The ‘learning to learn competence’ from the Health Sciences perspective. A qualitative validation study The ‘LTL’ competence in Health Sciences. A qualitative validation study

Abstract Abstract Background ‘Learning to learn’ (LTL) is a key competence proposed to education systems by the European Commission (EC, 2005). To date, no agreement on LTL has yet been reached by scholars to establish the required theoretical model to incorporate this competence into curricula. Our research team aimed to design and validate an integral model to use it as a reference. This model consisted of five dimensions; cognitive, metacognitive, affective-motivational, social-relational and ethical; and 20 subdimensions. The first three dimensions came from strategic and self-regulated learning, the fourth from the socio-cognitive approach and the fifth was an original contribution. Students, teachers, professionals and employers from Health Sciences were inquired to validate this model. Methods To do so, qualitative methods were used by developing four focus groups (n=20). The participants were asked a general question about LTL and their discussion was recorded. Later these tapes were transcribed and processed with Atlas ti.8. to compare the coded contents with the theoretical model. The presence and relevance of the initial model’s dimensions and subdimensions were analyzed by considering comment frequency, connection and interrelationship. Results The results confirmed the initial model: the participants highlighted all the dimensions and almost all the subdimensions. Conclusions A future research line would be to devise a standardized assessment instrument for university students based on this theoretical model. Limitations and implications for practice are discussed