Discussion Questions

Are you a learner? Are you a consumer of your education?

The quiz you have just completed indicates which one of four student types matches your current attitudes towards university based on your learner and consumer identities. 


Now use the following discussion questions to reflect (individually or with others) on your results, and the impact of different student types on approaches to studying and academic performance. You could also read about the latest research on student identities that informs this quiz (see Resources page). 

Questions for discussion

Here are some suggested questions for discussion (revised 25th Sept 2023).


1. What were your reasons for attending university? Do these reasons relate to the student type Customer, Striver, Thinker, or Undecided?  

2. Think of a time when you really enjoyed learning something. Can you describe it and explain why it was enjoyable?

3. How does the Thinker type differ from the Customer type? Consider these different student types in terms of (a) their attitudes towards learning (b) their study behaviours 

4. Consider the similarities and differences between the 'service' provided by your institution and other types of customer services such as restaurants. What are the roles of educators and how do these contrast with the roles of restaurant staff?

5. To what extent do you think that your university interacts with you as if you are a customer? Is this similar or different to how your educators or fellow students interact with you? 

6. What are your responsibilities as students to ensure that you get the best learning experience?  

7. Students with a strong learner identity have higher grades than students with a strong consumer identity (Bunce, Baird & Jones, 2017). Why might this be? (Hint: see this short blog post by Bunce, 2020). 

8. Imagine you are meeting a new student. What advice would you give them to help them make the most of their learning experience?


Optional additional question: The strength of your learner/consumer identities will change over time. What factors might influence those changes? In particular, consider what parts of your university experience might strengthen your learner identity. 



Make a note of your scores and profile. You could return to the quiz later in your studies to see if your scores have changed. 

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