Cognitive Flexibility Levels, Learning Approaches and Learning Strategies of The Medical Students

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to investigate university students’ cognitive flexibility level, learning approaches and strategies they use as well as the relations between these approaches and strategies.Instrument and Method: In this study, exploratory design mixed research method was applied. In the quantitative part of the study, students’ cognitive flexibility levels, learning approaches, and strategies they use were investigated and the relations among them were determined. In the qualitative part of the study, 12 student-centered interviews, of both semesters, were conducted with those who had high and low grades from cognitive flexibility, learning approaches and learning strategies scale. In the quantitative part of the study, 626 students of medical school from I. year to the VI and in the qualitative part, the 12 students who were in the focus group formed the study group. The data were collected via cognitive flexibility, learning approaches and learning strategies scale.Findings: In the study it was revealed that medical faculty students’ cognitive flexibility level was high; students had both deep and surface learning approaches while deep learning approaches were higher than surface ones to a certain extent, students benefited from each of socio-emotional, sense-making, repetition and attention learning strategies. Male students’ surface learning tendency is higher than that of the female. The female students use attention learning strategy more than the male ones do. The students that took part in the study claimed that the examinations did not measure their learning degree and forced them to towards “memorizing information”.Results: While using deep learning approach and surface learning approach at a high quantity may seem as a contradiction, focus group interviews have shown that education system gives some messages to students: “If you study deeply, it is not certain to pass; but if you memorize, it is clear: Success!”. When cognitive flexibility increases, the usage of socio-emotional learning strategy also increases. When deep learning approach increases, the use of socio-emotional learning strategy, sense-making learning strategy and repetition learning strategy increases.