“Initially, We Were Just Names on a Computer Screen”: Designing Engagement in Online Teacher Education

Adult Learners’ Perspectives on Their Engagement in a Hybrid Learning Postgraduate Programme

“…The framework consists of five elements that are fundamental to how students engage and that influence their success at university. These elements are personal, academic, intellectual, social, and professional engagementwith elements equally important and often intersecting one another (Pittaway, 2012;Pittaway & Moss, 2014). A short description of each element follows as a brief background for the focus of the current research.…”

“…Students have specific experiences, expectations, assumptions, skills, and knowledge and personalities that they could apply to succeed in their studies. Personal engagement includes not only students' believing in their own abilities to succeed in their studies, but also other attributes, such as goal-setting, self-efficacy, awareness of intention, resilience, and persistence (Pittaway & Moss, 2014). On the other hand, lecturers must similarly be personally engaged in their work with their students.…”

“…Academic engagement entails the identification and management of both student and staff expectations in the formal face-to-face (classroom) environment and outside of it (Pittaway & Moss, 2014). Students must take control of their studies through planning, monitoring, and evaluating their learning.…”

“…Critical thinking and reading widely in their field enable students to intellectually engage in terms of ideas and concepts in their discipline, as well as political, ethical, and social issues within this context (Pittaway & Moss, 2014). Intellectual engagement also highlights students' awareness of their own values, beliefs, and attitudes regarding the disciplines to which they are exposed.…”

“…Social engagement allows students to extend their own beliefs and perspectives to interpret the world in different ways (Pittaway & Moss, 2014) and a degree of maturity is needed to develop relationships. Students should be open to building relationships both face-to-face, as well as in online learning communities (Stanford-Bowers, 2008).…”