First year undergraduate students in the hot seat: co-constructors of knowledge and inquiry in Higher Education

Research skills and inquiry promote independence and autonomy of the learner, yet these expectations of HE are not always made explicit to the student body. Informal discussions have recurring themes that reflect students are failing to read enough. While students in later stages of their study are indicating they wished that they had read more. In an effort to becoming increasingly ‘student-centered’, perhaps there has been an element of overlooking learner inquiry, engagement and ownership (Ramsden, 2001).