Medical Students’ Perceptions of Their Learning Environment, Well-Being and Academic Self-Concept

Abstract

This study investigated medical students' perceptions of their learning environment and how these related to well-being in terms of experienced exhaustion and losing interest in personal studies. The goal was to also examine whether students' perceptions and experiences of well-being related to their academic self-concept. Experiences were compared between lecture-based learning (LBL) and problem-based learning (PBL) environments. The MED NORD questionnaire was used to measure students' experiences of their learning environment, experienced well-being (i.e. exhaustion and lack of interest) and academic self-concept. A total of 610 students participated. Structural equation modelling was used to investigate relationships between the variables under study. A cross-sectional design was used to compare experiences between different medical schools. Worry about future workload was found to positively relate to exhaustion, whereas worry and study satisfaction both negatively related to lack of interest. Experienced high workload related to both exhaustion and lack of interest. In turn, lack of interest was negatively related to academic self-concept, whereas exhaustion was positively related to it. PBL students reported higher levels of worry concerning future workloads, but they also experienced receiving more feedback. In addition, novice PBL students experienced higher levels of exhaustion and better academic self-concept than LBL students. No such differences were found between students in the clinical phase. Lack of interest concerning personal studies appeared to be more unfavourable than experiences of exhaustion, because the former was related to low academic self-concept. The PBL environment appeared challenging, but only during the first years of study.

Deep and surface learning in problem-based learning: a review of the literature

“…Students who perceive the workload as high in their learning environment are more likely to display a lack of interest in their studies as well as exhaustion. This is particularly true for beginning PBL students (Litmanen et al 2014). Another factor that can lead to more surface learning is the assessment methods used.…”

Am I in the right place? Academic engagement and study success during the first years at university

“…Similar dysfunctional orientation was identified by Lonka et al (2008) using a variable-centered approach, and Heikkilä et al (2012) using a person-oriented approach. However, it is quite typical for exhaustion, increased workload, and lack of self-regulation to be experienced among freshmen (Lindblom-Ylänne & Lonka, 2000;Litmanen, et al, 2014). Many of these students are coming directly from high school and still 'learning how to learn' in the academic community.…”

“…However, even well-motivated and highly selected students may face problems in regulating their learning (Donche, Coertjens, & van Petegem, 2010;Donche & van Petegem, 2009;Heikkilä, Lonka, Nieminen, & Niemivirta, 2012;Heikkilä, Niemivirta, Nieminen, & Lonka, 2011;Nieminen, Lindblom-Ylänne, & Lonka, 2004). Problems in self-regulation may further increase the risk of exhaustion (Litmanen, Loyens, Sjöblom, & Lonka, 2014;Misra, McKean, West, & Russo, 2000).…”

Assessing Students’ Well-being in Primary Health Care Setting as a Clinical Learning Environment

“…It tested the construct validity by CFA. The study revealed that the hypothesized model had an acceptable fit with the sample data [45]. Another example is a study conducted in Finland at the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Education where other scales were examined for construct validity.…”

“…It is worth-mentioning that this is the first study that measured the internal structure of MED-NORD questionnaire using CFA with different scales and items under different scales. However, other studies have used limited variants of MED-NORD questionnaire [45,46].…”