Student-framed Inquiry in a Multidisciplinary Bachelor Course at a Dutch University of Applied Sciences

Abstract

When students explore their own open questions, they learn to be proactive and see themselves not only as consumers but also as producers of knowledge. Such student-framed in­ quiry has received less research attention. This article aims to shed light on learning outcomes and effects on students' mind-set and behavior by discussing a course that fosters student-framed inquiry. The one-semester, elective course was open to third-and fourth-year students of various bach-elor's-level programs. A questionnaire was sent to alumni af­ ter 11 iterations of the course. The results showed that the course fostered the development of skills in innovation, net­ working, and cross-boundary collaboration and learning, as well as enhanced personal and professional development. Students became more proactive, less afraid to contact peo­ ple and take steps to make things happen. The results suggest that courses for inquiry-based learning should include not only more traditional, discipline-oriented research skills and methods but also student-framed methods for design and discovery.