The application of a student engagement framework to the teaching of music education in an e-learning context in one Australian University

The use of e-learning in higher education contexts has continued to expand since its inception, impacting significantly upon access to higher education. Student engagement is similarly emerging as a focus in higher education, as engagement is a prerequisite for effective learning. This paper addresses the ways in which pre-service teacher participants, studying in a fully online, e-learning environment, chose to engage in a music education unit as part of their Bachelor of Education. This paper reports on the application of a student engagement framework to data collected from these participants. The framework, which can be applied to any domain, is comprised of five generic, nonhierarchical elements: personal, academic, intellectual, social, and professional. Data were collected using a multi-method approach (Denzin & Lincoln 1994, Sarantakos 2005) within a constructivist ontology and analysed through inductive category construction (Hatch 2002). The major findings indicate that four elements of the framework were strongly and positively evident; however, data regarding social engagement revealed more polarised results, particularly in the use of discussion boards. Further research, particularly into social engagement in e-learning has the potential to significantly inform developing pedagogies of e-learning in higher education.