Cognitive learning strategy use and their combinations in first year biomedical programmes

Effective learning strategies enhance long-term learning and academic performance, and are important for lifelong learning. However, previous studies are inconsistent and show substantial differences in use and effectiveness dependent on level of education and learning domain. Our study explores which individual and combinations of cognitive learning strategies first-year biomedical students use and how usage differs between different undergraduate programmes. First-year undergraduate Medical (MED, n = 187), Clinical Technology (CT, n = 28), and Biomedical Sciences (BS, n = 40) students reported their usage of cognitive learning strategies from a list of twelve commonly used strategies. Learning strategy combinations were analysed only among MED students (due to sample size limitations), using principal component analysis with varimax rotation. In all programmes, students frequently used Practice Testing and Summarisation and infrequently used Peer Learning. We distinguished five learning strategy combinations, labelled as: ‘ Deep learning’ ; ‘ Surface learning’ ; ‘ Creative learning’ ; ‘ Distributed repetition’ ; and ‘ Interleaved repetition’ . Although the overall ranking of individual learning strategy usage was similar across the programmes, BS students seem to have used slightly more deep-learning strategies, and CT students fewer surface-learning strategies. Students used both effective and ineffective cognitive strategies, stressing the need to help students choose learning strategies effective for long-term retention. Moreover, students typically used multiple learning strategies and in specific combinations. Therefore we emphasise the importance of researching cognitive learning strategies in these combinations, as we hypothesise they may affect their effectiveness. Despite comparable content, differences in the usage of deep and surface learning strategies were observed between programmes, which could indicate that instructional design may be associated with individual learning strategies preferences. These insights and future studies into biomedical learning behaviour are needed to support educators in the design of curricula and personalised and targeted learning-to-learn interventions, to ultimately guide students to use effective learning strategies aimed at long-term learning.