International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine Research

DOI：http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/ijcemr.2021.04.009

Factors Affecting Students’ Learning: A Case of Malamulo College of Health Sciences, Malawi

Date: March 30,2021 |Hits: 637 Download PDF How to cite this paper

Fyson Kasenga^1,*, Anna-Karin Hurtig², Miguel Sebastian²

¹Adventist Health Services (AHS), Blantyre, Malawi.

²Umeå International School of Public Health, Epidemiology and Public Health Sciences, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Sweden.

*Corresponding author: Fyson Kasenga

Abstract

College students worldwide experience multiple challenges during their studies. Majority of them come from diverse backgrounds ranging from social, economic, religious, cultural and spiritual among others. It is therefore, imperative for the tertiary institutions to carefully benchmark what works and what does not so as to offer quality education to the students and create a more solid foundation for their future undertakings. A study on factors affecting students’ learning was done at Malawi Adventist University, Malamulo College Health Sciences, Makwasa, Malawi. Data collection exercise was done from April 2017 to March 2018. A total of 219 students undertaking various programmes at the college were studied. The programmes were Clinical Medicine, Public Health, Nursing and Laboratory Medicine. Qualitative methods were utilized to analyze the study findings. Inadequate study resources namely; classrooms, library facilities, teaching and learning aids, books, computers and internet facilities were cited as some of the factors affecting students’ learning. Sense of belonging, career guidance, being listened to, counselling and spiritual guidance made the students feel secured. The boarding masters/mistresses, chaplain and deans were rated high for being there for the students. The students’ feelings of being well looked after facilitated demand creation and attracted them to join the college. Bullying and teasing were never experienced, the study has established. Based on the study findings, it is recommended that the college should leverage the resource base by initiating robust diverse resource mobilization to match the number of students and the available resources to facilitate effective teaching and learning processes. Active development and planning office should be established at Malamulo to directly address issues pertaining to scarcity of resources. Financial constraint was a limiting factor during the carrying out of the study. However, the study has the strength of establishing factors that affect students’ learning at the college, a recipe for determining ways to improve the college operations.

References

[1] Lin, C. C., Lin, B. Y., Lin, C. D. (2016). Influences of clerks’ personality on their burnout in the clinical workplace: a longitudinal observation. BMC Med Educ., January 28:16(1): 30. doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0553-0.

[2] MacLeod, S., Musich, S., Hawkins, K., Alsgaard, K., Wicker, R. E. (2016). The impact of resilience among older adults. Geriatr Nurs., Jul-Aug 2016; 37(4): 266-72. doi: 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2016.02.014. Epub 2016 Apr 4.

[3] Mabuuke, A. G., Louw, A. J., Van Schalkwyk, S. (2016). Utilizing students’ experiences and opinions of feedback during problem based learning tutorials to develop a facilitator feedback guide: an exploratory qualitative study. BMC Med Educ., January 11: 16(1): 6. doi:10.1186/s12909-015-0507-y.

[4] Gyawali, S., Shankar, P. R., Poudel, P. P., Saha, A. (2015). Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Self-Medication Among Basic Science Undergraduate Medical Students in a Medical School in Western Nepal. J. Clin Diagn Res., December: 9(12):FC17-22. doi: 10.7860/JCDR/2015/16553.6988. Epub 2015 Dec 1.

[5] Kapanda, G. E., Muiruri, C., Kulanga, A. T., Tarimo, C. N., Lisasi, E., Mimano, L., Mteta, K., Bartlett, J. A. (2016). Enhancing future acceptance of rural placement in Tanzania through peripheral hospital rotations for medical students. BMC Med Educ., Feb 9:16(1):51. doi: 10.1186/s12909-016-0582-8.

[6] Vancea, M., Utzet, M. (2017). How unemployment and precarious employment affect the health of young people: A scoping study on social determinants. Scand J Public Health, 45(1): 73-84. doi: 10.1177/1403494816679555.

[7] Murphy-Hoefer, R., Griffith, R., Pederson, L. L., Crossett, L., Iyer, S. R., Hiller, M. D. (2005). A review of interventions to reduce tobacco use in colleges and universities. Am J Prev Med., 2005 Feb; 28(2): 188-200.

[8] Mphatso Kamndaya, Lawrence, N. Kazembe, Jo Vearey, Caroline W. Kabiru, Liz Thomas. (2015). Material deprivation and unemployment affect coercive sex among young people in the urban slums of Blantyre, Malawi: A multi-level approach. Health Place, 33: 90-100. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2015.03.001.

[9] Glynn, J. R., Sunny, B. S., DeStavola, B., Dube, A., Chihana, M., Price, A. J., Crampin, A. C. (2018). Early school failure pre-dicts teenage pregnancy and marriage: A large population-based cohort study in northern Malawi. PLoS One, 14; 13(5): e0196041. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196041.

[10] Burack, J. H., Irby, D. M., Carline, J. D., Ambrozy, D. M., Ellsbury, K. E., Stritter, F. T. (1997). A study of medical students’ specialty-choice pathways: trying on possible selves. Acad Med., 72(6): 534-41.

[11] Yang, C., Sharkey, J. D., Reed, L. A., Chen, C., Dowdy, E. (2018). Bullying victimization and student engagement in elementary, middle, and high schools: Moderating role of school climate. Sch Psychol Q., 33(1): 54-64. doi: 10.1037/spq0000250.

[12] Candy, B., Jones, L., Varagunam, M., Speck, P., Tookman, A., King, M. (2012). Spiritual and religious interventions for well-being of adults in the terminal phase of disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev., (5): CD007544. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007544.pub2.

[13] Selman, L. E., Brighton, L. J., Sinclair, S., Karvinen, I., Egan, R., Speck, P., Powell, R. A., Deskur-Smielecka, E., Glajchen, M., Adler, S., Puchalski, C., Hunter, J., Gikaara, N., Hope, J. (2018). Patients’ and caregivers’ needs, experiences, preferences and research priorities in spiritual care: A focus group study across nine countries. Palliat Med., 32(1): 216-230. doi: 10.1177/0269216317734954.

[14] Adeyekun, A. A. (2010). Residents’ perception of postgraduate radiology training in Nigeria. West Afr J Med., (5): 314-7.

[15] Tricio, J., Montt, J., Orsini, C., Gracia, B., Pampin, F., Quinteros, C., Salas, M., Soto, R., Fuentes, N. (2018). Student expe-riences of two small group teaching formats: seminar and fishbowl. Eur J Dent Educ. doi: 10.1111/eje.12414.

[16] Jack, K., Hamshire, C., Harris, W. E., Langan, M., Barrett, N., Wibberley, C. (2018). “My mentor didn’t speak to me for the first four weeks”: Perceived Unfairness experienced by nursing students in clinical practice settings. J Clin Nurs., 27(5-6): 929-938. doi: 10.1111/jocn.14015. Epub 2018 Jan 17.

How to cite this paper

Factors Affecting Students’ Learning: A Case of Malamulo College of Health Sciences, Malawi

How to cite this paper: Fyson Kasenga, Anna-Karin Hurtig, Miguel Sebastian. (2021) Factors Affecting Students’ Learning: A Case of Malamulo College of Health Sciences, Malawi. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine Research, 5(2), 149-160.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/ijcemr.2021.04.009

Volumes & Issues

Volume 5 (2021)

Volume 4 (2020)

Volume 3 (2019)

Volume 2 (2018)

Volume 1 (2017)

Free HPG Newsletters

Add your e-mail address to receive free newsletters from Hill Publishing Group.

More Journals

Contact us

Hill Publishing Group

8825 53rd Ave

Elmhurst, NY 11373, USA

E-mail: contact@hillpublisher.com