Medical Students' Perceptions and Use of Formal and Informal Curriculum Resources

Introduction  Resource overload describes the feeling medical students experience in choosing formal (faculty-prescribed) and informal study resources (not faculty-prescribed). This study aims to characterize students' use and perceptions of formal and informal study resources to inform their use in medical education. Methods  This is a mixed-methods study utilizing a convenience sample of first-year medical students enrolled at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine during the academic year 2020-2021. A 40-question, five-point Likert scale, survey based on Keller's Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction (ARCS) Model of Motivational Design was distributed to medical students during the end of their first year of medical school. Multivariate analysis of variance determined differences between formal and informal resources for each construct. Interviews were also conducted by first-year medical students and analyzed using thematic analysis. Learning logs were completed during the beginning of the medical students' second year to assess daily study habits. Results  Fifty-one students completed the survey with a response rate of 42.5%. Informal resources scored higher across all constructs: attention (formal: 3.4±1.2, informal: 4.0±1.1; p<.0125), relevance (formal: 3.8±1.1, informal: 4.3±1.0; p<.0125), confidence (formal: 3.2±1.2, informal: 4.1±1.1; p<.0125), satisfaction (formal: 2.8±1.2, informal: 3.6±1.2; p<.0125) (Likert scale 1-5, Mean±SD). Students found formal resources lacked depth and organization while informal resources allowed for concise understanding with retention cues. Learning log data reported similar use of formal and informal resources during week 1 (88.2% formal vs. 87.8% informal) and week 2 (84.6% formal vs. 82.6% informal). Conclusions  Students preferred informal resources based on ARCS constructs. However, the actual usage of formal and informal resources was similar. Formal resources align more with curricular assessments, but informal resources aid student retention and understanding. Therefore, students find both formal and informal resources necessary for success. Faculty should consider integrating informal curriculum resources to optimize student learning.