Roles emerging during the knowledge construction process in collaborative learning: Does a generative AI-support chatbot matter?

Students’ emerging roles in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) are crucial in revealing what learning characteristics and states students present during their collaborative knowledge construction. Previous researchers have unveiled the fact that pedagogical scaffoldings such as AI chatbots play a pivotal role in students’ role emerging, but with the prevalence of generative AI (GAI), there is also an urgent need to investigate whether GAI chatbots influence students’ emerging roles during the knowledge construction process in collaborative learning. Therefore, this study conducted a quasi-experiment, using an integration of cluster analysis, chi-square test, case analysis, and content analysis to investigate whether and how a GAI chatbot affected students’ emerging roles in their online collaborative knowledge construction. Results demonstrated statistical significance that the GAI chatbot and the traditional static scripts did not have a distinct difference in students’ emerging roles. However, qualitative data showed that the GAI chatbot had an impact on the allocation of roles and that there were perceptual differences in how students with the same roles experienced the writing process and collaborative atmosphere under different support conditions. The study will provide insights into how GAI chatbots can be adapted for future development and application in a collaborative learning context with consideration of students’ roles.