ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Students require feedback on their self-regulated learning (SRL) processes to improve the performance of clinical examinations. The key SRL processes used by students can be identified by SRL-micro-analysis but, this method has not been previously applied to physiotherapy students. The aim of this pilot study was to test a research design that might allow the evaluation of the potential usefulness of SRL microanalysis for the identification of key SRL processes used by physiotherapy students during the performance of a clinical examination skill. The objectives of the pilot study were: 1) to evaluate whether SRL-microanalysis could identify differences in the use of SRL processes between successful and unsuccessful students; 2) to evaluate the reliability of SRL microanalysis ratings produced by different assessors. METHODS: SRL-microanalysis was used with second year physiotherapy students of a Spanish university (n = 26) as they performed a goniometric task. The task required students to obtain a goniometric measurement of the shoulder joint of a peer. Two assessors evaluated student performance and conducted the SRL- microanalysis with all students. An analysis of inter-rater reliability was performed to evaluate the degree of agreement between assessors. RESULTS: The SRL-microanalysis revealed differences in the use of key SRL processes between successful (n = 15: 57.0%) and unsuccessful performers (n = 11: 43.0%): The differences were particularly evident in strategic planning and self-monitoring skills. There was good inter-rater reliability for scoring of strategic planning (k = 0.792), self-monitoring (k = 0.946) and self-evaluation (k = 0.846). CONCLUSION: The use of SRL microanalysis characterized the key SRL processes of physiotherapy students performing a clinical skill with reliability between the assessors. This pilot study supports the potential usefulness of SRL-microanalysis for the identification of key SRL processes in physiotherapy education. Therefore, this study paves the way to the development of a full study, with a larger number of students and more diverse clinical tasks, to evaluate the SRL processes in successful and unsuccessful students.
Subject(s)
Students, Medical , Clinical Competence , Humans , Learning , Physical Therapy Modalities , Pilot Projects , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
La formación de profesionales sanitarios conlleva unos objetivos de aprendizaje concretos que deben traducirse en unos resultados de aprendizaje observables y evaluables y, por lo tanto, que el conocimiento se alcance con un alto grado de pericia. Con el fin de mejorar el aprendizaje de habilidades clínicas se han desarrollado instrumentos para evaluar el aprendizaje autorregulado, un proceso activo en el que la persona selecciona las metas académicas que desea alcanzar y regula una serie de variables que intervienen en el aprendizaje con el objetivo de alcanzarlas. Un ejemplo de ello es la evaluación microanalítica del aprendizaje autorregulado, una entrevista estructurada que intenta captar los pensamientos, sentimientos y acciones dedicados a la ejecución de tareas específicas. La investigación actual en este campo ha demostrado que los estudiantes de alto rendimiento tienden en general a mostrar un pensamiento más estratégico y una mejor regulación al realizar las actividades o tareas. Se pretende establecer el microanálisis como estrategia para identificar el aprendizaje de los alumnos y como meta para poder generalizarse en la educación en ciencias de la salud
The training of healthcare professionals obeys to specific learning objectives that must result in observable and assessable learning achievements, and in mastered knowledge acquisition. In order to improve the learning process of clinical skills, several methods have been developed with the aim of assessing self-regulated learning. Self-regulated learning is an active process where individuals select the academic goals they wish to achieve and, for that purpose, they regulate a set of factors that influence their learning. Self-Regulated Learning Microanalytic Assessment and Training may be taken as an example. This method consists of a structured interview that tries to capture the thoughts, feelings and actions devoted to the execution of specific tasks. Current investigations in this field have shown that high-achievers tend to think more strategically and regulate themselves better when performing activities or tasks. Finally, the microanalysis may be implemented as the strategy used to identify how students learn, and to generalize in healthcare education
