Understanding Student Characteristics in the Development of Active Learning Strategies

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Student evaluations after non-lecture, active learning sessions at Michigan State University, College of Osteopathic Medicine, have yielded bipartite responses with one group responding favorably and the other group negatively. The purpose of this study was to understand the characteristics, motivation, and learning strategies of medical students that find value in, appreciate, and perceive active learning sessions to be beneficial and those of students that do not. We generated a survey, based on the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), that included questions regarding overall student motivations for learning, learning strategies that students employed throughout medical school, and their perceptions of active learning. Following an active learning session on hyperammonemia, we administered the modified MSLQ survey. Using the results of this survey, we validated the modified MSLQ and identified correlations between student characteristics and their perception of the active learning session. We found that, in general, students with high task value, intrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy for learning and performance, and control of learning beliefs felt more positively about their experience in the active learning session. Understanding the characteristics, motivations, and learning strategies that help students find value in active learning sessions will help medical educators develop future curricular material so that these exercises will better engage and be more effective with a greater number of learners.