Page 26 - Medical students’ self-regulated learning in clinical contexts

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Abstract
objec ves
In the clinical phase of undergraduate medical educa on, students are expected to self-regulate their learning. It is largely unknown how students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) is a ected by the standard prac ces of clinical departments. Understanding this is important because contextual in uences may have a profound in uence on students’ engagement in SRL. Standard prac ces of clinical departments involve collec ve, recurring pa erns in behavior, also known as rou nes. This study addresses how rou nes of a clinical department in uence medical students’ SRL.
Methods
We used focus groups to study how rou nes of clinical departments in uenced medical students’ SRL from a construc vist paradigm, using grounded theory methodology. Six focus groups, including 39 purposively sampled par cipants from one Dutch university were organized. The focus groups were audio recorded, transcribed verba m and were analyzed itera vely using constant comparison and open, axial and interpre ve coding.
results
Students described how both rou nes and characteris cs of a clinical department in uenced their SRL. Rou nes could enable or hinder the rela onships students engaged in. Enabling rela onships a ected students’ SRL by increasing mo va on, decreasing barriers to ask ques ons, and by making learning experiences and feedback more meaningful. Rou nes could also make students feel that a department invested e ort in them. A perceived e ort investment aided students’ goal se ng, learning opportuni es, monitoring of one’s own progress and receiving valuable feedback. Typical features characteris c for a department, such as pa ent mix, also in uenced SRL opportuni es that students perceived.
Discussion
Our study gives a prac cal insight in rou nes of clinical departments that in uence students’ SRL. Rou nes predominantly in uence rela onships between students and sta . These rou nes are vital for students’ SRL because they can support many di erent aspects of SRL and make learning more meaningful. Departmental characteris cs also need to be taken into account, because some departments were perceived to lack opportuni es to engage in SRL.