Paradigmatic perspectives of research on the self-regulated learning of non-western learners in health professions education: a scoping review protocol.

Objective: The objective of this review will be to explore the paradigmatic perspectives of research on self-regulated learning in non-western learners in health professions education.

Introduction: Studies show that there are significant cultural differences in self-regulated learning. However, a predominantly positivistic research paradigm, attempting to fit cross-cultural populations into pre-defined western conceptualizations of self-regulated learning, has led to the disregard of these differences. Viewed from a critical realist paradigm, emerging evidence suggests the need for generalizable, yet culturally sensitive models. Given the relevance of self-regulated learning to success in an increasingly diverse health professions setting, the first step towards achieving this is to gain a systematic understanding of the paradigms of research on self-regulated learning in non-western learners in this context.

Inclusion criteria: Primary research on the self-regulated learning of non-western learners in health professions education will be included. Participants will include learners in the Global South, including learners from Japan and South Korea, based on study setting. Studies on self-regulation and self-directed learning will not be included.

Methods: This review will be conducted in accordance with the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. The following databases will be searched: MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), ASSIA, PsycINFO (Ovid), ERIC (EBSCOhost), Web of Science Core Collection, CKNI, Epistemonikos, and LILACS. Gray literature will be searched for in Google Scholar, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, and DART-Europe. There will be no date or language restrictions. Following independent title and abstract screening by 2 reviewers, data will be extracted into a piloted data extraction tool, which will be iteratively revised as needed. Analyzed data will be presented in graphs and tables, accompanied by a narrative summary.

Details of the review project available at open science framework: https://osf.io/gf2ez.