Self-directed learning ability and its relationship with perceived perioperative competence in the senior undergraduate surgical technology students: A cross-sectional study

Background & Objective: Self-directed learning (SDL) as an effective strategy in surgical technology students can significantly help to improve their skills and clinical competence. The present study aimed to determine SDL ability and its relationship with Perceived Perioperative Competence in senior undergraduate surgical technology students. Materials & Methods: The present descriptive study was conducted based on a cross-sectional design. This research included 207 final-year surgical technology students via the census method. Data collection tools included a demographic characteristics form, the Self-Directed Learning Instrument (SDLI) developed by Su-Fen Cheng (2010), and the Perceived Perioperative Competence scale. After collecting the data, they were analyzed in SPSS version software (version 20). Results: The mean SDL and clinical competence scores were reported as 73.8±8.9(intermediate level) and 107.2±17.3 (intermediate level), respectively. Among various dimensions of perceived clinical competence, interaction with colleagues had the highest value (3.4±0.6). Among the dimensions of SDL, interpersonal communication obtained the highest value (3.8±0.4). To investigate the relationship between SDL and clinical competence, Kendall's Tau and Spearman's correlation coefficients were obtained at 0.601 and 0.794, respectively, pointing to the significant positive relationship between the two variables (P<0.001). Conclusion: As evidenced by the obtained results, the SDL ability predicts the clinical competence of surgical technology students; therefore, revising the curricula of surgical technology students at the BS level and paying attention to the principle of student-centeredness in the education process, along with conducting training courses on SDL principles, can improve students' clinical competence.