Mokahal Ali El, Ahmad Ali, Habib Joseph R, Nasrallah Ali A, Francis George, Sabra Ramzi, Zgheib Nathalie K
Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Program for Research and Innovation in Medical Education, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine , American University of Beirut, PO. Box 11-0236, Riad El Solh, Beirut, Lebanon.
Med Sci Educ. 2021 Jul 30;31(5):1693-1702. doi: 10.1007/s40670-021-01362-3. eCollection 2021 Oct.
Medical students' attendance at lectures, particularly in the preclinical years, has been steadily declining over the years. One of the many explanations offered for this observation is that students have different learning styles and approaches, such that not all of them benefit from attending lectures; however, no studies have specifically examined this possibility. While there is evidence against learning styles as affecting objective measures of learning, they are associated with subjective measures of learning and may therefore influence student behavior. We hypothesized that students' learning styles and/or approaches influence their views about the value and purpose of lectures and their motivation to attend them, which, in turn will affect their behavior.
A LimeSurvey was distributed to all preclinical students at the American University of Beirut. The survey included questions about demographic data, self-reported attendance rates in Year 1 of medical school, two validated and standardized questionnaires assessing the students' learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, group, individual) and learning approaches (superficial, deep, strategic), and a series of questions exploring the students' views about the purpose and value of lectures and their motivation to attend lectures.
No associations were found between learning styles or approaches and attendance rates, but this may have been confounded by the mandatory attendance policy at the time. There were, however, a few positive associations between some learning styles or approaches and the students' views about the value of attending lectures. In particular, students with high scores as auditory learners tended to see absolutely no value in attending lectures, and those with high scores as group, auditory or visual learners, tended to see less value in taking their own notes in lectures. Students with superficial approaches to learning felt that watching videos of a lecture provides equivalent education to attending a lecture. There were no statistically significant associations with either the perceived purpose of lectures or the motivation to attend lectures after correction for multiple testing.
This study reveals that except for some interesting findings related to auditory learners, differences in learning styles or approaches among students cannot adequately explain differences in their attitudes, and likely, behavior, regarding lecture attendance. The idea that learning styles and approaches can influence educational preferences and outcomes, while attractive and intuitive, continues to require supporting evidence.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-021-01362-3.
多年来，医学生参加讲座的情况，尤其是在临床前阶段，一直在稳步下降。针对这一现象给出的众多解释之一是，学生有不同的学习风格和方法，并非所有人都能从参加讲座中受益；然而，尚无研究专门考察过这种可能性。虽然有证据表明学习风格不会影响学习的客观指标，但它们与学习的主观指标相关，因此可能会影响学生的行为。我们假设，学生的学习风格和/或方法会影响他们对讲座价值和目的的看法以及参加讲座的积极性，而这反过来又会影响他们的行为。
向贝鲁特美国大学的所有临床前学生发放了一份在线调查问卷（LimeSurvey）。该调查包括有关人口统计学数据的问题、医学院一年级自我报告的出勤率、两份经过验证和标准化的问卷，分别用于评估学生的学习风格（视觉型、听觉型、动觉型、触觉型、小组型、个体型）和学习方法（表面型、深层型、策略型），以及一系列探讨学生对讲座目的和价值的看法以及参加讲座积极性的问题。
未发现学习风格或方法与出勤率之间存在关联，但这可能受到当时强制出勤政策的干扰。然而，某些学习风格或方法与学生对参加讲座价值的看法之间存在一些积极关联。具体而言，听觉型学习得分高的学生往往认为参加讲座毫无价值，而小组型、听觉型或视觉型学习得分高的学生往往认为在讲座中自己做笔记的价值不大。采用表面学习方法的学生认为观看讲座视频与参加讲座能提供同等的教育效果。在进行多重检验校正后，与讲座的感知目的或参加讲座的积极性均未发现具有统计学意义的关联。
本研究表明，除了与听觉型学习者相关的一些有趣发现外，学生之间学习风格或方法的差异并不能充分解释他们在讲座出勤方面的态度差异，可能也无法解释行为差异。学习风格和方法会影响教育偏好和结果这一观点虽然有吸引力且直观，但仍需要确凿的证据支持。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s40670-021-01362-3获取的补充材料。
