Introduction

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching and learning methodology that has been incorporated into the curricula of medical schools, which prioritize the student to the center of the discussion. The diagnosis and measurement of learning strategies has become a key aspect in the improvement of the teaching and learning process.

Objective

The study aims to identify students’ strategies in developing their self-directed learning, evaluating the application of useful tools in the context of their learning.

Methods

A descriptive and analytical observational cross-sectional study was carried out, applying 348 questionnaires to the students of a medical school, uniformly distributed from the 2nd to 9th semesters of the course. The Likert-scaled questionnaires were aimed at investigating the strategies used for individual study as well as student perception regarding learning. Statistical analysis was performed by different methods, according to the variables and categories observed and executed with the aid of BioStat 5.45 software. Results with p ≤ 0.05 (bilateral) were considered significant.

Results

The mean age was 22.7 years, with 57.3% being female. The majority showed a study habit higher than three times a week (72.2%), in fixed places, especially in the library (96.8%). Most of the students have electronic resources to access the internet. Most of the respondents (43.6%) use the video-lecture feature infrequently. 50% of the students find it easy to follow scheduled study hours and avoid situations that distract their attention. 50% of them studied all proposed learning objectives alone, and kept their focus. The use of the conceptual map is not frequent. However, most developed schemes during study. The majority of the students conducted searches for scientific articles in the English language only 50% of the time. Only 25% of the students «always» synthesize the study in summary form. At least 25% of the students used more than one textbook in their studies and ‘always’ accessed articles through scientific database platforms. Regarding the use of commercial e-books and non-self summaries, up to 75% of the students answered that this happens approximately 50% of the time. Regarding self-perception of knowledge retention, for 50% of the students the answers varied between this happens «about 50% of the time» and «very frequently”.

Conclusion

The medical students using PBL methodology, use appropriate resources for their study, planning and organizing their learning, however there have been failures in learning strategies. A habit of planning study is positively associated with the best learning strategies and the search for sources of better technical quality, resulting in a greater perception of student retention of knowledge. Therefore, it is suggested that self-learning guidelines be created to assist the student in his or her study performance.

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