SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING READINESS AMONG PREDENTAL STUDENTS AT FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY

Dental school is a four-year, rigorous educational endeavor packed with difficulties and challenges predental students have not experienced during their undergraduate studies. In addition, dental schools demand developing new coping and learning skills to meet the requirements of a student-centered, fast-paced curriculum. In response to these challenges, it is essential to understand and embrace self-directed learning (SDL) skills and attitudes required for predental students to thrive and succeed during their dental journey (Premkumar et al., 2014). Furthermore, SDL is essential in assisting dental students in filtering the information they need to fulfill their learning needs (Siddiqui et al., 2021).
This quantitative cross-sectional descriptive study used an online survey designed by QualtricsXM to evaluate self-directed learning readiness (SDLR) level among predental students at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and whether their SDLR level would differ based on age, sex, race/ethnicity, college/major, and year of study. A convenience sample of 155 FAU predental students completed Fisher et al.’s (2001) 40-item Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale for Nursing Education (SDLRSNE) and seven demographic questions. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted to analyze and answer the six research questions and corresponding hypotheses.
The results showed a positive attitude of FAU predental students toward SDL as total SDLR scores ranged from 119 to 179, with a mean of 151.33. Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference in SDLR level among participants based on age, race, and year of study. Contrastingly, there was no statistically significant difference in SDLR level among participants based on sex, ethnicity, and academic major. The college variable was not investigated as all participants were enrolled in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science.