Cultures of learning

Abstract

AbstractAustralian university students are characterised in some quarters, and by employer groups especially, as lacking a high facility with literacy skills. But what literacy skills do students actually need for tertiary study in Australia today? What expectations do students and teachers have about learning the particular literacy skills needed to acquire, evaluate and convey information in their discipline? And to what extent are traditional notions of the culture of learning in Australian universities as ‘critically active’ reflected in practice? This paper compares course requirements and student reading practices in a selection of units in Business, Engineering, Health Science and Social Science and the findings challenge prevailing ideas of what constitutes ‘tertiary literacy’ in Australian universities.