Medical student changes in self-regulated learning during the transition to the clinical environment

Kenneth K Cho,Vicki Langendyk,Brahm Marjadi,Wendy Hu

doi:10.1186/s12909-017-0902-7

Abstract

BackgroundSelf-regulated learning (SRL), which is learners’ ability to proactively select and use different strategies to reach learning goals, is associated with academic and clinical success and life-long learning. SRL does not develop automatically in the clinical environment and its development during the preclinical to clinical learning transition has not been quantitatively studied. Our study aims to fill this gap by measuring SRL in medical students during the transitional period and examining its contributing factors.MethodsMedical students were invited to complete a questionnaire at the commencement of their first clinical year (T0), and 10 weeks later (T1). The questionnaire included the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and asked about previous clinical experience. Information about the student’s background, demographic characteristics and first clinical rotation were also gathered.ResultsOf 118 students invited to participate, complete paired responses were obtained from 72 medical students (response rate 61%). At T1, extrinsic goal orientation increased and was associated with gender (males were more likely to increase extrinsic goal orientation) and type of first attachment (critical care and community based attachments, compared to hospital ward based attachments). Metacognitive self-regulation decreased at T1 and was negatively associated with previous clinical experience.ConclusionsMeasurable changes in self-regulated learning occur during the transition from preclinical learning to clinical immersion, particularly in the domains of extrinsic goal orientation and metacognitive self–regulation. Self–determination theory offers possible explanations for this finding which have practical implications and point the way to future research. In addition, interventions to promote metacognition before the clinical immersion may assist in preserving SRL during the transition and thus promote life-long learning skills in preparation for real-world practice.

Highlights

Self-regulated learning (SRL), which is learners’ ability to proactively select and use different strategies to reach learning goals, is associated with academic and clinical success and life-long learning
Our research questions were: “what are the changes in SRL during the transition to the clinical learning environment?” and “what factors are associated with that change?” Through these research questions we aimed to enhance our understanding of medical student motivation and learning during the clinical transitional period, which has implications on curricula and future research directions
This study has investigated the changes in SRL during the transition to clinical learning in the first clinical year and identified factors associated with that change

Summary

Introduction

Self-regulated learning (SRL), which is learners’ ability to proactively select and use different strategies to reach learning goals, is associated with academic and clinical success and life-long learning. SRL does not develop automatically in the clinical environment and its development during the preclinical to clinical learning transition has not been quantitatively studied. Self-regulated learning (SRL) is defined as a process where the learner is motivationally, The initial transition from preclinical learning to clinical immersion is a significant and unique phase in a medical student’s education when students shift from spending more time learning in the classroom to experiential learning in the clinical setting [11,12,13,14,15]. No research has explored the changes in self -regulated learning that occur during the initial transition period from preclinical to clinical immersion using a quantitative approach

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