The flexible-learning approach in higher education music history courses

This study aims to investigate whether the flexible-learning approach may or may not foster student engagement in learning music history at the tertiary level. This approach provides students with a certain degree of autonomy in terms of deciding what to learn and how that learning should be assessed. Hence, it is highly learner-centred and deemed effective in cultivating students’ learning interests. The flexible-learning approach has received global attention in recent years, particularly in Europe, where both policymakers and teachers in higher education have borrowed it for the purposes of curriculum planning and course design. To determine the impact of the flexible-learning approach on music history education, this study employed a retrospective post-pre survey in order to measure students’ learning engagement. The results demonstrate that a flexible-learning approach can effectively enhance students’ motivation in learning, implying that a single music history course does not need to stick to the traditional linear design, but should provide multiple trajectories for students to learn according to their interests and abilities. Copyright © 2023 The Education University of Hong Kong.