PURPOSE
First?year health professions students often struggle to adapt to the
demands of professional education without explicit training in how to learn
effectively. To address this gap, we designed Academic Strategies for
Success, an asynchronous course that surveys the role of metacognitive skills
and study strategies in promoting self?awareness of learning, enhancing
clinical reasoning skills, and engaging in life?long learning. The course
emphasizes evidence?informed approaches to help students “study about
studying” and apply metacognitive practices across academics, careers, and
beyond.
METHODS
The course combines faculty presentations with weekly discussion forums and
self-reflection activities. Students complete pre? and post?tests using the
Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI, Schraw, 1994), a validated tool for
research and self?reflection. Weekly content is carefully aligned to the
course learning outcome: Appraise metacognitive study strategy
recommendations for increasing self?awareness, clinical reasoning skills, and
engagement in life?long learning.
RESULTS
This course is in its first iteration. Pre? and post?course MAI score means
and standard deviations will be compared to thematic analysis of peer?to?peer
discussion forum posts and peer?to?professor self?reflection activities using
the constant comparative method. This mixed?methods approach will allow
triangulation of quantitative changes in metacognitive awareness with
qualitative insights into strategy adoption and barriers. In addition,
retention of study strategies will be surveyed following the Kirkpatrick
model of assessment, measuring reaction, learning, behavior, and results at
one month and four months after course completion.
CONCLUSION
The Academic Strategies for Success course demonstrates a structured,
asynchronous approach to emphasizing metacognition early in health
professions education. Anticipated findings will inform how metacognitive
training enhances student confidence, promotes effective learning behaviors,
and supports professional readiness. This model offers a replicable framework
for integrating metacognitive skill development into health sciences
curricula, contributing to student resilience and long-term success.