Artikel
Learning strategies as predictor for anatomy test performance of undergraduate medical students
Suche in Medline nach
Autoren
Veröffentlicht: | 14. September 2022 |
---|
Gliederung
Text
Objective: Self-regulated learning [1] plays a major role in higher education. It is expected that medical students organize new information, arrange time for studying, and allocate available resources to prepare properly for their exams. Learning strategies are influenced by various factors and undergo changes in early medical education [2]. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of students’ learning strategies on their performance in an anatomy test.
Method: Data were gathered with an online survey from a total of N=108 undergraduate medical students (68.5% female, mean age M=21.5 years). Learning strategies were assessed with constructs drawn from the LIST inventory (Learning Strategies of University Students) [3]. The 39 items employed reasonable reliability (Cronbach’s α=.80), relating to the three dimensions cognitive, metacognitive, and resource-related strategies. To assess participants’ anatomy knowledge, students answered a 30-item multiple-choice anatomy test (Cronbach’s α=.97) relating to the current topic of the anatomy course.
Results: A k-means cluster analysis revealed three groups of students differing in their self-reported use of learning strategies. An ANOVA with the clusters as independent and test performance as dependent variable showed no significant effect F(2,105)=2.922, p=.058, partial η²=.053. However, the probability value near the chosen significance level and visible descriptive differences in test performance between the clusters (cluster one M=16.21, SD=7.05, cluster two M=20.18, SD=5.78, and cluster three M=18.70, SD=6.64) prompted pairwise comparisons and post-hoc tests. These hinted inconclusively at possible significant differences in test performance between cluster one and two (pairwise p=.018; Tukey HSD p=.047; Games-Howell p=.050; Bonferroni p=.055).
A stepwise linear regression identified cognitive learning strategies (β=.269) and motivation (β=-.277) as significant predictors for test performance (R²=.149, p=.003). Moreover, motivation was correlated with the use of metacognitive strategies, r(108)=.255, p=.008, and the use of resource-related strategies r(108)=.435, p<.001.
Discussion and take home messages: The study results indicate that students employing mostly cognitive learning strategies achieved a higher test performance. We explain this finding with the type of questions used in the anatomy test, which were mostly assessing factual knowledge. Students who reported higher motivation employed more metacognitive and resource-related strategies, which, however, did not benefit them in terms of test performance. The inconclusive probability values close to the chosen significance level speak for replicating the study with a larger sample size. Overall, our study stresses the relevance of learning strategies for self-regulated anatomy learning of medical students.
References
- 1.
- Greveson GC, Spencer JA. Self-directed learning-the importance of concepts and contexts. Med Educ. 2005;39(4):348-349. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2929.2005.02115.x
- 2.
- Fabry G, Giesler M. Novice medical students: Individual patterns in the use of learning strategies and how they change during the first academic year. GMS Z Med Ausbild. 2012;29(4):Doc56. DOI: 10.3205/zma000826
- 3.
- Schiefele U, Wild KP, Winteler A. Lernaufwand und Elaborationsstrategien als Mediatoren der Beziehung von Studieninteresse und Studienleistung. Z Pädag Psychol. 1995;9(3/4):181-188.