Weekly changes in self-reported study behavior during a self-regulated-learning-informed program among first-year allied health students: a prospective longitudinal study

Abstract Background First-year allied health students must establish independent study habits rapidly, yet many enter university without them. Many evaluations of educational support for self-regulated learning (SRL) compare only two time points and cannot show when change occurs. This study measured self-study behavior weekly across one semester. Methods This was a prospective longitudinal single-cohort study at one Japanese university. First-year clinical laboratory technology and clinical engineering students attended a weekly 12-session SRL-informed program; planned-and-reviewed self-study time was recorded at every session. SRL behavior and self-efficacy scores (an eight-item SRL measure) and total out-of-class self-study time were collected three weeks before session 1 (T0) and at session 12 (T2). Weekly differences were assessed with the Friedman test; T0–T2 changes were assessed with Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with Holm adjustment. Results Sixty-seven students participated (784 weekly responses; all 67 completed T0 and T2). At baseline, 30 students (44.8%) had studied ≤ 30 min per day in high school. The distribution of planned-and-reviewed self-study time differed across the 12 sessions (Friedman χ²(11) = 258.12, p < 0.001; 52 complete cases). The shift was already under way by session 6: the proportion reporting none fell from 27% at session 1 to 0% from session 6 onward, and the proportion reporting ≥ 121 min rose from 8% to 21% at session 6, 38% at session 8 and 61% at session 12. Total out-of-class self-study time increased from T0 to T2 (Holm-adjusted p < 0.001), with 60 of 67 students (89.6%) reporting a higher category and none lower. Both prespecified scores increased (behavior, p < 0.001; self-efficacy, p = 0.007), but change was more heterogeneous for self-efficacy: 19 students (28.4%) scored lower at T2. Conclusions Planned-and-reviewed self-study time shifted substantially toward higher categories during the program, whereas change in self-efficacy was less consistent between individuals. Methodologically, weekly measurement showed that the shift was under way by the sixth session, which two-time-point designs cannot show. Practically, brief weekly planning and review records were feasible for an entire first-year cohort. The single-group design precludes causal inference, and examination-related influences cannot be excluded.