Medical students' approaches to learning over a full degree programme.

Students take three approaches to learning and studying: deep, surface and strategic, influenced by the learning environment. Following the General Medical Council's report "Tomorrow's Doctors," a deep approach was cultivated in Years 1 and 2 of a university undergraduate medical programme by introducing explicit written learning objectives constructed according to Biggs' SOLO taxonomy, problem-based learning and constructively aligned in-course assignments and examinations. The effect of these changes was measured with the Approaches to Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST).

Pathology in the medical curriculum in the United Kingdom.

In the United Kingdom, the medical students of yesteryear undertook a detailed pathology course, often with its own major examinations. This contributed to the increasing overload of factual information that was common in medical curricula. Following General Medical Council reports on medical education, pathology is now more fully integrated into clinical work and into problem-based learning, albeit with greatly reduced contact time with pathologists.

Relationship between assessment results and approaches to learning and studying in Year Two medical students.

Context: Students can take different approaches to learning and studying: deep (understanding material); surface (memorizing details), and strategic (motivated by assessments). It is important to know how assessments affect student choices of approach.

Methods: Students' learning approaches in Year 2 of the medical programme were measured using the Approaches to Study Skills Inventory for Students.