Students' reading in higher education: Challenges and ways forward

Abstract

This article deals with reading as a significant challenge for higher education students. The study aimed to understand students' experiences of challenges in reading during their first three semesters at university and how they handled these challenges. It is a qualitative case study built on in-depth interviews with nine people studying to be primary teachers and their diaries about reading experiences in the academy. The findings show that students experience considerable anxiety and stress regarding finding enough time for reading tasks and comprehending what they read. They soon discover that extensive reading is a prerequisite for writing, questioning, and active participation in lectures and seminars. Despite experiences of lack of support from their teachers, most students identify new approaches and strategies to develop their reading, moving from passive to active engagement with texts. The findings implicate that continuous support from disciplinary experts is crucial for students' reading and writing development. Such support includes inviting students to participate in disciplinary practices, its tools, concepts, ways of thinking, genres used, approaches to reading, and what it means to reason, analyze, and argue in a discipline.