Introductory physics courses are being transformed in many ways as physics education strives to better prepare students for continuing studies and the workforce. One particular transformation being adopted is the implementation of "collaborative learning environments", wherein students work together in small groups, and instructors teach by guiding the students as they solve problems, rather than disseminating information as in a traditional lecture. Collaborative learning environments are complex and rich with opportunities to study the teaching and learning of physics, and this dissertation was motivated by the need to understand how both students and instructors engage in these environments. When examining a system as complex as collaborative learning environments, it is necessary to conduct research from several perspectives. The research presented in this dissertation accomplishes this by investigating the perspectives of both instructors and a students, and by considering expanding scopes of analysis.The first study presented investigates collaborative learning environments from the instructor perspective with a narrow scope. Through the analysis of interviews with undergraduate teaching assistants (known as learning assistants) working in a collaborative learning environment in introductory physics, it identifies the ways they approach teaching problems that require their students to model physical phenomena computationally. The results indicate varying levels of sophistication in how learning assistants perceive and utilize the computational problems in their teaching, with implications for how learning assistants are trained and supported.The second study presented shifts from the instructor perspective to the student perspective, with a relatively narrow scope of analysis. It examines specifically how students reason conceptually in collaborative learning environments in introductory physics, and uses the construct of epistemic games, which are emergent, structured problem-solving strategies that students may be observed to employ. The results describe the identification of a new group-level epistemic game comprised of both individual and collective actions that a group of students may take when reasoning through conceptual problems.The third and final study presented continues to focus on the student perspective, but applies the most expansive scope by considering the ways that students engage in collaborative learning environments in introductory physics that go beyond conceptual reasoning. It presents the development of a new framework for understanding student engagement with collaborative learning environments that also attends to the tone of students' interactions and the structure of their discussions. The results indicate that the framework is flexible enough to be productively applied in diverse types of collaborative learning environments, and offers instructors a practical tool to understand and develop their classrooms.Together, the three studies presented in this dissertation provide a multifaceted view of collaborative learning environments in introductory physics courses that offers new insight into these complex environments, with practical utility for informing instructional choices and best serving students.
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