Evaluation of Dentistry Students’ Lifelong Learning Tendencies During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose: Dentistry education is a life-long, continuous education. The aim of this study was to determine the lifelong learning (LLL) tendencies of the dental faculty students who were receiving distance education during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods: Two hundred őfty-eight dentistry students participated the study. Research data was collected by ’Lifelong Learning Disposition Scale’ (LDS). In the őrst part of the questionnaire, students were asked to reply socio-demographic questions and their ability to learn during the distance education process of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the second part, there were questions about LLL. The low score obtained fromthe scale indicates that the LLL tendency is high. ANOVA and t-test were used for analysis of LDS score, and theMannWhitney-U and KruskalWallis tests were used for sub-dimensions. Results: During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 40.3% of the students stated their status of learning skills asmedium, 28.7% as bad and 11.6% as very bad. Students’mean score on the LDS scale was 88.26 ± 9.8. Themean LDS score was statistically signiőcant according to their class, gender and their assessment of learning skills during the COVID-19 pandemic (p 0.05). Conclusion: In this study, it was determined that the students made their own evaluations correctly during the Covid-19 pandemic. LDS scores of the students who stated their learning status as bad were signiőcantly higher by 1,187 times. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it is important to communicate using educationalmethods that aim to support students’ learning skills. Therefore, new interventions should be planned to increase students’ LLL tendencies.