Gender differences in online collaborative learning groups promoting affective education and social capital

This paper reports the results of a study aimed to establish whether the amount and types of conflicts vary in all male, all female and mixed gender groups working in asynchronous collaborative learning online settings. Sixty psychology majors were divided into three groups conducted online by the same teacher. The study show that the levels of participation in the three groups varied in relation to gender composition. Further the results evidenced all female group did have more conflicts then male and mixed groups, but primarily they did not have interpersonal. The female groups´ conflicts seem to be related to goal-oriented process of work.