How Multimedia Influence Group Interaction in STEM Education An Epistemic Network Analysis for Online Synchronous Collaborative Learning

This study is mainly based on epistemic network analysis (ENA), and through the analysis of interactive behaviors of 131 learners in an online collaborative learning environment. Participants came from three classes and they were assigned different multimedia materials (interactive, video and text version) to complete a group worksheet through online discussion. By con-ducting epistemic network analysis, differences between group interaction of three classes were found. it is shown that class using interactive version material communicate more harmoniously and equally with each other, which is in line with the expectation of collaborative learning. Meanwhile, class using text version material formed a negative atmosphere in which members had unequal communication. In the end, we compared ENA to lag sequential analysis (LSA) and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of its application in the field of learning assessment: ENA can avoid the impact of order on the processing of speech data in online synchronous discussions by segmenting conversations by stanza, so as to be a useful supplement to LSA.