Assessing Task-Specific Regulatory Thinking: Foundations and Applications of Microanalytic Assessment Methodology to Medical Education

• In Event: Using Novel Research Methods to Understand Teaching and Learning in the Professions

Abstract

Over the past several decades, education researchers have been interested in assessing self-regulated learning (SRL) processes (Winne &Perry, 2000; Zimmerman, 2008). Although global, retrospective measures such as self-report questionnaires continue to be the most frequently used type of measure in academic contexts (Cleary 2009), there has been an increased interest in developing and using assessment tools designed to capture SRL as a dynamic, contextualized process (Winne & Perry, 2000; Zimmerman, 2008); that is, assessment tools capable of tracking students’ regulatory processes as they engage in authentic tasks in a given context. Self-regulated learning microanalysis (Cleary & Zimmerman, 2001; Cleary, Callan, & Zimmerman, 2012) was developed to address this problem by measuring an array of theoretically linked and cyclically interdependent processes (e.g., goal setting, strategic planning, self-monitoring) during task performance. Using a structured interview framework, SRL microanalytic protocols are administered to students as they engage in authentic tasks and are designed to capture how students think, feel, and act during such activities. The basic procedures and assumptions of this assessment approach contrast sharply with traditional SRL assessment approaches, such as self-report questionnaires, which tend to measure self-regulation as a global, fixed entity. Further, by assessing SRL as a contextualized, task-specific process, the data generated from microanalytic assessments have the potential to inform educators about how to help students struggling to master critical tasks in school.

Although the use of SRL microanalytic methods has been applied across many contexts and tasks, including basketball free-throw shooting (Cleary & Zimmerman, 2001; Cleary at al., 2006), volleyball serving (Kitsantas & Zimmerman, 2002), and reading and studying (DiBenedetto & Zimmerman, 2010)—and has exhibited strong psychometric properties in those contexts (Cleary et al., 2012)—minimal attention has been devoted to using SRL microanalytic procedures in professional education contexts, such as when medical students perform clinical tasks.

Purposes and objectives:

There are two primary objectives of this presentation. Given the relative lack of attention devoted to SRL microanalysis in medical education contexts, we will first review the essential components and procedures of SRL microanalysis, including its historical and theoretical foundation and origins. We will also contrast this methodology with other common forms of SRL assessment, highlighting its unique conceptual and practical advantages. The second objective of this presentation is to provide an overview of a recent study that used SRL microanalysis to examine the nature of medical students’ regulatory processes (i.e., goal setting, strategic planning, metacognitive monitoring) as they performed a clinical reasoning task. Of particular relevance in this study were data showing differential patterns of SRL processes among high and low achievers during clinical task performance. That is, while high achievers showed remarkable stability in their strategic thinking during multiple cycles of engaging in the clinical task, low achievers exhibited highly variable and inconsistent SRL processes. Finally, we will review and discuss implications for future research, as well as the importance of linking SRL assessments in medical school to intervention or remedial activities.

Authors

• Timothy J. Cleary, Rutgers University

• Ting Dong, The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

• Anthony R. Artino, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences