Self-Directed Learning Activities Implemented by Undergraduate Dental Students in King Saud University, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Aim: This study aims to explore the self-directed learning activities implemented by dental students to support their education, and to assess the effect of gender and different academic level on student engagement with different self-directed learning activities.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on undergraduate dental students at King Saud University, Riyadh. All fourth- and fifth-year dental students, interns, and recent graduates were invited to participate in a 16-item self-administered questionnaire distributed through an online survey platform. Descriptive statistics were presented. Differences among different academic levels and between gender were tested using nonparametric tests. P < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The response rate was 71.5%. More than half of the participants (59.3%) reported actively engaging in self-directed learning activities, with the most common activities being learning from presentation slides (94%), utilizing YouTube and social media accounts (75.6%), and searching for information online (68.5%). Conversely, textbooks were the least frequently used resource for self-directed learning (14.9%). Significant differences in self-directed learning activities utilization were found between male, and female (P < 0.05), and between different academic levels (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: The study highlights willingness of undergraduate dental students to support their learning and the diverse self-directed learning activities employed. Learning from presentation slides, YouTube videos and looking for information on search engines were the most commonly implemented activities among students to support their learning, suggesting a shift towards digital learning modalities. These activities can be further encouraged in dental curriculum to enhance students learning experience.