Page 71 - Medical students’ self-regulated learning in clinical contexts

introduc on
The importance of self-regulated learning in medical educa on has been broadly recognized by medical educa on ins tu ons and regulatory bodies.1–4 For healthcare professionals, the competency to self-regulate learning is essen al for lifelong learning, which starts already during students’ undergraduate educa on.5 According to the literature on self-regula on, most students do not fully develop the competency to adequately self-regulate their learning independently. They need to be supported in this process.6,7 Suppor ng the development of self-regulated learning is challenging, because self-regula on is a complex interac ve process of physical and mental ac vi es. These ac vi es are a ected by personal and contextual a ributes, and the interac on between those, which makes self-regula on highly context speci c.8–11
Several theore cal models have been developed to describe the process of self- regulated learning.8,10,12–14 Many similari es can be found between these models, but their di erences are more interes ng. These di erences pertain to the level of self-regula on, e.g. task-speci c or more general for a person, and the ques on if cogni on and a ect are separately regulated areas.15 A popular theory in medical educa on is that of Zimmerman, who conceptualized self-regula on on a more general level, including metacogni on and the regula on of a ect. Zimmerman described self-regulated learning (SRL) as a cyclical process in which a student is ac vely engaged.9,11 This process consists of three phases.8,16 In the forethought phase students set learning goals and choose a strategy for a aining those goals. In the performance phase students monitor and control their behavior to a ain their learning goals. In the self-re ec on phase students self-evaluate their performance by gathering feedback and choosing a strategy for a future, similar, situa on.17
Personal a ributes found to a ect self-regulated learning in a classroom se ng include the students’ skills in regulatory mechanisms such as: planning, monitoring, metacogni on, a en on focusing, employing various learning strategies, persistence, me management, environment structuring, help seeking, emo on control and e ort control.18 Other personal a ributes include mo va onal beliefs such as self- e cacy and a tudes about the perceived importance, with higher self-e cacy and higher perceived importance resul ng in trainees devo ng more of their resources towards achieving their goal.18,19 Lastly, the tasks set by a context and the a ec ve reac on of the student to this task, a ect students’ self-regulated learning in the classroom.19–21 Contextual and social a ributes known to s mulate self-regula on in more structured classroom se ngs include: social support, feedback, the
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Chapter 4
Exploring the factors in uencing
clinical students’ self-regulated learning