Approach to learning of medical students in a Caribbean medical school

Shankar, Pathiyil Ravi; Balasubramanium, Ramanan; Dwivedi, Neelam

doi:10.5959/eimj.v6i2.235

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…To date, limited studies were conducted to investigate the effect of learning styles on the educational performance of medical science students in the Caribbean region. A study was conducted in the Xavier University School of Medicine, Aruba using the ASSIST questionnaire and found that students mainly used deep and strategic learning, which is also consistent with findings (36). Another study conducted in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine campus using the ASSIST questionnaire to examine the motivational factors and approaches to learning of medical students identified that motivation to study was significantly and positively associated with deep and strategic approaches to learning and negatively associated with and surface approach to learning (37 (38).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Does Study Skill Matter? A Descriptive Study on Undergraduate Health Profession Students in the University of the West Indies

Dwarika-Bhagat¹,

Sa²,

Majumder³

2017

EIMJ

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Introduction: Academic success requires students to evolve good study skills, time management and reducing distractions. As students in medical education are adult learners, it is expected that students need to be effective learners and should use self-directed strategy to find out the necessary information. Therefore, the teaching learning process in medical schools should encourage and motivate students to improve their self-directed capabilities. This body of research was conducted to identify the different study habits among students from five undergraduate health disciplines. Method: The Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) questionnaire was administered to 367 students from five undergraduate health disciplines selected through convenient sampling. Results: The most popular definition of learning picked up by the respondents (73.3%) was "able to use the information". Majority of the students were found to be strategic/deep learners. Male (vs. female students) and nursing students (vs. others) opted deep approach of learning. Students who are staying at home mainly used strategic/deep approach. Deep style was adopted least by the dentistry students, whereas the strategic style was used least by the veterinary students. One way ANOVA reveals that types of school in which the students are enrolled has significant effect on all the subscales of approach to studying either at 0.05 or 0.01 levels except "interest in ideas" and "organised studying". Conclusion: Students from different schools used varied approaches to their study and understanding of learning and as a whole student mainly adopted strategic and deep approaches. Students with a deep approach usually achieve a higher academic performance and motivating students towards a deep approach should be main aim of the medical science curricula. Further studies of learning styles in other medical schools in the Caribbean are required to examine whether there are specific benefits to particular styles for certain disciplines.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Does Study Skill Matter? A Descriptive Study on Undergraduate Health Profession Students in the University of the West Indies

Dwarika-Bhagat¹,

Sa²,

Majumder³

2017

EIMJ

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“…The study findings have commonalities with other peer-reviewed work carried out among comparable populations of medical students, which have also displayed a predominant deep approach to learning (12,7). However, there are some intricate details past questions, unchanged.…”

Section: Approachessupporting

confidence: 72%

“…The strategic approach to learning identifies that group of learners who set decisive learning goals at the outset, develop and adhere to a plan to accomplish these goals (7). It is a deliberate decision borne out of intrinsic motivation.…”

Section: Study Setting and Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This variation exists among medical schools in Ghana and the situation is not too different globally. In the same institution, the system of instruction could be modified from time to time for a variety of purposes (7). The inspiration for this study has been to uncover the unique experiences of clinicalyear students of SMS-KNUST as they approach the learning of the predominantly subject-based curriculum (11) they are presented with.…”

Section: Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Student Learning Approaches in A Ghanaian Medical School

Mensah¹,

Argyriadis²,

Arkoh³

2019

EIMJ

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Despite admitting the best of qualified applicants, the approaches of these students to learning in Ghanaian medical schools has not been sufficiently examined. We sought to examine medical students' approach to learning, the factors influencing their choice of learning approach, and their motivations to continue in a particular approach. An interpretive qualitative study was undertaken using a purposive sample of 10 medical students in their clinical years of training at the School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (SMS-KNUST). Separate semi-structured interviews were conducted for the participants followed by thematic analysis of the data. Students were found to pursue understanding and recall capability when learning. Participants also portrayed considerable preoccupation with examination demands and performance, which we termed the "assessment complex". Some underlined the almost indispensable role of memorisation in their study of medicine. It is our observation that when faced with the decision on an approach to learning, students of SMS-KNUST would settle for "what works best" for them under the given circumstances. Student obsession with test results sometimes influenced the adoption of surface learning.

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“…This trend raises questions about how learners perceive the disciplines of medicine and dentistry. Shankar et al 42 . have shown that students who adopt a DAL tend to view learning as individual development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Most surface learning in the third year: Dental student learning approaches and implications for curriculum and assessment

Lee

Kim

Choi

2020

Journal of Dental Education

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Context Dental schools seek to educate students to become inclined toward self‐directed, lifelong learning, an important mindset for healthcare professionals that may be linked to deep versus surface learning approaches. Students using a deep learning approach are more intrinsically motivated and actively engage in higher‐order thinking, while those using a surface learning approach are more extrinsically motivated and aim for passive learning. Objectives Because student learning approaches can be influenced by a wide variety of learning experiences, we sought to understand how student approaches to learning differ by year in dental school and are related to academic achievement. Methods A total of 244 students in a 4‐year dental school program in South Korea voluntarily participated in this study. We collected data on school year and academic achievement, and approaches to learning of participants using the validated Study Processes Questionnaire to assess learning approach, which included the constructs of deep motive, deep strategy, surface motive, and surface strategy. Results We conducted 3 sets of statistical analyses and found that most students adopted a deep approach to learning (DAL) in their first and second years (Y1 and Y2), with third‐year students (Y3) showing heavy dependence on a surface approach to learning (SAL) and sharp drops in intrinsic motives. Student approaches to learning were not significantly related to academic achievement. In the first 2 years of dental school, students tended to adopt a DAL, and viewed their learning as personal growth and their profession as necessitating deep intellectual inquiry. Conclusions In the third year, the change from a DAL to a SAL coincided with entry to clinical training. The lack of integration of biomedical science (Y1 and Y2) and clinical science (Y3 and Y4), and increased stress in the initial clinical context may account for this difference. The poor correlation between a DAL and high achievement may indicate a need for change in assessment methods. This study hopes to stimulate reflection regarding student learning approaches and educational efforts that prepare future dentists for lifelong learning.

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Approach to learning of medical students in a Caribbean medical school

Cited by 11 publications

References 1 publication

Does Study Skill Matter? A Descriptive Study on Undergraduate Health Profession Students in the University of the West Indies

Does Study Skill Matter? A Descriptive Study on Undergraduate Health Profession Students in the University of the West Indies

Student Learning Approaches in A Ghanaian Medical School

Most surface learning in the third year: Dental student learning approaches and implications for curriculum and assessment

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