A influência das abordagens ao estudo dos estudantes de medicina na adesão à metodologia de aprendizagem auxiliada por computadores

Abstract

In last decades, curricular reforms in medical education has been favouring the implementation of computer-assisted learning (CAL) as a pedagogical tool. The paradigm of personalized and interactive learning, brought by Learning Analytics, raised interrogations about how students' cognitive profiles influence their interaction with this new learning methodology. This study was developed to understand how medical students' approaches to learning influence their adherence to CAL in anatomy education. Thus, 671 medical students attending Musculoskeletal Anatomy (MA) and Cardiovascular Anatomy (CA) courses were allocated into three groups, according to the course they attended (MA Group, CA Group and MA+CA Group). Students performed an Approaches to Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) questionnaire to characterize their learning approach and were invited to attend anatomy CAL training sessions during one-month period. Within all groups, there were no statistically significant differences in attendance to training sessions between different learning approaches. A difference in learning approaches between MA (first-year students) and CA (second-year students) groups was found (P<0,01). In addition, CA group performed significantly better in their final examination compared to MA (15,5 ± 2,47 vs 12,2 ± 2,03; P<0.001) and MA+CA groups (15,4 ± 2,47 vs 13,9 ± 2,50; P<0.001). Therefore, adherence to a CAL platform appear to be independent from students' learning approaches and the evolution of the preferred learning approach throughout curricular years might affect students' academic performance. In conclusion, CAL methodology can be implemented independently of students' learning approaches.