Assessment of first-year medical student perceptions in the development of self-directed learning skills in a single medical school course

Abstract

Self-directed learning (SDL) is a form of education in which learners take charge of their own learning process, with an active role in knowledge, skill and attitude acquisition. Developing SDL skills is essential to becoming a lifelong learner, which is necessary in the current climate of rapidly expanding medical knowledge. Students must also develop the ability to reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses in SDL-related skills, allowing them to set appropriate learning goals and identify areas that require further improvement. Critical Reasoning Exercises (CREs), a student-driven, problem-based learning course, was introduced for first year medical students at New York Medical College School of Medicine to ensure all steps of the SDL cycle were covered in a comprehensive and standardized way. As part of the formative assessment process for CREs, we developed and validated a five-item self-reporting rubric of SDL competency to aid students’ self-assessment of their acquisition of SDL skills. The increase in student self-assessed total score from midpoint to endpoint of CREs was statistically significant (p