This study examined students' internal management of their cognitive processing in an interactive online class. A mixed methods approach was used to explore students' strategy use in online discussions. The focus is on examining individual knowledge construction through active cognitive engagement, rather than the social interactions, in the online community. The findings suggest that a key difference between learners who engaged in deep processing of the content and those whose engagement was more shallow lay in their use of metacognitive and affective strategies rather than cognitive strategies. Both environmental and learner characteristics that might influence students' use of learning strategies are discussed. Suggestions for course design are offered. (Contains 5 tables.)