Investigating different patterns of student engagement with blended learning environments in Australian business education: Implications for design and practice

This research reports on a diverse student audience engaging in an Australian university’s undergraduate commerce program core unit which was offered across three separate geographic campus locations and online. The research extends upon work undertaken on student engagement in online settings and lies in the domain of blended learning design and practice in the Australian higher education business context. The research adopted a dual-period surveying approach aimed at comparing patterns of student engagement within a major business subject offered in two different trimesters in one academic year. The survey analysis compared student perceptions of engagement with the subject and identified significant variations in patterns of engagement based on key background and demographic factors. Findings, inter alia, are presented across seven major student engagement dimensions as applied to the interplay between online and located/campus learning (i.e. Online Active Learning, Online Social Interaction, Online Collaboration, Online Teaching, Online Assessment, Online Relevance, and Online Contact with Staff). Implications for blended learning design, eLearning and practice in such complex environments involving diverse student audiences are examined.