Department of Dental Education, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, South Korea.
J Dent Educ. 2020 Apr;84(4):464-472. doi: 10.1002/jdd.12043. Epub 2020 Feb 6.
Dental schools seek to educate students to become inclined toward self-directed, lifelong learning, an important mindset for healthcare professionals that may be linked to deep versus surface learning approaches. Students using a deep learning approach are more intrinsically motivated and actively engage in higher-order thinking, while those using a surface learning approach are more extrinsically motivated and aim for passive learning.
Because student learning approaches can be influenced by a wide variety of learning experiences, we sought to understand how student approaches to learning differ by year in dental school and are related to academic achievement.
A total of 244 students in a 4-year dental school program in South Korea voluntarily participated in this study. We collected data on school year and academic achievement, and approaches to learning of participants using the validated Study Processes Questionnaire to assess learning approach, which included the constructs of deep motive, deep strategy, surface motive, and surface strategy.
We conducted 3 sets of statistical analyses and found that most students adopted a deep approach to learning (DAL) in their first and second years (Y1 and Y2), with third-year students (Y3) showing heavy dependence on a surface approach to learning (SAL) and sharp drops in intrinsic motives. Student approaches to learning were not significantly related to academic achievement. In the first 2 years of dental school, students tended to adopt a DAL, and viewed their learning as personal growth and their profession as necessitating deep intellectual inquiry.
In the third year, the change from a DAL to a SAL coincided with entry to clinical training. The lack of integration of biomedical science (Y1 and Y2) and clinical science (Y3 and Y4), and increased stress in the initial clinical context may account for this difference. The poor correlation between a DAL and high achievement may indicate a need for change in assessment methods. This study hopes to stimulate reflection regarding student learning approaches and educational efforts that prepare future dentists for lifelong learning.
牙科学院旨在培养学生养成自主、终身学习的习惯，这是医疗保健专业人员的重要思维模式，可能与深度学习和浅层学习方法有关。采用深度学习方法的学生更具有内在动力，积极参与高阶思维，而采用浅层学习方法的学生则更具有外在动力，旨在进行被动学习。
由于学生的学习方法可能受到各种学习经验的影响，我们试图了解学生的学习方法在牙科学院的不同年级有何不同，以及与学业成绩有何关系。
韩国一所为期 4 年的牙科学院共有 244 名学生自愿参加了这项研究。我们收集了学生年级和学业成绩以及学习方法的数据，使用经过验证的学习过程问卷来评估学习方法，该问卷包括深层动机、深层策略、表层动机和表层策略等结构。
我们进行了 3 组统计分析，发现大多数学生在第一和第二年（Y1 和 Y2）采用了深度学习方法（DAL），而第三年（Y3）的学生则严重依赖浅层学习方法（SAL），内在动机急剧下降。学生的学习方法与学业成绩没有显著关系。在牙科学院的头两年，学生倾向于采用 DAL，将学习视为个人成长，将自己的职业视为需要深入的知识探究。
在第三年，从 DAL 向 SAL 的转变恰逢临床培训的开始。生物医学科学（Y1 和 Y2）和临床科学（Y3 和 Y4）的整合不足，以及初始临床环境下的压力增加，可能导致了这种差异。DAL 与高成就之间的相关性较差可能表明需要改变评估方法。本研究希望能激发对学生学习方法和教育工作的反思，为未来的牙医做好终身学习的准备。
