The Effect of Socially Shared Regulation Approach on Learning Performance in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

Students’ abilities to socially shared regulation of their learning are crucial to productive and successful collaborative learning. However, how group members sustain and regulate collaborative processes is a neglected area in the field of collaborative learning. Furthermore, how group members engage in socially shared regulation still remains to be resolved in the collaborative learning context. In this study, a socially shared regulation-embedded collaborative learning tool was developed to enable learners to collectively regulate their learning. Our study evaluated the effect of the socially shared regulation approach on learning performance. In total, 66 undergraduates were randomly assigned to two groups: experimental (socially shared regulation approach) and control (non-socially shared regulation approach). The results indicated that the proposed approach significantly improved participants’ learning achievements, group performance, and socially shared regulation frequency. Moreover, participants were satisfied with the proposed approach in terms of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and cognitive load. The practical implications and future studies are also discussed based on the findings.