Rethinking student study strategies
Authors: Mussell Jason Charles , Husmann Polly R. 
Published: April 2020

Background

The lack of correlation between perceived learning styles, study strategies, and successful outcomes in anatomical science courses has been demonstrated in both undergraduate baccalaureate and undergraduate medical student populations. Somewhat surprisingly, a difference in preferred study strategies was observed when comparing these populations. Undergraduate medical students far preferred auditory study strategies over reading/writing (88.09% to 2.38%, respectively) while undergraduate students employed these strategies almost equally, with a preference for reading/writing (37.93% to 27.59%). This difference was driven almost entirely by the medical students’ use of recorded lectures as a means of studying. This strategy was employed alongside traditional auditory strategies also used by undergraduates like attending class and studying with others. The question arose, why in this age of active learning, were students overwhelmingly using such a passive strategy (rewatching lectures) as opposed to an active one (studying with others)? Anecdotal observations of student behavior and conversations with students indicated that which strategy was truly active and which passive may no longer be accurate.

Methods

Undergraduate medical students that participated in the original investigation into learning styles were given a follow‐up questionnaire to determine how they used the lecture recordings and to describe their interactions when studying with others. This questionnaire includes eight questions about behaviors while viewing the recorded lectures and while studying with other students on a 4‐point Likert scale from “most accurately describes me” to “least accurately describes me”. One additional question addressed how often students viewed the same recorded lecture.

Results

Data demonstrate that ~87% of medical students view the same recorded lecture more than once (up to 4 times) and listen to the recording at 1.4X, or more, the normal speed (60% of participants indicated “most accurately describes”, 33.3% of participants indicated “accurately describes”). Further most students take notes while viewing the recorded lecture, at least the first time (~87% most accurately/accurately) and often every time they view the lecture (~79% accurately/somewhat accurately). When studying with other students, 83.3% indicated that they are actually studying independently, i.e., not actively engaging with the other person. When they do choose to engage, only the most difficult concepts are discussed (75% most accurately/somewhat accurately) while overall concepts are not shared and most discussion seems to be on non‐study material (75% most accurately‐somewhat accurately).

Implications

Given these results, it seems apparent that two or more students in a room does not mean that they’re studying together. Moreover, when students use recorded lectures, they seem to be doing so in a manner more akin to traditional lecture interactions with students taking and refining notes. While this is not an entirely active learning strategy, based on these results, it is likely more active than merely sitting next to someone else that happens to be studying the same subject. Taken together it may be time for educators to reevaluate what traditional study strategies mean to modern students.

Support or Funding Information

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