Exploring student teachers’ social knowledge construction behaviors and collective agency in an online collaborative learning environment

Abstract

ABSTRACT The potential of online collaborative learning has been recognized in teacher education, and the value student teachers’ collective agency in predict their sustainable professional develop has been discussed. However, there is limited understanding of how student teachers’ collaborative knowledge construction behaviors correlate with their collective agency. This study investigated one class of student teachers’ collaborative knowledge construction behavioral pattern in a multi-layered interaction activity, and further explained their correlation with the participants’ collective agency. A total of 50 third-year student teachers from a class of a university in central China participated in the study. The results suggested that in terms of the average density, both intragroup and intergroup interaction networks were high-density ones. However, the number of interactions within each group was uneven. The student teachers had different reciprocity in intragroup and intergroup discussions. Their social knowledge construction behavioral patterns showed different characteristics in different stages of the multi-layered interaction activity. The questionnaire survey and interview data further revealed that though the student teachers built up collaborative learning awareness to some extent, their collective agency still has space to be improved. The authors conclude with some insights into the online collaborative learning in sustainable teachers’ professional development.