Socio-cognitive Regulation Strategies in Cooperative Learning Tasks in Virtual Contexts

This study validates a theoretical framework for identifying social and cognitive regulation strategies employed by students during the process of joint construction of meaning in cooperative tasks in a university's virtual learning environment. The study explored the regulation strategies of five groups of students, during two cooperative tasks. These tasks were based on written argumentation, supported by virtual discussions and its completion was defined through a written report. Through a case study methodology and by means of discourse analysis, three modes of regulation during cooperative tasks: self-, external and co-regulation were identified. Students' interactions revealed how they alternated and combined the use of strategies to regulate the social and the cognitive dimension of their behavior. Moreover, it was possible to identify four models of interaction; which reflected social and cognitive regulation strategies at different stages of cooperative work. We believe this theoretical framework opens up possibilities for educational intervention during the execution of cooperative activities, since it offers clues to evaluate these mechanisms and to promote them.