Academic performance in medical sciences students: a vision from educational psychology
RESEARCH PAPER

 

Academic performance in medical sciences students: a vision from educational psychology

 

Rendimiento académico en estudiantes de ciencias médicas: una visión desde la psicología educativa

 

 

Yamila Ortega Bermúdez1, Yuliet Michel Gómez2, Mayté Benítez Rodríguez1

1 Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Cienfuegos. Cuba.
2 Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Guantánamo. Cuba.

 

 

ABSTRACT

There is concern about poor school performance in medical science students. The authors of this research paper analyzed several factors that condition this phenomenon, and emphasize the need to investigate those associated with the psychological states of students, among them, affective or emotional causes related to family, social and personal functioning. All research aimed at solving this problem must start with a deep diagnosis and the implementation of strategies for timely intervention in order to minimize the negative influences of the psyche on mental processes.

MeSH: underachievement, educational measurement, psycholog, education, medical.

RESUMEN

Existe preocupación acerca del bajo rendimiento escolar en estudiantes de ciencias médicas. Los autores de esta comunicación analizaron varios factores que condicionan este fenómeno, y enfatizan en la necesidad de investigar los asociados a los estados psicológicos de los estudiantes, entre ellos, las causas afectivas o emocionales relacionadas con el funcionamiento familiar, social y personal. Toda investigación dirigida hacia la solución de esta problemática debe partir de un diagnóstico profundo y la implementación de estrategias para la intervención oportuna a fin de minimizar las influencias negativas de la psiquis en los procesos mentales.

DeSC: rendimiento escolar bajo, evaluación educacional, psicología, educación médica.

 

 

At present the low academic performance in medical science students has become a professional problem; their study, assessment and elaboration of strategies for their solution from the perspective of the educational psychologist are of vital interest. These deficiencies constitute a multifactorial problem that shocks different stages of the teaching-learning process, which requires attention in order to contribute to the promotion, prevention and orientation that enable their subsequent psychological intervention.

In the opinion of the authors and coinciding with the bibliography consulted,1 the causes of the low academic performance are varied and in them both elements of the student and the teacher influence. In the former, factors of motivational order, intellectual quotient and cognitive processes can affect; health status, self-esteem, tolerance, methods and study habits. In the later they could have failed any of the following pedagogical capacities: didactic, constructive, perceptive, expressive, communicative and organizational.

In the opinion of several authors2-4 there are two essential mechanisms by which low academic performance occurs: one, due to the fact that the student's intellectual capacity does not allow him to follow the normal rhythm of the class; and the other, even when the student's intelligence, attention, memory and interest are normal or superior. But not only the IQ or cognitive skills have a direct impact on academic performance; it is also affected by learning strategies, interests, expectations and motivations. Many influences could also have affective or emotional causes related to family, social and personal functioning. In the family environment, it is important to support the formation of habits and methods of study, the attitude towards learning and the adequacy of home functioning, as it is favorable to the individual emotional stability to achieve satisfactory results.5

At present, several research works6-8 in this field refer not only to the search for cognitive factors but to psychological variables such as: expectations of students and teachers and causal attributions of success or failure, academic goals, academic self-concept, perceived capacities, previous performance, learning style, test anxiety, personality traits, self-concept and assertiveness; coping strategies, IQ, thinking style, social support networks and psychological well-being; motivation, self-perceptions, beliefs and affective bond with the teaching task.

In the current university context are also mentioned those related to the enrollment of students through different access manners, from pre-university to the obtaining of a university study by contest; where most of them, and this is the opinion of the authors, do not bring the necessary cognitive bases for the incorporation of a new knowledge with deep demands.

The perception of study overload, the lack of intellectual skills, the rote learning style instead of the developing, problem-solving and meaningful one; and the prevalence of individual and competitive learning over the cooperative slows down of the school learning process.

All research aimed at solving this problem should start with a deep diagnosis and the implementation of strategies for timely intervention, taking into account the teaching potential of Cuban medical universities: It means a teaching staff conformed by specialists, in many cases with high scientific ranks, with a prestige gained by years of consecration; and with many students motivated by the study and high level of responsibility with their preparation for the future profession.

 

Declaration of interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

1. Reyes YN. Relación entre el rendimiento académico, la ansiedad ante los exámenes, los rasgos de personalidad, el autoconcepto y la asertividad en estudiantes de primer año de Psicología de la UNMSM. [tesis].  Perú: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; 2003 [citado 20 May 2017]. Disponible en: http://sisbib.unmsm.edu.pe/bibvirtualdata/tesis/salud/reyes_t_y/t_completo.pdf

2. González Rodríguez R, Cardentey García J. La orientación vocacional en residentes de Medicina General Integral. AMC [Internet]. 2015 [citado 3 May 2017];19(6):[aprox. 8 p.]. Disponible en: http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1025 -02552015000600015&lng=es

3. Salabert Tortolo I, Naipe Delgado MC, Garriga Alfonso NE, Alfonso Prince JC, Dihigo Faz MT, Ñúnez Valdés L. La motivación profesional en los estudiantes de Ciencias Médicas. Rev Med Electron [Internet]. 2017 [citado 11 Ene 2018];39(3):[aprox. 10 p.]. Disponible en: http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1684-18242017000300023

4. Navea Martín A. Un estudio sobre la motivación y estrategias de aprendizaje en estudiantes universitarios de ciencias de la salud. [tesis doctoral]. España: Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia; 2015. [citado 5 Ene 2018]. Disponible en: http://e-spacio.uned.es/fez/view/tesisuned:Educacion-Anavea

5. Ayala NI, Bogarín CI, Bottrel A, Duarte CI, Torales J, Samudio M. Inteligencia emocional y coeficiente intelectual como predictor de rendimiento académico en estudiantes de medicina paraguayos. Mem Inst Investig Cienc Salud [Internet]. 2016 [citado 8 Nov 2017];14(2):[aprox. 8 p.]. Disponible en: http://scielo.iics.una.py/pdf/iics/v14n2/v14n2a58.pdf

6. Castillo Pimienta C, Chacón de la Cruz T, Díaz-Veliz G. Ansiedad y fuentes de estrés académico en estudiantes de carreras de la salud. Investig Educ Med [Internet]. 2016 [citado 12 Dic 2017];5(20):[aprox. 9 p.]. Disponible en: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2007505716000491

7. Muñoz-Comonforta A, Leenenb I, Fortoul-van der Goesc TI. Correlación entre la evaluación diagnóstica y el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes de medicina. Investig Educ Med [Internet]. 2014 [citado 14 Feb 2017];3(10):[aprox. 7 p.]. Disponible en: https://ac.els-cdn.com/S2007505714727310/1-s2.0-S2007505714727310 -main.pdf?_tid=670b7daa-5ea3-484f-aa40-e3cb84090472&acdnat=1542204581_49f2213ea5855a6a3b6d82b3f3954c54

8. Clavera Vázquez TJ, Guillaume Ramírez V, Álvarez Rodríguez J, Montenegro Ojeda Y. Rendimiento académico y caracterización psicopedagógica en estudiantes de Estomatología del primer curso Plan D. Rev Hab Cienc Med [Internet]. 2016 [citado 11 Dic 2017];15(2):[aprox. 10 p.]. Disponible en: http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1729-519X2016000200013

 

 

Submitted: Mar 14 2918.
Accepted: November 29 2018.

 

 

Yamila Ortega Bermúdez. Cienfuegos University of Medical Sciences. Cuba. E-mail: yamila.ortega@gal.sld.cu

 

Este artículo está publicado bajo la licencia Creative Commons

Copyright (c) 2019 EDUMECENTRO