Describing construction of knowledge through identification of collaboration patterns in 3D learning environments

Recent research has to a limited extent explored the nature of collaborative knowledge construction in 3D environments. In this paper we describe this issue by identifying two collaboration patterns that are manifested in the students’ dialogues and actions in a particular 3D learning environment. The theoretical framework is found within socio-cultural perspectives that view learning as socially and culturally constructed and of which artefacts are considered as inseparable from human activity. In agreement with the intellectual heritage, the collaboration patterns are identified through analyses of various extracts of dialogues and actions taken place between the students and how these extracts are operationalised by available artefacts. Interaction analysis constitutes the analytic tool.