Page 132 - Medical students’ self-regulated learning in clinical contexts

130
with a rela ve ability goal orienta on also showed adap ve learning behavior, high self-regula on, high self-e cacy and good performance. This shows similari es with the ‘e or ul’ pa ern in SRL behavior we found in chapter 5, though these students were not highly self-regula ng in a sophis cated way but regulated their learning by increasing the e ort they invested. Students with an extrinsic goal orienta on showed maladap ve learning behavior, low self-regula on, low self-e cacy and lower performance. This shows similari es with the ‘restrained’ pa ern we found in chapter 5, who also wanted to avoid looking inferior to others.
By linking our ndings to previous studies, it appears plausible that having students focus on learning rather than performance in a clinical context will be bene cial to their SRL behavior and subsequent learning outcomes. Likewise, having students be afraid to appear inferior to others and con nuously having to proof themselves is likely to be detrimental for subsequent SRL and learning outcomes. Achievement Goal Theory therefore gives us interes ng addi onal insights in why students aim for certain goals in their SRL.
Methodological re ec ons
In this thesis I have used a broad range of mostly qualita ve methodologies to study self-regulated learning in clinical contexts. I have chosen to use di erent methods for data gathering and analysis in order to get mul ple perspec ves on this subject and try to methodologically triangulate the ndings. One of the most important aspects of scien c research is methodological rigor to improve the legi macy of the re- search process and outcomes. I have done this in this thesis through mul ple meth- ods. Firstly, all studies were audited and approved by the Ethical Research Board of the Netherlands Associa on for Medical Educa on. Before star ng any study I deter- mined the ra onale for doing the study based on previous scien c research. Also, located the research within exis ng scien c theories as to build upon a knowledge base already available.
During data gathering and analysis I performed member checks in order to allow par- cipants to provide us with addi onal insights. Addi onally, I frequently discussed our analysis and ini al ndings within the research team to restrict the in uence of a single researcher interpre ng the data. Likewise, the rst and second authors of chapters 2, 3, and 4, read and discussed en re transcripts of interviews and focus group sessions to discuss emerging themes. All of the considera ons made were noted in a scien c log as to make sure our discussions and decisions were retriev- able and reviewable. Lastly, by engaging in re exivity I have tried to help readers