betweenness centrality was negatively correlated with satisfaction. Furthermore, the perceived task value mediates the relationship between the degree of centrality and satisfaction. This study expands the literature on the CSCL process research by incorporating social network parameters at different levels, shedding light on the relationships between individuals and groups in collaboration, and offering insights into the design and instructional practices of online collaborative learning.