Self-directed learning skills of undergraduate nursing students

Abstract

Self-directed learning (SDL) is a method of instruction used in pedagogy education, mainly in tertiary education or higher education centres. Self-directed learning is the amount of responsibility one accepts for their learning. During the Covid-19 pandemic, with the shift to online teaching and learning, the importance of self-directed learning skills became more significant. The study's purpose was to determine the self-directed learning skills of nursing students in a private health care university in Malaysia. This study used a cross-sectional descriptive design. Data was collected using the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) developed by Fisher et al. with 41 items under three constructs, namely self-management, desire for learning and self-control. A total of 150 nursing students responded to this online survey using google forms. Data were analysed by descriptive methods and ANOVA using the SPSS version 25. The majority of the respondents were females (92%) Malays (82%) from the Diploma in nursing programme (91%) with a Mean age of 21.5 years (SD = 2.2). The results revealed that 56.4% of the students have high self-directed learnings skills, 46.3% moderate, and 1.3% had low self-directed learning skills. The high level of self-directed learning skills among nursing students and web-based learning can positively impact their overall academic performance. Innovative instructional strategies can encourage nursing students to be self-directed learners.