Correlation of learning strategies with academic performance in students of Basic Medical Sciences

Huma Musarrat Khan

Abstract
Objective: To correlate the learning strategies in students of basic medical sciences with their academic performance.
Methodology: This quantitative, correlational study was conducted at Foundation University Medical College in 2016 on first and second year MBBS students and included 226 students selected by simple random sampling. The Learning Strategies component of “Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire” was used. The students assessed themselves on a Likert scale of 1 to 7. The scores from the questionnaire and the marks of the examination at the end of the course were used for statistical analysis. The learning strategies; “rehearsal, elaboration, organization, critical thinking, metacognitive self-regulation, time and study environment, effort regulation, peer learning and help seeking” were considered as independent variables, whereas academic performance was the dependent variable.
Results: The correlation coefficient showed positive correlation between the learning strategies and academic scores. “Metacognitive self-regulation” had the greatest correlation (r=.723). This was followed by “Time and study environment” (r =0.598) and “Elaboration” (r =0.578), “Rehearsal” (r =0.532), “Effort Regulation” (r =0.533), “Organization of Information” (r =0.471), “Help seeking”(r =0.456), “Peer Learning” (r =0.440) and “Critical Thinking” (r =0.386). All pairs showed a statistically highly significant correlation.
Conclusion: There is a positive correlation between all the learning strategies and academic scores. “Metacognitive self-regulation” has the greatest correlation with academic scores.

Key words: Learning strategies, academic performance, self-regulation, metacognition.

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