A cross-cultural comparison between medical students’ self-regulated learning challenges and the influencing socio-cultural factors.

Boyd, N. (Naomi) (2017) A cross-cultural comparison between medical students’ self-regulated learning challenges and the influencing socio-cultural factors. thesis, Medicine.

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Abstract

Introduction: Medical programmes worldwide have embraced curricula that stimulate development of the necessary skills, such as self-regulated learning (SRL), to become life-long learning doctors. The current perception and effectiveness of SRL and the curricula that best stimulate SRL progress, have been developed, debated, researched, and finally accepted within the Western world as being superior, in many regards, to more conventional or traditional curricula. As a result, current appreciation for and implementation of SRL-stimulating curricula has expanded to all corners of the globe despite the lack of research on the development of and socio-cultural impact on SRL within different cultural contexts. This study aims to elucidate whether medical students’ SRL challenges differ between socio-cultural groups and if any socio-cultural factors influence students’ studying. Methods: First and second year medical students at Qatar University (QU)(n=84) and the University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen (UMCG)(n=74) completed the Self-Regulation of Learning Self-Report Scale (SRL-SRS). Students answered additional questions, namely about their general information, factors that distract and stimulate their studying, and attribution of success and failure. Participants were purposefully sampled for one-on-one interviews (QU n=4; UMCG=3) based on gender, socio-cultural responses, and SRL-SRS scores. A thematic analysis of the interviews was performed. Results: QU students scored significantly higher on the self-assessment, reflection, planning, and effort components of the SRL-SRS than their UMCG peers (p<.05), even after accounting for gender and year of study. While no major differences were noted in distracting and stimulating factors, QU and UMCG students did have some differences in their attributions. QU and UMCG students had some similarities in their attribution of success and failure, with most students attributing both to themselves. However, a substantial difference in attribution of success was found, with 90% and 22% of QU and UMCG students, respectively, attributing their successes, but not their failures, to God. Follow-up interviews revealed four themes related to students’ study experiences and SRL. Firstly, society’s perception of the medical students appeared to play a role in students’ lives, both socially and academically. Secondly, students discussed the challenges they had faced at medical school so far, including the inter-student relationships and the workload/pressure. Thirdly, the role of family came forward as a central theme in students’ approach to their learning. Lastly, religion or faith appeared to be an influencing factor to students’ choice of medicine and/or their perspective on their personal successes and failures. Discussion: Having strong societal and religious norms and values, whether they are societal expectations or the appreciation for family and religion, can create an environment where self-regulation is practiced in all aspects of students’ lives, starting from a young age. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that students from such a background can transfer this social regulation into academic regulation, and thereby improve their SRL, more easily than students from a looser socio-cultural background. Conclusion: Socio-cultural norms and religion play an important role in the daily and academic lives of students from certain backgrounds. In a continuously globalizing world, universities should understand that students from various socio-cultural backgrounds have different strengths and challenges in their SRL. Universities must therefore acknowledge these differences to implement culturally-suitable, rather than Western-instigated curricula.

Item Type:	Thesis (Thesis)
Supervisor name:	Faculty Supervisor and Jaarsma, Prof. dr. A.D.C. (Debbie)DVM and Second Supervisor: and Helmich, Dr. EstherMD and Center for Education Development and Research in Health Prof and University Medical Center Groningen
Supervisor name:	Primary location: and Center for Education Develoment and Research in Health Profe and Secondary location: and College of Medicine, Qatar University
Faculty:	Medical Sciences
Date Deposited:	25 Jun 2020 10:54
Last Modified:	25 Jun 2020 10:54
URI:	https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/1528

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