This paper reports research into the student experience of learning through discussions in a blended environment. Third year engineering students studying e-commerce engaged in both face-to-face discussions and online asynchronous discussions as key aspects of their learning experience. Adopting a quantitative methodology, questionnaires were completed by students at the end of their learning experience. The results suggest qualitatively different experiences of learning through discussions. The results show that students who have a deep understanding of how the discussions are related to their learning outcomes tend to approach the discussions in more meaningful ways. In the face-to-face context, their approach emphasizes learning through the experience of others and, in the online environment, their approach emphasizes reflecting on the problems discussed from a variety of perspectives.