Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Students can be classified into three categories depending on
their approaches to studying; namely, deep approach (DA), strategic approach
(SA) and surface apathetic or superficial approach (SAA). The aim of this study
was to identify factors affecting the approaches to studying among Sri Lankan
medical undergraduates and post graduate trainees and to analyze the change in
the pattern of study skills with time and experience.
METHOD: Pre-clinical and clinical students of the Faculty of Medicine, University
of Colombo and postgraduate trainees in Surgery at the National Hospital of Sri
Lanka were invited to complete the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for
Students (ASSIST) questionnaire.
RESULTS: A total of 187 pre clinical (M: F = 96:91), 124 clinical (M: F = 61:63)
and 53 post graduate trainees (M: F = 50:3) participated in the study. Approaches
of male and female students were similar. SA was significantly affected by age
among the preclinical students (p = 0.01), but not in other groups. Among preclinical
students, males preferred a teacher who supported understanding (p =
0.04) but females preferred a passive transmission of information (p < 0.001).
This, too, was not visible among other groups. A linear regression performed on
group (batch), gender, island rank at GCE Advance Level (AL) examination, self
appraisal score and the preference scores of type of teacher only managed to
explain 35% or less of variance observed for each approach in individual groups.
CONCLUSION: Different factors affect the approach to studying in different
groups but these explain only a small fraction of the variance observed.
