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Patterns of Domain-Specific Learning Among Medical Undergraduate Students in Relation to Confidence in Their Physiology Knowledge: Insights From a Pre–post Study

RESEARCH FOCUS: The promotion of domain-specific knowledge is a central goal of higher education and, in the field of medicine, it is particularly essential to promote global health. Domain-specific knowledge on its own is not exhaustive; confidence regarding the factual truth of this knowledge cont...

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Autores principales: Roeper, Jochen, Reichert-Schlax, Jasmin, Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Olga, Klose, Verena, Weber, Maruschka, Nagel, Marie-Theres
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8867175/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35222131
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.562211
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author Roeper, Jochen
Reichert-Schlax, Jasmin
Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Olga
Klose, Verena
Weber, Maruschka
Nagel, Marie-Theres
author_facet Roeper, Jochen
Reichert-Schlax, Jasmin
Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Olga
Klose, Verena
Weber, Maruschka
Nagel, Marie-Theres
author_sort Roeper, Jochen
collection PubMed
description RESEARCH FOCUS: The promotion of domain-specific knowledge is a central goal of higher education and, in the field of medicine, it is particularly essential to promote global health. Domain-specific knowledge on its own is not exhaustive; confidence regarding the factual truth of this knowledge content is also required. An increase in both knowledge and confidence is considered a necessary prerequisite for making professional decisions in the clinical context. Especially the knowledge of human physiology is fundamental and simultaneously critical to medical decision-making. However, numerous studies have shown difficulties in understanding and misconceptions in this area of knowledge. Therefore, we investigate (i) how preclinical medical students acquire knowledge in physiology over the course of their studies and simultaneously gain confidence in the correctness of this knowledge as well as (ii) the interrelations between these variables, and (iii) how they affect the development of domain-specific knowledge. METHOD: In a pre–post study, 169 medical students’ development of physiology knowledge and their confidence related to this knowledge were assessed via paper-pencil questionnaires before and after attending physiology seminars for one semester. Data from a longitudinal sample of n = 97 students were analyzed using mean comparisons, regression analyses, and latent class analyses (LCAs). In addition, four types of item responses were formed based on confidence and correctness in the knowledge test. RESULTS: We found a significant and large increase in the students’ physiology knowledge, with task-related confidence being the strongest predictor (apart from learning motivation). Moreover, a significantly higher level of confidence at t2 was confirmed, with the level of prior confidence being a strong predictor (apart from knowledge at t2). Furthermore, based on the students’ development of knowledge and confidence levels between measurement points, three empirically distinct groups were distinguished: knowledge gainers, confidence gainers, and overall gainers. The students whose confidence in incorrect knowledge increased constituted one particularly striking group. Therefore, the training of both knowledge and the ability to critically reflect on one’s knowledge and skills as well as an assessment of their development in education is required, especially in professions such as medicine, where knowledge-based decisions made with confidence are of vital importance.
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spelling pubmed-88671752022-02-25 Patterns of Domain-Specific Learning Among Medical Undergraduate Students in Relation to Confidence in Their Physiology Knowledge: Insights From a Pre–post Study Roeper, Jochen Reichert-Schlax, Jasmin Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Olga Klose, Verena Weber, Maruschka Nagel, Marie-Theres Front Psychol Psychology RESEARCH FOCUS: The promotion of domain-specific knowledge is a central goal of higher education and, in the field of medicine, it is particularly essential to promote global health. Domain-specific knowledge on its own is not exhaustive; confidence regarding the factual truth of this knowledge content is also required. An increase in both knowledge and confidence is considered a necessary prerequisite for making professional decisions in the clinical context. Especially the knowledge of human physiology is fundamental and simultaneously critical to medical decision-making. However, numerous studies have shown difficulties in understanding and misconceptions in this area of knowledge. Therefore, we investigate (i) how preclinical medical students acquire knowledge in physiology over the course of their studies and simultaneously gain confidence in the correctness of this knowledge as well as (ii) the interrelations between these variables, and (iii) how they affect the development of domain-specific knowledge. METHOD: In a pre–post study, 169 medical students’ development of physiology knowledge and their confidence related to this knowledge were assessed via paper-pencil questionnaires before and after attending physiology seminars for one semester. Data from a longitudinal sample of n = 97 students were analyzed using mean comparisons, regression analyses, and latent class analyses (LCAs). In addition, four types of item responses were formed based on confidence and correctness in the knowledge test. RESULTS: We found a significant and large increase in the students’ physiology knowledge, with task-related confidence being the strongest predictor (apart from learning motivation). Moreover, a significantly higher level of confidence at t2 was confirmed, with the level of prior confidence being a strong predictor (apart from knowledge at t2). Furthermore, based on the students’ development of knowledge and confidence levels between measurement points, three empirically distinct groups were distinguished: knowledge gainers, confidence gainers, and overall gainers. The students whose confidence in incorrect knowledge increased constituted one particularly striking group. Therefore, the training of both knowledge and the ability to critically reflect on one’s knowledge and skills as well as an assessment of their development in education is required, especially in professions such as medicine, where knowledge-based decisions made with confidence are of vital importance. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-02-10 /pmc/articles/PMC8867175/ /pubmed/35222131 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.562211 Text en Copyright © 2022 Roeper, Reichert-Schlax, Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Klose, Weber and Nagel. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Roeper, Jochen
Reichert-Schlax, Jasmin
Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Olga
Klose, Verena
Weber, Maruschka
Nagel, Marie-Theres
Patterns of Domain-Specific Learning Among Medical Undergraduate Students in Relation to Confidence in Their Physiology Knowledge: Insights From a Pre–post Study
title Patterns of Domain-Specific Learning Among Medical Undergraduate Students in Relation to Confidence in Their Physiology Knowledge: Insights From a Pre–post Study
title_full Patterns of Domain-Specific Learning Among Medical Undergraduate Students in Relation to Confidence in Their Physiology Knowledge: Insights From a Pre–post Study
title_fullStr Patterns of Domain-Specific Learning Among Medical Undergraduate Students in Relation to Confidence in Their Physiology Knowledge: Insights From a Pre–post Study
title_full_unstemmed Patterns of Domain-Specific Learning Among Medical Undergraduate Students in Relation to Confidence in Their Physiology Knowledge: Insights From a Pre–post Study
title_short Patterns of Domain-Specific Learning Among Medical Undergraduate Students in Relation to Confidence in Their Physiology Knowledge: Insights From a Pre–post Study
title_sort patterns of domain-specific learning among medical undergraduate students in relation to confidence in their physiology knowledge: insights from a pre–post study
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8867175/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35222131
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.562211
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