learning and study strategies of medical students in mashhad university of medical sciences & health services

purpose: this study explores the use of and the role of learning strategies in the educational success of iranian undergraduate medical students using an inventory of learning and study strategies. material & method: 412 students in the first to third year of study were selected randomly. a questionnaire based on the lassi questionnaire (developed by weinstein et al which included ten areas of attitude, motivation, time management, anxiety control, concentration, data processing, selecting the main idea, study guide line, self-testing and test strategies) was distributed to the students. in all, there were 77 questions with a five scale resonse. the educational success of the students was determined on the basis of semester scores form the final report card and the personal characteristics of the students were collected from their educational dossier. the students were classified on the basis of the educational progress in three groups (strong, average, weak) and the score percentiles for each area of studying and learning strategies were calculated and compared with a normal sample of american students. the role of different areas of studying and learning strategies on the educational progress of students was determined with multiple trend analysis. findings: this study showed a significant correlation between the educational progress of students with studying and learning strategies (motivation, attitude, time management, anxiety control, concentration, data processing, selecting the main idea, self-testing and test strategies). only the study guideline strategy didn't correlate with the educational success of the students. seven areas of studying and learning strategies related with the educational progress in multiple trend analysis. only motivation had a significant and strong relationship with the educational progress of students. there is also a positive correlation between test strategies and educational progress. conclusion: the present study confirms other studies that motivation had a clear and independent effect on the educational success. it is therefore necessary to increase the students' motivation if they are to succeed educationally.