The relationships between the medical learners’ motivations and strategies to learning medicine and learning outcomes

Abstract

Background: One of the strongly theorized areas of research associated with learning outcomes has been the approaches to learning. Few studies have been focused on examining the relationship between the approaches to learning medicine (ALM) and learning outcomes. Objectives: The objectives were: (1) to conduct psychometric testing of the ALM questionnaire; and (2) to examine the association between medical learners’ ALM and learning outcomes. Design: We developed the ALM questionnaire which was a modification of the Revised Learning Process questionnaire. We defined the learning outcome of each house officer as the class rank in his/her graduating class. Exploratory factor analysis was used to examine the factor structure of the ALM questionnaire. We conducted Pearson’s and Spearman’s Rank correlation coefficients for examining the linear relationships between two continuous variables, and between a continuous variable and a categorical variable, respectively. Stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis with backward elimination was undertaken to examine the correlation between the ALM and the learning outcome. Results: A house officer with deep strategies (relating multiple ideas and truly understanding the course content) or surface motivations (aim for qualification) was more likely to have a better learning outcome as indicated by a better class rank based on his/her academic performance. Furthermore, a house officer with surface learning strategies (minimizing the study scope to merely passing the examination) to learning medicine was more likely to have an unfavorable class rank. Conclusions: This study represents the first report of the correlation between house officers’ ALM and learning outcomes. House officers with deep strategies were more likely to have better learning outcomes. In particular, house officers with a surface motive to learning medicine, i.e., aiming for qualification, were surprisingly correlated with better learning outcomes.

Construct and predictive validity of the Strength of Motivation for Medical School-Revised (SMMS-R) questionnaire: a French validation study

“…We used linear regression analyses (mean difference and 95% confidence intervals) to determine whether SMMS-R-FR total scale and subscales predicted Deep Learning and Surface Learning approaches, as reported in previous studies of motivation and learning approaches. 7,8 We checked the usual linear regression assumptions (normality, homoscedasticity, autocorrelation of residuals and multicollinearity).…”

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

“…Following IRB approval we gained data on school year and GPA from school administrators, and we administered a modified version of the Study Processes Questionnaire (SPQ) at the end of the school year. The SPQ is widely used by researchers to measure student approaches to learning at all grade levels of medical and dental school, 26,27 including undergraduate clinical education 28,29 and postgraduate education 30 . The SPQ originally was developed by Biggs et al 31 .…”

Teachers’ Perspectives on Factors Affecting EFL Learners’ Course Learning Outcomes: A Case Study

“…With regard to the importance of learning English for students, 78% REAP and 73% IEAP teachers think that learning English is important to their students. The following figure 1 and 2 provide the details of the perspectives of REAP and IEAP teachers: The importance of framing CLOs There is no denying the fact the way CLOs are framed needs to be well understood in a bid to avoid any future problems (Schoepp, 2019;Liang et al, 2018;Ling-Yee, 2011). With regard to the importance of how the CLOs are framed, in terms of how measureable and achievable they are in learning English, 78% REAP and 73% IEAP teachers think that the framing of CLOs is equally important.…”