Zimbabwean PreClinical Medical Students Use of Deep and Strategic Study Approaches to Learn Anatomy at Two New Medical Schools

Abstract

Anatomy is a challenging preclinical subject owing to the vast amount of information that students need to master. The adoption of relevant study approaches is key to the development of a long-lasting understanding of anatomical subject matter. Phenomenographic educational research describes the medical students as using a variable mix of deep, strategic, and surface approaches to study. Continually assessing students' learning preferences and approaches is crucial for achieving the desired learning outcomes. The approaches to studying anatomy in two groups of first-year Zimbabwean medical students from two newly established medical schools were collected using the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) instrument and than analyzed. At least 90% of the students believed that anatomy involved reproducing knowledge or personal understanding and development. Overall, the majority of the students adopted deep and strategic approaches, while a distant minority used the surface approach. There was no significant correlation between either the students' sex or age and their preference for a specific approach to studying. The mean anatomy grades for students using a strategic approach were significantly higher than those using deep or surface approaches. The number of strategic learners was double that of deep learners among the high achievers subgroup. The strategic approach positively correlated with performance in examinations. Generally, the students shared a common understanding of the concept of anatomy learning. Studies such as this can assist with the identification of students at risk of failure and empower lecturers to recommend the adoption of more beneficial strategic and deep learner traits. Anat

Pre‐Clinical Medical Students' Use of Motivational and Cognitive Study Strategies During Anatomy Learning: A Three‐Year Cross‐Sectional Survey

“…Using this line of thought would make it appear as though the current learners are not self‐regulating or lack the motivation to use specific study strategies since most of the constructs did not correlate significantly with learning outcomes (anatomy cGPA). However, a recent Zimbabwean study showed that medical students directed their own learning and predominantly used strategic and deep learning strategies that support academic performance (Zilundu et al, 2021). Follow‐up interviews with the current sample revealed that students suffer from stress as well as test anxiety and are not directly supported by the institution.…”

“…Follow‐up interviews with the current sample revealed that students suffer from stress as well as test anxiety and are not directly supported by the institution. They also revealed that despite their strategic approach to anatomy study (Zilundu et al, 2021), the examinations are still difficult and there are high chances that what one knows does not appear in continuous assessment examinations. These factors suggest that anatomy teachers need to reflect on their assessments as well as providing institutional psychosocial support to students who are often under pressure to do better.…”

“…These teaching methods were perceived as useful for imparting foundational anatomy knowledge by medical students (Siwela and Mawera, 2017). A recent study also established that the majority of Zimbabwean medical students adopted deep and strategic approaches to master anatomy content suggesting engagement in self‐regulated learning (Zilundu et al, 2021). Given the local reports of high stress among students, staff attrition and low adoption of other teaching methods, such as problem‐based and team‐based learning (Gray et al, 2014), understanding how the ongoing classes of medical students use motivational and cognitive study strategies during anatomy learning is paramount.…”

Students Approaches to Learning: Towards a Context-specific Learning Approaches Instrument

“…Students who rely on a deep approach to learning try to understand the meaning and make connections between ideas and information, think critically, capture the logical structure underlying the content or information as well as the related source, they are able to explain the content to another student and build their own understanding of course materials and they transform the knowledge (Alt & Boniel-Nissim, 2018;Azewara et al, 2021;Hu & Yeo, 2020;Lindblom-Ylä nne et al, 2019;Omar, 2021). In contrast, students who use a surface approach memorize facts without understanding them, use a minimum of effort and engagement, they passively receive ideas and concepts without questioning them and learn them by heart in order to pass a course, to meet the assessment demand, they are led by the fear of failure, motivated by a deadline (Alhammadi, 2021;Alt & Boniel-Nissim, 2018;Chue, 2022;Zilundu et al, 2022). The surface approach has been found to imply unreflective learning (Lindblom-Ylä nne et al, 2019).…”

Examining Motivation of First-Year Undergraduate Anatomy Students Through the Lens of Universal Design for Learning (UDL): A Single Institution Study

“…Anatomy education has been described as critical for good clinical practice among medical, dental and allied health professionals [ 12 ]. However, the study of anatomy requires the understanding and retention of large volumes of information [ 13 ]. In recent years, there has been a reduction in the amount of time dedicated to teaching anatomy in many healthcare programmes [ 14 – 16 ], resulting in a focus on students to engage in self-directed learning [ 17 , 18 ].…”