Students’ Learning Engagement in Face-to-Face and Virtual Learning Space
Tin T. Dang, PhD
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education


In the contemporary higher education landscape, the demand for well-rounded graduates capable of life-long learning in a globalized world is paramount. Learner autonomy, the ability for students to take charge of their own learning, plays a critical role in this context. This presentation is to investigate the exercise of learner autonomy by understanding students’ learning engagement in the physical classroom setting and virtual learning space.

In the face-to-face classroom setting, five distinct learning engagement patterns have been identified, namely disengaged, compliant, silent, engaged, and busy (Schnitzler et al., 2021). Disengaged students exhibit low participation in classroom activities, with very little interest in raising their voice, and report minimal cognitive and emotional engagement. Compliant students engage in higher participation, with some interested in voicing their opinions, but still report cognitive and emotional engagement slightly below average. The Silent students participate very little in raising their voice but report a high level of cognitive and emotional engagement, distinguishing them from other patterns. The fourth pattern, Engaged includes those who display a high level of cognitive and emotional engagement while their intention to raise their voice is moderate. The Busy students are characterized by very high intention to participate in the classroom activities and high cognitive and emotional engagement. 

In the virtual learning space, students have been suggested to employ three engagement patterns, namely task-oriented, content-oriented, and community-oriented (Dang & Robertson, 2010). These patterns shed light on students’ behaviors within virtual spaces and offer educators valuable insights into how to promote effective online learning engagement. Task-oriented students prioritize the efficient completion of assignments and fulfilling course requirements, often engaging with the learning management system (LMS) at a peripheral level. These participants tend to have regular postings as the assignment requires, which is different from other types of learners, who do not appear to make posting contributions on a regular basis (Pawan et al., 2003). 

It has been indicated that different patterns of students’ engagement are reflected by their different tendencies in regulating their own learning activities. The exercise of learner autonomy can be mediated by psychological, situational, and interactive factors in particular contexts. Therefore, to enhance their engagement, educators should design tasks that necessitate student interactions in a specific learning context, providing opportunities for them to collaborate and actively contribute to the learning community.

References

Dang, T. T., & Robertson, M. (2010). Pedagogical lessons from students’ participation in Web 2.0. TESOL in Context, 20(2), 5-26. https://www.learntechlib.org/p/52471

Pawan, F., Paulus, T. M., Yalcin, S., & Chang, C.-F. (2003). Online learning: Patterns of engagement and interaction among in-service teachers. Language Learning and Technology, 7(3), 119-140. 

Schnitzler, K., Holzberger, D., & Seidel, T. (2021). All better than being disengaged: Student engagement patterns and their relations to academic self-concept and achievement. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 36(3), 627-652. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-020-00500-6