Students are selectively negligent, and successful students neglect the right stuff (Gibbs, 2014) highlights the pressing time facing students, which forces them to be highly selective. Is it really the case that students are being strategically selective or is it laziness? Are incoming students not prepared to combat the stress and workload of higher education? Is lacking quality assurance oversight in curriculum development, delivery, and assessment causing “tells” or “signals” of irrelevant course material that is not evaluated or in line with strategic learning outcomes?

 

In terms of undergraduate education in Australia, Peat (2011, p. 53) claim, “Many of the students arrive with an expectation of being spoon-fed, having been conditioned to using a surface approach to learning in high school.” Similarly, Thompson (2003) found students conducting research chose the path of least resistance (in this case the internet) instead of conducting an appropriate review of literature that would include books, textbooks, grey literature, and other hard to find information. Are we conditioning our youth (because of the fast-paced world we live in) to be deliberate and selective? I do not think it is simply a case of being overwhelmed with information, rather how students are being taught and information presented.

 

My current research explores the adoption of Open Educational Resource (OER) Textbooks in entrepreneurship courses.

 

• Gibbs, G. (2014) ‘53. Powerful Ideas All Teachers Should Know About’, Students are selectively negligent, and successful students neglect the right stuff, www.SEDA.ac.uk, pp. 1-3.

• Peat, M. (2011) 'Online Self-Assessment Materials: Do These Make a Difference to Student Learning?', Research in Learning Technology, 8(2).

• Thompson, C. (2003) 'Information Illiterate or Lazy: How College Students Use the Web for Research', portal: Libraries and the Academy, 3(2), pp. 259-268.