The impact of students and curriculum on self-study during clinical training in medical school: a multilevel approach

Examining barriers to participation in further and continuing education in Germany: Why a regional perspective is (still) important

Further and continuing education is not only important for individual employability, but also for regional development. Therefore, improving participation in further and continuing education and removing barriers to participation are key concerns of regional education governance. The present study was conducted in a peripheral region of Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany, where the annual participation rate in continuing education is relatively low compared to other geographic areas in Germany. This quantitative study was designed to understand: (1) To what extent do adult learners engage in continuing education within their habitual lifelong learning process? (2) Which circumstantial factors influence their participation in continuing education? And (3) What are the barriers hindering their participation? The authors found that for two-thirds of adult learners, a precondition for their enrolment in a continuing education course was the satisfaction of both work-related and private life-related factors. The authors' findings point towards the need for flexible study programmes which learners can fit to the demands of their work and life.

A Survey of Norwegian Nursing Students' Responses to Student-Centered Small Group Learning in the Study of Human Anatomy and Physiology

Introduction

Small group learning (SGL) is a main learning strategy in the study of bioscience subjects in nursing schools.

Objectives

We evaluated Norwegian nursing students' responses to the student-centered SGL approach in the study of anatomy and physiology (A&P) and tried to determine what aspects educators should improve regarding the use of SGL in the study of biosciences.

Methods

A descriptive questionnaire survey was conducted to evaluate Norwegian nursing students' responses and experiences, for example, motivation, performance, satisfaction, and effectiveness of this new SGL strategy in the study of human A&P.

Results

Nursing students showed a high motivation and varied experience, for example, different attendance rates, satisfaction, and effectiveness in response to the student-centered SGL strategy in the study of human A&P. In addition, some students reported a low completion rate of assigned work for each SGL session. Additional concerns were collected in the open-end survey section. Subsequent thematic analysis of these comments identified that SGL arrangement and teacher tutorials were the main themes that needed to be improved in future SGL practice.

Conclusions

The information from this survey might provide new insights to educators to understand what and how we should improve the student-centered SGL work in future teaching practice.

The Behaviour of Learning: Exploring Independent Study Practices of Undergraduate Heath Science Students

Learning through independent study is a core component of the university teaching method. Students are expected to invest substantial amounts of time in independent learning. However, many universities do not explicitly teach 'study' skills as part of formal instruction. This is due to the belief that students enter the university environment with a rudimentary but sound set of study practices. It is expected that students will hone these practices to a higher, more advanced level as they progress through their university education, although these deductions may not be as straightforward as assumed. This article presents an exploratory analysis of independent study practices employed by undergraduate health science students at a research-intensive university. The study design focused on three core areas: observations of study practices within a library setting, the act of note-taking and the student voice on study. Observations involved the use of continuous sampling over punctuated sessions to capture behavioural frequencies. Informal group discussions were used to gain the student voice regarding their perceptions of study. Finally, a number of students submitted copies of their approach to note-taking. The findings showed that for these students, (1) observation of library study practices revealed sustained study was generally poor, (2) that students perceived the programme compelled them to adopt superficial learning practices and (3) surprisingly, we found a number of these students had adopted a note-taking process that literately imitated textbook form.

The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey: an analysis of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in 25 UK medical schools relating to timing, duration, teaching formats, teaching content, and problem-based learning

BACKGROUND

What subjects UK medical schools teach, what ways they teach subjects, and how much they teach those subjects is unclear. Whether teaching differences matter is a separate, important question. This study provides a detailed picture of timetabled undergraduate teaching activity at 25 UK medical schools, particularly in relation to problem-based learning (PBL).

METHOD

The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey used detailed timetables provided by 25 schools with standard 5-year courses. Timetabled teaching events were coded in terms of course year, duration, teaching format, and teaching content. Ten schools used PBL. Teaching times from timetables were validated against two other studies that had assessed GP teaching and lecture, seminar, and tutorial times.

RESULTS

A total of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in the academic year 2014/2015 were analysed, including SSCs (student-selected components) and elective studies. A typical UK medical student receives 3960 timetabled hours of teaching during their 5-year course. There was a clear difference between the initial 2 years which mostly contained basic medical science content and the later 3 years which mostly consisted of clinical teaching, although some clinical teaching occurs in the first 2 years. Medical schools differed in duration, format, and content of teaching. Two main factors underlay most of the variation between schools, Traditional vs PBL teaching and Structured vs Unstructured teaching. A curriculum map comparing medical schools was constructed using those factors. PBL schools differed on a number of measures, having more PBL teaching time, fewer lectures, more GP teaching, less surgery, less formal teaching of basic science, and more sessions with unspecified content.

DISCUSSION

UK medical schools differ in both format and content of teaching. PBL and non-PBL schools clearly differ, albeit with substantial variation within groups, and overlap in the middle. The important question of whether differences in teaching matter in terms of outcomes is analysed in a companion study (MedDifs) which examines how teaching differences relate to university infrastructure, entry requirements, student perceptions, and outcomes in Foundation Programme and postgraduate training.

Bioscience learning in nursing: a cross-sectional survey of beginning nursing students in Norway

Background

Taking bioscience courses such as anatomy and physiology (A&P) is important for the development of nursing competence, but learning such subjects is also a challenge for many students. Nursing students’ motivation, academic performance and exposure to different teaching methods may influence the learning process.

Methods

A descriptive survey was conducted with first-year nursing students at a university in Central Norway to explore their motivations, academic performance, and responses to various teaching methods used in an A&P course.

Results

The study provided insight into nursing students motivation, academic performance, and responses to various teaching approaches. 57 students participated in the survey and 91 % of them passed the course. The majority (61.4%) reported that classroom lecture was the most efficient and appreciated teaching method. Independent study was significantly associated with higher A&P exam grades (p-value < 0.05).

Conclusion

The survey suggests a need for further research about the quality, and presentation of anatomy and physiology units.

Are surface and deep learning approaches associated with study patterns and choices among medical students? A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Different approaches to learning can exert considerable influence on the teaching-learning process in medical education. This study aimed to investigate the association of surface and deep learning with study patterns, preferred type of assessment, practices of cheating and quality of sleep among medical students.

DESIGN AND SETTING

Cross-sectional study on medical students enrolled in all six years of a medical school in Juiz de Fora, Brazil.

METHODS

Questionnaires were applied to evaluate learning approaches (R-SPQ-2F), study patterns, sources and choices, and quality of sleep. Students' learning approaches (deep or surface) were assessed in relation to their study patterns, study resources, quality of sleep and whether they cheated in tests.

RESULTS

Among the 710 students included, 43% frequently studied on the night before an exam, 65% had used psychostimulants to study and more than 46% had cheated in an exam. Regarding quality of sleep, most students (53.4%) reported that their quality of sleep was poor, such that 45.3% slept for fewer than five hours before an exam. Those who studied just prior to an exam, used class summaries, preferred multiple-choice questions and cheated during the test had a more surface-learning approach. On the other hand, those who read books, preferred practical exams and slept better had a deeper approach.

CONCLUSION

The type of learning approach was associated with study patterns and choices among medical students. Educators need to be attentive to the type of learning their students use and think of measures that impact teaching and assessment methods.