Method: This is a mixed-method study. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) was used to collect student SRL strategies while semi-structured interviews with faculty members and focus group discussions with students were used to gather data on the approaches that promote SRL. Student MSLQ was analysed using descriptive statistics while interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed.
Results: A pilot using MSLQ with 413 students recorded a Cronbach's alpha of 0.928 for the questionnaire. The actual study involved 457 Years 1 & 2 students. Students from both institutions are motivated by the Task Value, and they use Elaboration and Organisation strategies the most in their pre-clinical year. Three themes emerged from the qualitative analysis of this study: characteristics of strategies that promote SRL, hindrance in promoting SRL, and opportunities in promoting SRL.
Conclusions: Our findings indicate that students' intrinsic motivation is generally high in pre-clinical year. However, metacognition and critical thinking strategies will need to be enhanced among students. Despite knowing teaching and learning approaches could promote these strategies, many teachers are still not confident in doing so and hence training dang sharing best practices might be helpful in promoting SRL.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey. A convenient sample of 310 preclinical students of a public medical school in Malaysia were invited to participate. Validation data were collected using a revised 40-item, 5-point Likert scale learning space questionnaire. The questionnaires were administered online via a student e-learning platform. Data analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS version 24. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine the factor structure of the revised questionnaire to provide evidence for construct validity. To assess the internal consistency of the revised questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha coefficients (α) were computed across all the items as well as for items within each of the factor.
Results: A total of 223 (71.94%) preclinical students completed and returned the questionnaire. In the final analysis, exploratory factor analysis with principal axis factoring and an oblimin rotation identified a six-factor, 20-item factor solution. Reliability analysis reported good internal consistency for the revised questionnaire, with an overall Cronbach's alpha of 0.845, and Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.800 to 0.925 for the six factors.
Conclusions: This study established evidence for the construct validity and internal consistency of the revised questionnaire. The revised questionnaire appears to have utility as an instrument to investigate learning space preferences in Malaysian medical schools.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study, using a convenience sampling technique, was conducted from 13 September, 2021 to 28 November, 2021. We designed a 45-item VC KAP questionnaire. This was distributed to outpatient users attending cardiovascular, dermatology, geriatrics, haematology, endocrine, respiratory, gastroenterology, rheumatology, or neurology clinics at the University Malaya Medical Centre. It was completed during face-to-face, online, or telephone interviews. The data were analysed using SPSS version 24.0. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the demographic factors associated with KAP. Correlation between KAP domains was determined using Spearman's rho (r). A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS: A total of 366 questionnaires were completed. Knowledge (awareness), attitude (acceptability), and practice (exposure) were considered good in 69.7%, 80.9%, and 24.6% of participants, respectively. There were no significant relationships between age, gender, ethnicity, and duration of hospital attendance (years) with knowledge (awareness), attitude (acceptability), and practice (exposure). A moderate positive correlation was seen between knowledge (awareness) and attitude (acceptability) (Attitude total [Atotal]) (r = 0.48, p<0.001), with no significant correlation between knowledge (awareness) and practice (exposure) (r = 0.04, p = 0.45), and attitude (acceptability) (Atotal) and practice (r = 0.01, p = 0.82).
CONCLUSION: Overall, outpatient clinic users had good knowledge (awareness) of and were receptive towards VC but had poor practice (exposure). More opportunities for VC use in healthcare can increase exposure and subsequent utilisation. Interventions to increase the effectiveness of VC use should be explored in future studies.
METHODS: This study employed a qualitative instrumental case study design intended to compare two groups of students-high-achieving students (n = 14) and low-achieving students (n = 5), enrolled in pre-clinical medical studies at the Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. Data were collected through reflective journals and semi-structured interviews. Regarding journaling, participants were required to recall their learning experiences of the previous academic year. Two analysts coded the data and then compared the codes of high- and low-achieving students. The third analyst reviewed the codes. Themes were identified iteratively, working towards comparing the learning processes of high- and low-achieving students.
RESULTS: Data analysis revealed four themes-motivation and expectation, study methods, self-management, and flexibility of mindset. First, high-achieving students were more motivated and had higher academic expectations than low-achieving students. Second, high-achieving students adopted study planning and deep learning approaches, whereas low-achieving students adopted superficial learning approaches. Third, in contrast to low-achieving students, high-achieving students exhibited better time management and studied consistently. Finally, high-achieving students proactively sought external support and made changes to overcome challenges. In contrast, low-achieving students were less resilient and tended to avoid challenges.
CONCLUSION: Based on the theory of action, high-achieving students utilize positive governing variables, whereas low-achieving students are driven by negative governing variables. Hence, governing variable-based remediation is needed to help low-achieving students interrogate the motives behind their actions and realign positive governing variables, actions, and intended outcomes.Key MessagesThis study found four themes describing the differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: motivation and expectation, study methods, self-management, and flexibility of mindset.Based on the theory of action approach, high-achieving pre-clinical medical students are fundamentally different from their low-achieving peers in terms of their governing variables, with the positive governing variables likely to have guided them to act in a manner beneficial to and facilitating desirable academic performance.Governing variable-based remediation may help students interrogate the motives of their actions.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 859 Malaysian medical students from 21 medical schools who voluntarily completed a self-administered online questionnaire that was disseminated by representatives from medical schools nationwide and social media platforms of a national medical student society.
RESULTS: 37.8% of the respondents were optimistic about a career with the Ministry of Health (MOH), Malaysia in the future. Most of the respondents (91.2%) plan to join and complete the MOH Housemanship programme as soon as possible after graduation, with the majority of them (66.2%) planning to complete it in their state of origin. After 2 years of Housemanship programme, only more than half of the respondents (63.1%) plan to continue their careers in MOH. Slightly more than a quarter (27.1%) of the total respondents plan to emigrate to practise medicine, with 80.7% of them planning to return to Malaysia to practise medicine after some years or after completing specialisation training. Combining the career intentions of Malaysian medical students immediately after graduation and upon completion of the 2 years housemanship programme, only a slight majority (57.5%) of the respondents plan to continue their career in MOH eventually. Most of the respondents (85.0%) intend to specialise.
CONCLUSION: A concerning number of Malaysian medical students plan to leave the Ministry of Health workforce, the main healthcare provider in Malaysia, in the future. Urgent government interventions are needed to address the underlying factors contributing to the potential exodus of future doctors to prevent further straining of the already overburdened healthcare system, posing a significant threat to public well-being. An annual national study to track medical students' career intentions is recommended to gather crucial data for the human resources for health planning in Malaysia.
Methods: Qualitative interviews and focus group discussions were conducted (December 2016 to July 2017) with clinical supervisors (n=11) and clinical trainees (n=26) utilising a topic guide exploring institutional guidelines, research culture and supervisor-student roles. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically to identify barriers to research supervision.
Results: Supervisors and trainees from 11 out of 18 departments participated. Both clinical supervisors and trainees struggled to successfully integrate a compulsory research component into residency training. Among the reasons identified included a lack of supervisory access due to the nature of clinical rotations and placements, clashing training priorities (clinical vs research) that discouraged trainees and supervisors from engaging in research, poor research expertise and experience among clinical supervisors hampering high-quality supervision, and a frustrating lack of clear standards between the various parties involved in research guidance and examination.
Conclusion: Both clinical supervisors and trainees struggled to successfully integrate a compulsory research component into residency training. This was not only an issue of resource limitation since questions regarding clinical priorities and unclear research standards emerged. Thus, institutional coordinators need to set clear standards and provide adequate training to make research meaningful and achievable for busy clinical supervisors and trainees.
METHODS: Twenty-one students who scored at the 90th percentile in written knowledge-based assessment consented to participate in this study. Each student wrote a guided reflective journal and subsequently attended a semi-structured interview. Students were prompted to explain the rationales for their answers. The data were then analysed using thematic analysis to identify patterns among these students from the SRL perspective. Two coders analysed the data independently and discussed the codes to reach a consensus.
RESULTS: High performing students set goals, made plans, and motivated themselves to achieve the goals. They put consistent efforts into their studies and applied effective learning strategies. They also employed coping mechanisms to deal with challenges. High performing students regularly evaluated their performance and adopted new strategies.
CONCLUSIONS: This study reported that high performing students applied SRL and described the rationales of practice. Medical schools could design SRL-driven interventions to enhance the learning experiences of medical students. Recommendations are made for students on how to apply SRL.