Page 73 - Medical students’ self-regulated learning in clinical contexts

Method
Design
Our research was based within an interpre vist paradigm in which reality is subjec ve, context-speci c and no ul mate truth exists in the experience of workplace learning.28 We carried out a construc vist grounded theory study, including purposive sampling and constant comparison methods, itera vely collec ng, coding and interpre ng data un l satura on was reached, a er which two more interviews were held to con rm satura on.29 We used semi-structured interviews to create a safe environment in which students would feel free to o er their personal experiences on how they regulate their learning.
Se ng
The par cipants were purposively sampled to ensure variety in age, gender, experience, and current clerkship. We sampled students from a tradi onal and a problem-based (PBL) university, knowing that PBL may in uence SRL.30,31 Furthermore, we sampled students who were enrolled in di erent clerkships because of the in uence of context on SRL, and who were in di erent years of the clerkships because we know prior experience in uences SRL.11 We recruited students from two Dutch training regions, consis ng of a university hospital, a liated regional hospitals, and non-hospital healthcare ins tu ons.
The medical curricula of both universi es include a preclinical phase (year 1-3) and a clinical phase (year 4-6), the la er consis ng of rota onal clerkships ranging from 3 to 10 weeks. The preclinical curriculum of the rst (tradi onal) university has a horizontally and ver cally integrated curriculum, the preclinical curriculum of the second university (PBL university) is a problem-based curriculum based on the principles of self-directed, collabora ve and contextual learning.32 Students of the PBL university are required to keep a por olio during their clerkships to note learning goals in, and to monitor and re ect on their progress. Students of the tradi onal university are not required to keep such a por olio. During the clerkships, medical students par cipate in work on the wards, the outpa ent clinics, the emergency room, public-health ins tu ons, and general prac ces. In both universi es, approximately 350 students enroll in the clerkships each year.
Par cipants
Between June of 2013 and February of 2014, the rst author (JB) approached students by sending an email. In total 17 students agreed to inclusion in our study by
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Chapter 4
Exploring the factors in uencing
clinical students’ self-regulated learning