Defining and tracking medical student self-monitoring using multiple-choice question item certainty

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Cognitive Psychology
• Assessment

Background:

• Self-monitoring is crucial in clinical practice, linked to self-efficacy.
• Assessing self-monitoring requires defined criteria and measurement methods.
• Medical students' self-monitoring patterns were explored in relation to academic progression and knowledge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and apply criteria for adequate self-monitoring in medical students.
• To measure patterns of self-monitoring and knowledge across different student cohorts.
• To investigate the relationship between self-monitoring, knowledge, and year of study.

Main Methods:

• Utilized student responses and certainty levels from multiple-choice question progress tests.
• Defined adequate self-monitoring based on correctness proportions and certainty levels.
• Applied criteria to categorize self-monitoring and knowledge patterns over four tests.

Main Results:

• Analyzed data from 737 students across three cohorts.
• 58% of students demonstrated adequate self-monitoring and knowledge across all tests.
• Higher academic year correlated with higher rates of adequate self-monitoring and knowledge.

Conclusions:

• Developed a definition for adequate self-monitoring applicable to individual student responses and tracking over time.
• Self-monitoring patterns generally align with knowledge patterns, but discrepancies offer additional insights into student ability.
• The proposed measure of self-monitoring provides valuable information beyond knowledge assessment.