Do modes of presence matter? regulation and participation in graduate students’ hybrid synchronous group-based collaboration

STRUCTURED Abstract Background Synchronous hybrid education offers flexibility and accessibility, but can also pose challenges for students in regulating group work and ensuring equal participation in collaborative activities. Understanding how students address the challenges of regulation and participation in hybrid collaboration settings is critical for designing and supporting students for hybrid education. Aims This exploratory study examines how regulation strategies and verbal participation manifest across online and physical modes of presence in a collaborative project, and how students address challenges that emerge during hybrid synchronous group work. Sample Four graduate-level student groups (16 students) participating in a 14-week hybrid legal education course. Methods A multimodal exploratory mixed-methods approach combining Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA), speaking time analysis, and qualitative content analysis of group verbal and non-verbal interaction. Results Findings revealed significant differences between the two modes of presence. Participants in the online mode engaged more in self-monitoring, self-planning, and group-monitoring behaviours. In contrast, participants in the physical mode focused more on task coordination, group-planning, and subject-matter discussions. Physical participants dominated discussions in terms of speaking time and turn-taking, while online participants contributed fewer, but task-oriented and deliberate, turns. For two students who switched between modes, participation, measured by speaking time, remained relatively stable, suggesting that, in these cases, participation may be shaped more by individual traits than by the mode of presence. Groups employing adaptive strategies, such as shared visual aids, successfully mitigated challenges in hybrid collaboration. Conclusions This study's findings offer exploratory insights relevant for both research and practice, providing guidance and tools for collaborative learning in hybrid settings, and ideas for thoughtful design of hybrid learning environments that enable productive collaboration.