A qualitative method to analyze collaborative patterns of virtual groups

Abstract

This study aims to describe a qualitative method to analyze different patterns of organization that students show during their interaction in a virtual group. Literature review has shown that collaborative patterns have a relationship with knowledge construction. This method involves the analysis of the messages exchanged within the virtual group and the application of five indicators that help to identify these patterns: equality of contributions, distribution of responsibilities, reciprocity, revision of the final report and degree of consensus. Our results show that the procedure is useful for analyzing and identifying how virtual groups are organized. Likewise, as previous studies, three main collaborative patterns were detected: aggregation, integration and addition. Practical implications of these results point out the relevance of guiding the groups not only throughout the task but also in relation to the organizational decisions.