A Qualitative Content Analysis of "Problem Students": How Can We Identify and Manage Them?

Abstract

Objectives: Problem students is one of the important issues in medical education. This qualitative study aimed to identify the problem students and the ways for managing these students from the educational experts view. Purposive sampling was used, and data collection continued until data saturation was achieved. The participants were 12 higher education experts and policymakers. Data analysis was performed by the content analysis method based on the Heidegger approach.Results: After data analysis, five main themes and 28 categories, and 164 codes were extracted. The reasons for changing a student to a problem students was: student self-regulation skills, multilayer interactions, curriculumfailure, identification policy and supportive solutions. The results indicated that despite revision in the curriculum, there were shortcomings in identification and management of problem students. This study emphasized that we could identify and manage this type of students with the best approach by faculty development, reviewing the faculty member recruitment, strengthening counseling centers, improving the exams, and screening the students on arrival.