Analyzing Learners’ Collaborative Behaviors Using Activity Theory

The primary goal of the study is to analyze learner behaviors during collaborative group work in a digital learning community. A qualitative data analysis program, NVivo 2, was used to code the vast amount of online transcripts and written interviews based on the grounded theory. Resulting codes were aligned in the four subsystems of activity theory and the activation of subsystems by group work phases was investigated. Conflicting factors and facilitating factors while college students achieve a common learning goal were identified. At the same time, whether the high performing groups show patterns of learner behaviors, conflicting factors, and facilitating factors that differ from those of the low performing groups was examined.