Exploring the perception and challenges encountered by undergraduate medical students towards the development of self-regulated learning: a mixed method study. (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Self-regulated learning (SRL) is an essential attribute of future healthcare professionals consisting of four components: planning, monitoring, evaluation, and reflection. There is global consensus on the lack of medical students’ ability to self-regulate their learning, however little is known about the challenges they encounter upon attempting to do so. This study aimed to assess the perception of self-regulated learning amongst undergraduate medical students and identify factors that might hinder its development. OBJECTIVE This study was conducted to assess the perception of undergraduate medical students at Mohammed Bin Rashid University (MBRU) towards SRL and explore the challenges they encounter in developing this skillset. METHODS A mixed method approach was adopted where a 5-Likert-scale questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data on perception of SRL from all undergraduate medical students (n=300) at MBRU. Semi-structured interviews were used qualitatively to explore challenges encountered by students when attempting to regulate learning. Quantitative data obtained underwent frequency, factorial and comparative statistical analysis whilst qualitative data was thematically analysed. RESULTS 78 students, 41 pre-clinical and 37 clinical, completed the questionnaire. An overall positive perception of SRL was observed with the highest score of agreement (61.5%) was for eagerness to improve learning. The second highest score of agreement (56.4%) was for pro-actively establishing learning goals while the highest score of disagreement (46%) was for the ability to monitor one’s learning. There were no significant differences between the scores of clinical and pre-clinical students for the three main domains identified by factorial analysis of the perception questionnaire: Plan learning (P=0.811), monitor learning (P=0.136) and evaluate learning (P=0.752). The following six themes emerged from thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews: life-long-learner, evaluation & reflection, learning strategies, personal challenges, curriculum & assessment, and lack of guidance on learning strategies. Furthermore, it was perceived that clinical students displayed a deeper understanding of SRL. Finally, students experimented with a range of learning strategies in an attempt to identify those that were better aligned with their learning needs and fulfilled curricular requirements. CONCLUSIONS Students seemed to appreciate the value of SRL in preparing them to be competent healthcare professionals but still lacked metacognitive awareness. A number of modifiable barriers including lack of guidance, and a predominant didactic-based curriculum and assessment were identified. It is recommended to monitor medical students’ self-regulated learning early in the course of their undergraduate degree and deliver appropriate intervention to stimulate development of this skillset. CLINICALTRIAL -