Understanding how collaborative groups construct knowledge through joint
activity requires investigating under what conditions collaboration is successful
and when intended learning outcomes are achieved. This is by no means an easy
task. For example, collaborative learning involves individuals as group members
but is also concerned with activities such as the negotiation and sharing of
meanings that are realized interactively by the group members. Kirshner et al
(2004) argues that in a collaborative learning environment individual and group
level variables mediate the learning process and therefore predefining the
conditions for learning is almost impossible.These concerns require that westudy learners not only as individuals but focus on what is taking place in their
interactions.