Identifying learning pattern among medical students and their preferred mode of study

Objectives: The goal of this study was to identify the problems students face in learning by identifying their pattern of study; to find out the most preferred method of teaching and learning and to assist faculty by identifying the problematic areas for students. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at All Saints University School of Medicine, Dominica. It involved 202 students who volunteered to fill out the questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to obtain information regarding student’s problems in learning along with their most preferred teaching and learning methodology. The data being compiled and analyzed using STATA IC 14. Results: Of the 202 participants, 191 responses were analyzed. STATA revealed no significance in a gender preferences and mode of learning however, significant differences were observed while comparing year of study to preference of PDI/PDS (p=0.041) and Tutoring (p=0.033). In addition, 96% (n=191) of the students appreciated Problem-based Learning (PBL) in the form of discussing clinical cases related to the topic. Conclusions: These results demonstrate a rising interest in PBL as opposed to traditional methods of learning.

研究目标：本研究旨在通过剖析学生的学习模式，识别其学习过程中面临的各类问题；探明最受青睐的教与学方法，并通过明确学生的学习难点，为教职员工提供协助。
研究方法：本横断面研究于多米尼克圣徒医学院（All Saints University School of Medicine, Dominica）开展，共纳入202名自愿参与问卷填写的学生。问卷旨在采集学生学习难题及其最偏好的教与学方法相关信息，研究数据采用STATA IC 14进行整理与分析。
研究结果：202名参与者中，共回收191份有效分析样本。STATA分析结果显示，学生的学习模式偏好无显著性别差异；对比不同学年与PDI/PDS偏好时，发现存在显著差异（p=0.041），在辅导教学（Tutoring）偏好上亦存在显著差异（p=0.033）。此外，96%（n=191）的学生认可以讨论主题相关临床案例形式开展的基于问题的学习（Problem-based Learning, PBL）。
研究结论：本研究结果表明，相较于传统学习方法，学生对PBL的兴趣呈上升趋势。