SHEREKHOVA O. RESEARCH QUESTION FORMULATION COMPETENCE AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS: DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT. LIFELONG EDUCATION: The 21st Century.
2026. Vol. 14. No. 3. DOI: 10.15393/j5.art.2026.13090


Vol. 14. No. 3.

Innovative approaches to lifelong learning
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RESEARCH QUESTION FORMULATION COMPETENCE AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS: DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT

SHEREKHOVA Olga M.
PhD in Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Russian as a Foreign Language for Medical Specialties of Professor A. P. Zilber Medical Institute
Petrozavodsk State University
(Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation)
olmili@mail.ru
Keywords:
research question
academic research works
basic competence
medical students
assessment of competence development
academic literacy.		 Abstract: in the context of advancing medical science, the introduction of new technologies and treatment methods, and the increasing role of evidence-based medicine, it becomes fundamentally important to develop the research competence of medical students at medical universities. Special attention is paid to research planning, a key component of which is the research question. It is the research question that sets the research vector, determines its focus, problem, methodology and logic of result interpretation. Despite the recognition of the importance of developing the competence to formulate research questions, there are almost no works in the Russian pedagogical literature that offer criteria for assessing the level of this competence among medical students or outline prospects for its development. The aim of this study is to analyze students' academic research projects and determine the level of their competence in formulating research questions, to identify typical errors, and also develop practical recommendations for improving the process of forming this competence. The study analyzed 30 research questions presented by second-year students in their academic research papers. The analysis was carried out according to the following criteria: compliance with a question form, presence of a problem; a singular focus; possibility of measuring data; difference from a literature-review question; identification of the study population. It was found that 93.3 % of students meet the formal requirement for a question - its interrogative form, but have difficulty with its content. Only 53 % of the questions showed a single focus, 43 % contained a problem, 43.3 % could be classified as research questions, while the rest are literature-review questions. Only 6.6 % of research questions specified a study population; and merely 26.6 % contain the possibility to measure data. The study showed an average level of basic competence in formulating a research question, which confirms the need for its further development. Based on the analysis of scientific literature and identified deficiencies, the author developed a step-by-step instruction for formulating a research question that can be used within disciplines aimed at developing academic literacy among medical students.
Paper submitted on: 08/15/2025; Accepted on: 08/21/2026; Published online on: 09/26/2026.

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15393/j5.art.2026.13090