Abstract: Computer-mediated communication (CMC) has been widely used to engage learners in academic discourse for knowledge construction. Various studies have attempted to investigate factors that impact the quality of online discussion via CMC. This study investigated the importance of another factor: learning strategies. Several studies in classroom settings have shown the influence of learning strategies on students’ deep processing, yet their influence on learning in CMC have not been well investigated. This study therefore aimed to examine students’ internal management of cognitive processing in online learning. A mixed method was used to examine students’ learning process in online discussion via CMC and explore their strategy use to engage in deep cognitive processing for knowledge construction. The findings suggested that the deep processors used both metacognitive and affective strategies extensively, although did not report significantly more use of elaboration and organizational strategies that are regarded as deep approaches to learning, as compared to the surface processors.