Self-Regulated Learning and Learning Outcomes in Undergraduate and Graduate Medical Education: A Meta-Analysis

Self-regulated learning (SRL) plays a pivotal role in medical education. There is a pressing need for a meta-analytical review to comprehensively evaluate the effect sizes of SRL strategies across diverse learning outcomes and levels of medical trainees. A meta-analysis was executed by searching five databases and resulted in 61 studies that met our inclusion criteria. A three-level meta-analysis was performed to examine the association between SRL strategies and various levels of learning outcomes (i.e., affective, cognitive, and behavioral learning outcomes). Moderator analyses were conducted using meta-regression, considering factors such as types of learning outcomes, training levels, SRL subscales, and quality of the studies. The analysis yielded an average effect size of .212, using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, demonstrating a positive and significant association between SRL strategies and overall learning outcomes. Although our moderator analyses indicated that SRL subscales and study quality did not significantly influence the relationship between SRL strategies and learning outcomes, SRL strategies had a more pronounced effect on affective outcomes than on test scores, behavioral outcomes, and mental health outcomes. In addition, the association between SRL strategies and learning outcomes were significantly higher among the clerkship phase of undergraduate medical education than the pre-clerkship phase.