Modeling gender dynamics in intra and interpersonal interactions during online collaborative learning

Abstract

There has been long-standing stereotypes on men and women's communication styles, such as men using more assertive or aggressive language and women showing more agreeableness and emotions in interactions. In the context of collaborative learning, male learners often believed to be more active participants while female learners are less engaged. To further explore gender differences in learners communication behavior and whether it has changed in the context of online synchronous collaboration, we examined students interactions at a sociocognitive level with a methodology called Group Communication Analysis (GCA). We found that there were no significant differences between men and women in the degree of participation. However, women exhibited significantly higher average social impact, responsivity and internal cohesion compared to men. We also compared the proportion of learners interaction profiles, and results suggest that women are more likely to be effective and cohesive communicators. We discussed implications of these findings for pedagogical practices to promote inclusivity and equity in collaborative learning online.