Staff View: Differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: A qualitative instrumental case study from a theory of action perspective

Differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: A qualitative instrumental case study from a theory of action perspective

Poor academic performance and failure can cause undesired effects for students, schools, and society. Understanding why some students fail while their peers succeed is important to enhance student performance. Therefore, this study explores the differences in the learning process between high- and l...

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Main Authors:	Foong, Chan Choong, Ghouse, Nur Liyana Bashir, Lye, An Jie, Pallath, Vinod, Hong, Wei-Han, Vadivelu, Jamuna
Format:	Article
Published:	Taylor & Francis 2022
Subjects:	R Medicine RC Internal medicine
Online Access:	http://eprints.um.edu.my/32717/
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spelling	my.um.eprints.327172022-08-18T01:55:16Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/32717/ Differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: A qualitative instrumental case study from a theory of action perspective Foong, Chan Choong Ghouse, Nur Liyana Bashir Lye, An Jie Pallath, Vinod Hong, Wei-Han Vadivelu, Jamuna R Medicine RC Internal medicine Poor academic performance and failure can cause undesired effects for students, schools, and society. Understanding why some students fail while their peers succeed is important to enhance student performance. Therefore, this study explores the differences in the learning process between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students from a theory of action perspective. Methods This study employed a qualitative instrumental case study design intended to compare two groups of students-high-achieving students (n = 14) and low-achieving students (n = 5), enrolled in pre-clinical medical studies at the Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. Data were collected through reflective journals and semi-structured interviews. Regarding journaling, participants were required to recall their learning experiences of the previous academic year. Two analysts coded the data and then compared the codes of high- and low-achieving students. The third analyst reviewed the codes. Themes were identified iteratively, working towards comparing the learning processes of high- and low-achieving students. Results Data analysis revealed four themes-motivation and expectation, study methods, self-management, and flexibility of mindset. First, high-achieving students were more motivated and had higher academic expectations than low-achieving students. Second, high-achieving students adopted study planning and deep learning approaches, whereas low-achieving students adopted superficial learning approaches. Third, in contrast to low-achieving students, high-achieving students exhibited better time management and studied consistently. Finally, high-achieving students proactively sought external support and made changes to overcome challenges. In contrast, low-achieving students were less resilient and tended to avoid challenges. Conclusion Based on the theory of action, high-achieving students utilize positive governing variables, whereas low-achieving students are driven by negative governing variables. Hence, governing variable-based remediation is needed to help low-achieving students interrogate the motives behind their actions and realign positive governing variables, actions, and intended outcomes. Key Messages This study found four themes describing the differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: motivation and expectation, study methods, self-management, and flexibility of mindset. Based on the theory of action approach, high-achieving pre-clinical medical students are fundamentally different from their low-achieving peers in terms of their governing variables, with the positive governing variables likely to have guided them to act in a manner beneficial to and facilitating desirable academic performance. Governing variable-based remediation may help students interrogate the motives of their actions. Taylor & Francis 2022-12-31 Article PeerReviewed Foong, Chan Choong and Ghouse, Nur Liyana Bashir and Lye, An Jie and Pallath, Vinod and Hong, Wei-Han and Vadivelu, Jamuna (2022) Differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: A qualitative instrumental case study from a theory of action perspective. Annals of Medicine, 54 (1). pp. 195-210. ISSN 0785-3890, DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/07853890.2021.1967440 <https://doi.org/10.1080/07853890.2021.1967440>. 10.1080/07853890.2021.1967440
institution	Universiti Malaya
building	UM Library
collection	Institutional Repository
continent	Asia
country	Malaysia
content_provider	Universiti Malaya
content_source	UM Research Repository
url_provider	http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic	R Medicine RC Internal medicine
spellingShingle	R Medicine RC Internal medicine Foong, Chan Choong Ghouse, Nur Liyana Bashir Lye, An Jie Pallath, Vinod Hong, Wei-Han Vadivelu, Jamuna Differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: A qualitative instrumental case study from a theory of action perspective
description	Poor academic performance and failure can cause undesired effects for students, schools, and society. Understanding why some students fail while their peers succeed is important to enhance student performance. Therefore, this study explores the differences in the learning process between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students from a theory of action perspective. Methods This study employed a qualitative instrumental case study design intended to compare two groups of students-high-achieving students (n = 14) and low-achieving students (n = 5), enrolled in pre-clinical medical studies at the Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. Data were collected through reflective journals and semi-structured interviews. Regarding journaling, participants were required to recall their learning experiences of the previous academic year. Two analysts coded the data and then compared the codes of high- and low-achieving students. The third analyst reviewed the codes. Themes were identified iteratively, working towards comparing the learning processes of high- and low-achieving students. Results Data analysis revealed four themes-motivation and expectation, study methods, self-management, and flexibility of mindset. First, high-achieving students were more motivated and had higher academic expectations than low-achieving students. Second, high-achieving students adopted study planning and deep learning approaches, whereas low-achieving students adopted superficial learning approaches. Third, in contrast to low-achieving students, high-achieving students exhibited better time management and studied consistently. Finally, high-achieving students proactively sought external support and made changes to overcome challenges. In contrast, low-achieving students were less resilient and tended to avoid challenges. Conclusion Based on the theory of action, high-achieving students utilize positive governing variables, whereas low-achieving students are driven by negative governing variables. Hence, governing variable-based remediation is needed to help low-achieving students interrogate the motives behind their actions and realign positive governing variables, actions, and intended outcomes. Key Messages This study found four themes describing the differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: motivation and expectation, study methods, self-management, and flexibility of mindset. Based on the theory of action approach, high-achieving pre-clinical medical students are fundamentally different from their low-achieving peers in terms of their governing variables, with the positive governing variables likely to have guided them to act in a manner beneficial to and facilitating desirable academic performance. Governing variable-based remediation may help students interrogate the motives of their actions.
format	Article
author	Foong, Chan Choong Ghouse, Nur Liyana Bashir Lye, An Jie Pallath, Vinod Hong, Wei-Han Vadivelu, Jamuna
author_facet	Foong, Chan Choong Ghouse, Nur Liyana Bashir Lye, An Jie Pallath, Vinod Hong, Wei-Han Vadivelu, Jamuna
author_sort	Foong, Chan Choong
title	Differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: A qualitative instrumental case study from a theory of action perspective
title_short	Differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: A qualitative instrumental case study from a theory of action perspective
title_full	Differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: A qualitative instrumental case study from a theory of action perspective
title_fullStr	Differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: A qualitative instrumental case study from a theory of action perspective
title_full_unstemmed	Differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: A qualitative instrumental case study from a theory of action perspective
title_sort	differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: a qualitative instrumental case study from a theory of action perspective
publisher	Taylor & Francis
publishDate	2022
url	http://eprints.um.edu.my/32717/
_version_	1744649145716572160
score	13.211869

Differences between high- and low-achieving pre-clinical medical students: A qualitative instrumental case study from a theory of action perspective

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