University Students Are "Free Range Learners"

Researcher Glenda Morgan reports that many university students are "free range learners." As cited by Chronicle reporter Marc Parry, students search the Internet for additional resources to supplement those assigned by their professor. Parry cites Morgan's description of student behavior: "It’s almost like they [the students] want to find the content by themselves."

Based on this research, I wonder if it might be useful if student are surveyed at the close of a course as to whether unassigned resources contributed to their success. Such a survey may disclose if the students are using inaccurate resources, or it may uncover resources which are superior to the assigned text.

-DD