Does learning style influence performance in objective structured clinical examinations?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Skills Assessment

Background:

• Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are crucial for evaluating medical students' practical abilities.
• Understanding the relationship between learning styles and OSCE performance is vital for optimizing medical training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the correlation between learning styles and OSCE performance in second-cycle medical students.
• To determine if specific learning preferences influence clinical skills assessment outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 55 medical students completed the LSQ-Fa questionnaire to identify learning styles (active, reflective, theoretical, pragmatic).
• Students' clinical skills were assessed using OSCEs during their hospital internship.
• Statistical analysis was performed to correlate learning style preferences with OSCE scores.

Main Results:

• The theoretical learning style was most common (47.3%), followed by active (27.3%), reflective (14.6%), and pragmatic (5.4%).
• No statistically significant correlation was found between learning style and OSCE performance (p=0.28).
• Students with a pragmatic learning style showed a trend towards slightly higher average OSCE scores.

Conclusions:

• The study underscores that while no direct correlation was found, diverse learning styles are prevalent among medical students.
• Medical education programs should acknowledge and accommodate a variety of learning preferences to support student development.