Collaborative Learning: A Transactional Approach to Examining Collaborative Processes and Outcomes

ABSTRACT Background Research on collaborative learning has long examined processes and outcomes separately, with distinct fields—Computer‐Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL), learning sciences and recently learning analytics—drawing on differing epistemological premises. Integrated analytical accounts connecting collaboration processes to the outcomes of collaboration remain scarce. This special issue addresses that gap by studies of collaborative learning that employ conceptualisations and analytical methods aligned with a transactional approach. Contributions in This Special Issue The issue comprises an editorial, seven empirical studies and two commentaries. Collectively, the studies show that scaffolding collaboration can target reflection, regulation, motivation, knowledge‐object development and learner–technology relations, each mediating transactions differently. Using multimodal and multilayered analytical approaches—including epistemic network analysis, multi‐layered temporal network analysis, sequence mining and multilevel modelling—the contributions examine how tools, artefacts, discourse and motivational states jointly shape learning outcomes across authentic educational settings, from higher education to school and after‐school contexts. The commentaries situate these findings within broader theoretical and methodological debates in CSCL and research that emphasises understanding the relational and situated nature of collaborative learning. Implications for Future Research The authenticity of the studied settings carries implications for data collection, analysis and design for collaborative learning, offering insight for researchers, teachers, learning designers and technology developers. Future research should give attention to the relational, temporal, multimodal aspects combined—that is, employ an integrative approach in the interpretation and revisit conceptualisations that integrate material‐ecological, epistemic‐discursive and motivational‐psychological perspectives on the relationship between collaboration processes and outcomes.