An exploration of how first year students are inducted into their discipline's academic discourses

The aim of this phenomenographic study was to investigate how first year students are inducted into the academic literacies of their discipline as this is often identified as a contributing factor to student experience. The study involved interviewing 35 students and five lecturers from a study program in an Australian university. The findings revealed: 1) there was disparity between different stakeholders' expectations about the learning and teaching needs of students in Higher Education; 2) not all first year students had the expected academic literacies to engage in the discourses of their discipline; 3) scaffolding of disciplinary literacies was not being undertaken consistently; and 4) lecturers were uncertain about the level of scaffolding that should be provided to first year students.