Student selected components: student-designed modules are associated with closer alignment of planned and learnt outcomes

Figures & data

Table

Practice points

This is the first publication to provide data about student learning in student-designed (self-proposed) SSCs. Our findings provide evidence that self-proposed SSCs are associated with closer alignment of planned and learnt outcomes than staff-designed SSCs. This study provides further evidence for the benefits of student-directed learning.

Table 1.  Learning outcomes addressed by self-proposed SSCs: student perceptions before and after completion

		BEFORE		AFTER
LEARNING OUTCOME	PERCEPTION	n	%	n	%	χ^2	p
What a student will be able to do
1. Competent in clinical skills	Addressed	168	87.0	169	87.6	0.23	0.88
	Not addressed	25	13.0	24	12.4
2. Competent to perform practical procedures	Addressed	146	75.3	154	79.4	0.72	0.40
	Not addressed	48	24.7	40	20.6
3. Competent to investigate a patient	Addressed	172	90.0	179	93.2	1.19	0.28
	Not addressed	20	10.0	13	6.8
4. Competent to manage a patient	Addressed	170	88.0	176	91.2	0.70	0.40
	Not addressed	23	12.0	17	8.8
5. Competent to give advice on health promotion and disease prevention	Addressed	166	86.5	160	83.3	0.51	0.48
	Not addressed	26	13.5	32	16.7
6. Competent in communication skills	Addressed	190	98.4	183	94.8	2.87	0.09^†
	Not addressed	3	1.6	10	5.2
7. Competent to retrieve and handle information	Addressed	177	94.7	182	97.3	1.11	0.29
	Not addressed	10	5.3	5	2.7
How the student approaches their practice
8. Understanding of social, basic and clinical sciences and underlying principles	Addressed	190	98.0	189	97.4	0.11	1.0^†
	Not addressed	4	2.0	5	2.6
9. Appropriate attitudes, ethical understanding and legal responsibilities	Addressed	175	90.7	182	94.3	1.34	0.25
	Not addressed	18	9.3	11	5.7
10. Appropriate decision making skills and clinical reasoning and judgement	Addressed	170	90.0	182	96.3	4.99	0.02*
	Not addressed	19	10.0	7	3.7
The student as a professional
11. Appreciation of the role of the doctor within the health service	Addressed	182	94.8	179	93.2	0.19	0.67
	Not addressed	10	5.2	13	6.8
12. Aptitude for personal development	Addressed	190	98.5	192	99.5	0.25	0.62^†
	Not addressed	3	1.5	1	0.5

*Significantly different perception

^†Fisher's exact test

1 degree of freedom applied in each case for χ² test.

Table 2.  Learning outcomes addressed by self-proposed SSCs: changes in student perceptions after completion

		PERCEPTION CHANGED TO:
	TOTAL RETURNS	ADDRESSED		NOT ADDRESSED		TOTAL
LEARNING OUTCOME	n	n	%	n	%	CHANGE (%)
What a student will be able to do
1. Competent in clinical skills	193	16	8.3	15	7.8	16.1
2. Competent to perform practical procedures	194	23	11.9	15	7.7	19.6
3. Competent to investigate a patient	193	10	5.2	5	2.6	7.8
4. Competent to manage a patient	192	14	7.3	7	3.7	11.0
5. Competent to give advice on health promotion and disease prevention	192	9	4.7	15	7.8	12.5
6. Competent in communication skills	193	1	0.5	8	4.2	4.7
7. Competent to retrieve and handle information	189	9	4.8	4	2.1	6.9
How the student approaches their practice
8. Understanding of social, basic and clinical sciences and underlying principles	193	4	2.1	5	2.6	4.7
9. Appropriate attitudes, ethical understanding and legal responsibilities	192	13	6.8	5	2.6	9.4
10. Appropriate decision making skills and clinical reasoning and judgement	191	13	6.8	8	4.2	11.0
The student as a professional
11. Appreciation of the role of the doctor within the health service	191	7	3.7	10	5.2	8.9
12. Aptitude for personal development	193	3	1.6	1	0.5	2.1