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who has ample experience in modera ng focus group sessions for medical educa on research. The rst author (JB) observed all focus groups, and moderated the last one for prac cal reasons.
All par cipants received an email explaining SRL before joining the focus groups and were asked to think about departmental rou nes in uencing their SRL. We obtained informed consent and some background informa on regarding the demographics of the par cipants at the start of the focus groups. Next, the moderator brie y explained the goal and rules of a focus group session. We then facilitated the discussion by asking: 1) what were rou nes of the department in uencing SRL, 2) how do these rou nes in uence SRL, and 3) under what circumstances do these rou nes support or hinder SRL? At the end of each focus group we asked par cipants what rou nes needed most urgent a en on from the clerkship course director as per having the biggest e ect on their SRL. Each focus group session lasted for approximately one hour. The focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed verba m. We anonymized all transcripts.
Data analysis
A er each focus group session, the moderator and observer shared their ini al responses. The rst author (JB) transcribed and open coded the transcript, and performed a preliminary analysis to guide future sessions. Next, the rst and second author (JB and IS) started with open coding of the transcripts, followed by axial coding and interpre ve analysis. Analysis was done itera vely, constantly collec ng, coding, comparing, and interpre ng data un l no new concepts emerged. We organized one nal focus group to con rm theore cal satura on. Data analysis was supported by the use of MaxQDA V11 (Verbi GmbH, Berlin Germany).
We discussed the emerging ideas and interes ng ndings within the en re research group in four mee ngs. To keep track of our re ec ons, thoughts and interpreta ons, the rst author kept memos and a log to record all emerging ideas and concepts.
Ethical approval
Par cipants were not compensated for par cipa ng in this study. The Ethical Review Board of the Netherlands Associa on for Medical Educa on (NVMO) approved the study under le number 613.
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Rou nes of clinical departments that in uence students’ self-regulated learning Chapter 2