Informal learning during the standardized residency training in the context of “Internet plus:" an empirical research

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-22101/v1

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Informal learning during the standardized residency training in the context of “Internet plus:" an empirical research

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-22101/v1

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Background Informal learning refers to learners-sponsored, monitored and regulated learning method, which lays the foundation for medical life-long education of residents with sustainable self-learning ability and permanent learning behaviors. In this article the authors explore the academic value and significance in informal learning to improve the effectiveness for the standardized residency training in the context of “Internet plus” which combines technology with education to promote reforms for learning patterns. Standardized residency training started relatively late in China and there are less empirical studies targeted for the medical students in this phase. Based on it, this study aims to explore online informal learning behavior of medical students in residency training.

Methods An empirical study was performed at the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University in China where postgraduate medical education is being conducted. The study was implemented by questionnaire of the following aspects related to informal learning of residents as learning attitude, motivation, behavior and utilization of learning resources. Learning efficiency before and during COVID-19 is specifically surveyed and analyzed. 451 valid samples were collected to understand the situation of informal learning in the context of “Internet plus” and to find out interconnections among variables. The data from questionnaire has been analyzed through descriptive analysis, difference analysis and correlation regression analysis.

Results Informal learning attitudes of residents in standardized training are of high recognition and strong learning belief but need better self-management; The intervention between informal learning motivation and behavior among the levels of self-control, learning target and utilization of online resources resulting in great influence of environmental and individual factors on self-efficacy. Relative weak ability appears in choosing, screening and utilizing effective information online without effective guidance from teachers.

Conclusions In this study we innovatively propose appropriate and practical suggestions for researching methods in informal learning of postgraduate medical education in clinical setting during intensive online learning during COVID-19 period. The findings of this research have great significance in guiding learning paths, effects and development for informal learning of residents and put forward effective measures for the development of positive and sustainable informal learning in future career of the doctors-to-be.

Internal Medicine

Educational Philosophy and Theory

Standardized residency training

Internet plus

Informal learning

Online learning

COVID-19

Life-long education

Table 1 Sample composition
Properties	Classification	Population(N=451)	Percentage(%)
Gender	Male	147	32.59
Gender	Female	304	67.41
Grade	Grade three	146	32.37
	Grade two	146	32.37
	Grade one	159	35.25

Table 2 Statistics of informal learning behavior（%）
Subject	Of great importance	Very important	General	Unimportant	Of little importance
Informal learning before the outbreak of COVID-19
Is it important to have a specific plan before informal learning	11.75%	35.03%	45.68%	6.87%	0.67%
Is it important to participate in discussions during online learning	0%	6.87%	36.14%	34.37%	22.62%
Is online learning important to improve the efficiency of informal learning	10.20%	43.68%	42.35%	3.10%	0.67%
Informal learning after intensive online learning during the prevention and control of COVID-19
Does teacher's guidance play an important role in informal online learning	55.43%	34.15%	9.98%	0.22%	0.22%
Is intensive online learning important to improve online informal learning behavior	20.62%	51.44%	23.73%%	0.67%	3.55%
Is Informal online learning important for personal improvement	48.78%	37.69%	11.97%	1.55%	0%

Table 3-1 Correlation analysis of gender with learning attitude, learning behavior & learning efficiency
	Learning attitude	Learning frequency	Pre-study plan	Discussions during learning	Learning efficiency	Comparison of learning efficiency before & during the pandemics
Wilcoxon W	33072.000	31471.500	32308.500	33085.500	31658.000	68627.500
P	0.899	0.145	0.448	0.912	0.188	0.949
N	451	451	451	451	451	451

Table 3-2 Correlation analysis of grade with learning attitude, learning behavior & learning efficiency
	Learning attitude	Learning frequency	Pre-study plan	Discussions during learning	Learning efficiency	Comparison of learning efficiency before & during the pandemics
H	1.739	1.348	0.081	3.917	1.251	0.449
P	0.419	0.51	0.96	0.14	0.535	0.799
N	451	451	451	451	451	451

Table 3-3 Correlation analysis of gender, grade with learning motivation, access to learning resources, learning influencing factors
		Access to learning resources	Learning motivation					Learning influencing factors
			Completing online course	Writing assignments and papers	Learning humanity knowledge	Learning basic theory knowledge	Clinical thinking/skill operation training	Individual factors					Environmental factors
			Completing online course	Writing assignments and papers	Learning humanity knowledge	Learning basic theory knowledge	Clinical thinking/skill operation training	Lack of initiative	Poor willpower	Lack of learning strategies	Poor information collecting ability	Weak knowledge management ability	Much network garbage resources	Lack of effective guidance	Insufficient learning atmosphere	Network resource payment
Gender	χ2	12.0095	1.6827	6.5326	2.7949	4.2471	0.3293	0.487	1.7077	1.6553	4.6059	1.4994	7.1577	0.1633	8.2067	3.0148
Gender	P	0.0173	0.1946	0.0106	0.0946	0.0393	0.5661	0.4853	0.1913	0.1982	0.0319	0.2208	0.0075	0.6862	0.0042	0.0825
Grade	χ2	9.7392	5.8313	9.1472	1.0769	9.3953	10.9095	1.4409	2.614	0.0741	0.3975	2.173	6.7069	3.7646	2.3825	0.1856
Grade	P	0.2838	0.0542	0.0103	0.5836	0.0091	0.0043	0.4865	0.2706	0.9636	0.8197	0.3374	0.035	0.1522	0.3038	0.9144
N		451	451	451	451	451	451	451	451	451	451	451	451	451	451	451

Table 4 Correlation analysis of learning efficiency & influencing factors
Influencing factors	Single-factor analysis OR(95%CI）	Multiple-factor analysis OR(95%CI)
Individual factors
Lack of initiative	0.44(0.302,0.651)	0.516(0.346,0.770)
Poor willpower	0.547(0.364,0.822)	0.685(0.446,1.054)
Lack of learning strategies	1.173(0.805,1,711)	-
Poor information collecting ability	1.344(0.916,1.970)	1.180(0.792,1.760)
Weak knowledge management ability	1.148(0.743,1.775)	-
Environmental factors
More network garbage resources	1.031(0.712,1.493)	-
Lack of effective guidance	0.870(0.594,1.273)	-
Insufficient learning atmosphere	0.567(0.387,0.831)	0.695(0.464,1.041)
Network resource payment	1.908(0.758,1.590)	-

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Informal learning during the standardized residency training in the context of “Internet plus:" an empirical research

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