The theoretical framework of communities of practice (CoP) is often used for framing research into online communities. However, there is an absence of measures and empirical work that evaluates knowledge-sharing within such communities. This represents a substantial gap in our understanding of informal learning for diverse people and in the case…

Background: This study examined the effect of computer-supported collaborative argumentation (CSCA) on secondary school students' understanding of socio-scientific issues (SSI). Engaging students in collaborative argumentation is known to help with deepening their understanding of SSI. Methods: In this study, a mixed-method design is used to…

Networked and digital technologies are increasingly being used for learning in formal and informal contexts, and participant engagement occurs primarily via online discussions. In this paper, we describe an ongoing research project that focuses on examining and understanding student engagement in collaborative online discussions within a formal…

Background: Online discussion is one of the commonly used tools to enhance students' interactions and engagements in online courses, but it is not clear how social presence in online discussions impacts students' learning and what kinds of interactions we should encourage. Social network analysis provides a new methodology to investigate how…

Educational researchers have pointed to socioemotional dimensions of learning as important in gaining a more nuanced description of student engagement and learning. However, to date, research focused on the analysis of emotions has been narrow in its focus, centering on affect and sentiment analysis in isolation while neglecting how emotions…

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic brought changes and efforts for adaption to the new environment in every industry, including higher education. The present study, drawing on crisis management theory as a framework, aimed to understand information and communication sharing behaviors of the higher education community during the pandemic by…

This study explored the dynamics of students' knowledge co-construction in an asynchronous gamified environment in higher education, focusing on peer discussions in college business courses. Utilizing epistemic network analysis, sequence pattern mining, and automated coding, we analyzed the interactions of 1,319 business students. Our findings…

Virtual learning environments have the potential to support students' development of design skills in engineering education. However, few approaches exist for modeling and measuring design learning as it emerges in authentic practices, which often includes collaboration. This study merges learning sciences research with engineering design…

Collaboration is the key element of maker movement. Online maker community is a new environment for makers to collaborate with one another voluntarily. This article selected one of the largest open online maker communities in China as the research sample. A total of 1292 postings selected from 19 threads were coded using Schaefer et al.'s (2019,…

Collective responsibility matters because it reflects students' collective efforts and abilities to accomplish successful collaboration. Combining a multi-faceted approach and time-line analysis, this paper aims to examine the emergence and manifestation of collective responsibility in online discourse. Twenty university students participated in…

Purpose: The growth of online social network sites and their conceptualization as affinity spaces makes them well suited for exploring how individuals share knowledge and practices around specific interests or affinities. The purpose of this study is to extend what is known about highly active/key actors in online affinity spaces, especially the…

This paper addresses the potential of online environments as spaces for young people to develop intercultural competences by studying how otherness is created online and how this holds potential for learning. While online communication is an increasing part of young peoples' lives, not much is known about how young people use their online social…

With the increasing prominence of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in higher education, the number of programmes and studies integrating online peer interaction opportunities on social media, likewise, has surged. Nevertheless, little quantitative research has been performed on the ways in which learners interact with one another via these…

Down syndrome is a sensitive subject and one that requires efforts being made to improve conditions for individuals with Down syndrome across multiple dimensions. Social awareness is one of the important dimensions for the inclusion of individuals with Down syndrome. Online spaces, as well as offline spaces, are an important part of our daily…

Learning in computer-mediated setting represents a complex, multidimensional process. This complexity calls for a comprehensive analytical approach that would allow for understanding of various dimensions of learner generated discourse and the structure of the underlying social interactions. Current research, however, primarily focuses on manual…