RRL (FOREIGN) 2023 Supporting engagement and retention of online and blended-learning students: A qualitative study from an Australian University - PMC Student engagement, retention, and attrition are interwoven issues, with retention and attrition sometimes being described as the problem, and engagement as a potential way to address that problem. Each of these concepts is complex. Scholars have used various terms in their definitions to reflect their particular perspectives. For instance, terminologies such as ‘connection’, ‘involvement’, ‘interaction’, and ‘integration’ can be observed in descriptions of the term engagement. Axelson and Flick ( 2010, p. 1), for example, define student engagement as “…how involved or interested students appear to be in their learning and how connected they are to their classes, their institutions, and each other”. From this definition, one can identify elements of the behavioural, social and cognitive involvement of learners, representing some of the most commonly recognised types of engagement in research (Kelly et al., 2022). Acknowledging the heterogenous nature of student engagement, Axelson and Flick ( 2010) and Kahu ( 2013) point out that, in addition to the more observable behaviour, it is vital that the less observable cognitive and emotional realms are also taken into consideration. This is similarly reflected in research which examined student engagement from other aspects associated with the learning process, including emotional (Bensimon, 2009) and cultural engagement (Hess et al., 2007). Evolved from earlier attempts at defining student engagement, recent studies have produced more comprehensive conceptual frameworks, incorporating multiple elements, examining relationships between these elements, and developing indicators to measure them. Some of these frameworks were developed specifically for online learning contexts. For instance, one that has been widely adopted is the Community of Inquiry framework by Garrison et al. ( 2000), which proposes that engagement is promoted through the development of three distinct types of presence: cognitive, social and teaching presence. In another study, Redmond et al. ( 2018) identified three commonly mentioned areas in the relevant literature: behavioural, emotional, and cognitive engagement. They developed a conceptual framework by adding collaborative and emotional engagement to the existing three domains and producing a set of indicators for each of these five domains (Redmond et al., 2018).