In this thesis, I explore how classroom processes in the active learning classrooms at UNC Charlotte impact group collaboration. Using an analysis that draws on ideas from Robbie Davis-Floyd, Richard Quantz and Peter Magolda, I argue that the processes by which students are resocialized into a new learning environment and transition into pre-assigned groups impact their ability to collaborate with fellow group members. There are several implications of this study. First, ritual can be an effective means of understanding the symbolic meaning of classroom processes that are used to transmit new beliefs, norms and cultural expectations to students in a new learning environment. Following from Foucault's work on governmentality, findings also indicate that those with power and authority in the classroom aren't the only agents of socialization. While students are being socialized to understand what it means to be a collaborative learner in the active learning environment, they are also socializing each other to what it means to learn collaboratively in a learning community. Finally, results indicate that the term 'collaboration' itself is not static but rather a dynamic concept and that alone can affect how we study collaboration in an educational setting.