The Relationship of Students’ Study strategies with their Personal Characteristics and Academic Background

Introduction. Learning and study strategies improve academic success through facilitating learning. Identifying the students’ learning and study strategies is essential for educational interventions. This research was conducted to determine students’ learning and study strategies and their relationship with their personal charactristics and academic background in Mashad University of Medical Sciences in 1999 and also, to compare these strategies with American students’ norms. Methods. In this descriptive analytical study 412 first to third year students from schools of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy were selected by a stratified random sampling. The Learning and Study Strategy Inventory (LASSI) prepared by Weinstein et al, which consists of 10 subscales was completed by the subjects. The profile of students’ learning and study strategies was compared with American students’ norms. Data was analyzed using Mann-whitney and Kruskal Wallis tests. Results. The median of students’ scores in test strategies, attitude, and anxiety control were 33, 32 and 31 out of 40, respectively which showed the most scores. The least score belonged to selecting main idea which was equal to 19. The median score for different areas of learning and study strategies had no significant difference according to discipline and study levels. Students’ mean score in test strategies, concentration and motivation was equal to 80th, 75th and 15th percentile of American students’ norms, respectively. Conclusion. Students had good performances on test-strategies, anxiety control and concentration, but showed poor levels of motivation. The use of Weinstein learning and study strategies questionnaire in identifying students’ weaknesses and strengths in learning and studying is recommended.