Social knowledge construction across metaverse and chat collaboration: An epistemic network analysis of sequential hybrid learning

As immersive technologies and asynchronous communication tools are increasingly combined in collaborative learning, limited attention has been given to how synchronous and asynchronous phases are associated with different patterns of social knowledge construction (SKC). This study examined discourse patterns across synchronous metaverse and asynchronous chat phases in sustainable development goal-oriented collaborative learning. Seventy undergraduates from Taiwan and Indonesia, organized into 14 groups of exactly five students, participated in a four-week intercultural project. All groups sequentially completed metaverse-based collaboration using Gather Town or ZEP, followed by asynchronous LINE chat. Discourse was analyzed using a revised Interaction Analysis Model, epistemic network analysis (ENA), and group-level paired-samples tests. The metaverse phase showed significantly more information sharing, whereas chat showed significantly more negotiation and co-construction. Social and coordination-oriented discourse remained prominent in both phases. ENA identified stronger negotiation–application connections in chat and stronger social–information-sharing connections in the metaverse phase. The principal network pattern was retained in sensitivity models excluding the prevalent social and coordination-oriented category and expanding the moving stanza from two to four turns. Because the phase order was fixed, the findings represent joint order-and-modality-associated patterns rather than causal modality effects. The study demonstrates the value of examining both the frequency and connectivity of coded discourse moves in sequential hybrid learning. Pedagogically, the findings support temporal orchestration in which synchronous immersive interaction establishes social grounding and asynchronous discussion extends negotiation and application, provided that appropriate bridging supports connect the two phases.