Online Learning Engagement Among Music Education Students: A Case Study of Zhengzhou Normal University, China

Abstract

Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19, online teaching and learning with the integration of "Internet + Smart" technology has emerged as significant ways for higher education at home and abroad. In the context of the epidemic, online teaching has become one of “the new normal”. The essay is aimed at exploring the factors in music education undergraduates’ online learning engagement in blended learning and consequently improving their online learning engagement. A survey of the learning engagement of undergraduate music education students who conducted online learning in 2020 at Zhengzhou Normal University in Henan Province, China. It is found that college students, during the epidemic, had a moderate to high level of learning engagement, a high level of behavioral engagement, and a low level of cognitive engagement. The level of learning engagement varies with gender, grade, place of residence or equipment. Among those factors, student individual factors are more remarkable, compared with external ones. Motivation has enormous explanatory power, so triggering and maintaining motivation is a crucial way to improve students' engagement in online learning. Based on the findings of the study, the author provides suggestions as to how to improve the online learning engagement of music education undergraduates.