Self-regulation Perceptions of Dental Students

Introduction

Becoming a dentist takes several years of training. Providing quality and efficient care separates a good dentist from a great dentist. To prioritize high-quality services, a dentist should prioritize a pain-free experience rather than solely focusing on placing a successful dental restoration. Regarding quality care, one of the requisites of being a healthcare provider is to possess the traits of a “five-star doctor.”^[1]

The World Health Organization’s envisioned concept of a “five-star doctor” presents an archetype of a medical professional who possesses a blend of competencies necessary to fulfill a spectrum of healthcare services. These services are designed to address the criteria of significance, excellence, cost-efficiency, and fairness in healthcare provision. To align with the core principles, an individual should possess the following attributes that collectively define the image of a “five-star doctor,” which are care provider, evaluator, communicator, community influencer, and administrator. To acquire these traits, the dental professional must develop the skill of self-regulation.^[2]

Self-regulation refers to a learner’s view of their capacity to undertake suitable actions, thoughts, emotions, and conduct to attain significant academic objectives. This involves self-monitoring and introspection regarding their advancement toward accomplishing these goals.^[3] The process of self-regulation encompasses four key stages: formulating a plan, overseeing its execution, making adjustments to remain aligned with the plan, and contemplating the procedure and results. Planning lets an individual consider the activities required to achieve the desired outcome. Monitoring is carrying out the strategies established during the planning phase. Controlling is the ability to regulate and alter responses to achieve goals. Reflecting is observing one’s thoughts, perceptions, actions, and achievements. Developing the four key stages of self-regulation can be exercised and honed by the individual's environment. This development can start during the dental students’ academic years and can be enhanced further through the activities done. Thus, this study aims to answer the question, “What are the self-regulation perceptions of dental students?”

Material And Methods

The research employed a descriptive cross-sectional research design using survey questionnaires. The Self-Regulation Formative Questionnaire (SRFQ) by Gaumer Erikson & Noonan (2018) consists of 22 items with four components: plan (5 items), monitor (6 items), control (6 items), and reflect (5 items). Sample items include: “If an important test is coming up, I create a study plan” (Plan), “I track my progress for reaching my goal” (Monitor), “As soon as I see that things are not going right, I want to do something about it” (Control), and “When I fail at something, I try to learn from my mistakes” (Reflect).^[3] Participants’ responses were evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale.

Results

A total of 338 dental students (18% response rate) responded. Table 1 shows the distribution of the students according to year level.

The highest mean score was under the component Reflect (excellent self-regulation). The lowest mean score was under the component Plan (good self-regulation). Overall, the self-regulation of the dental students was interpreted as good. Out of the four components of self-regulation, the Plan component attained the least score. Table 2 shows the total mean score, percentage, and interpretation of the components of self-regulation.

Discussion

The highest mean score was under the component Reflect (excellent self-regulation). The lowest mean score was under the component Plan (good self-regulation). Overall, the self-regulation of the dental students was interpreted as good. This overall mean score is higher than scores recorded by earlier studies by Jouhari (2015) and Siddiqui (2019). One explanation for this might be that those who answered the questionnaire are the ones who are good at using self-regulation as a skill.^[4,5]

Out of the four components of self-regulation, the Plan component attained the least score. Similarly, this lack of planning is seen in other studies.^[6-8] One might wonder how dental students who are excellent in Reflect and only good in Plan, Monitor, and Control. The Kruger-Dunning effect can explain this phenomenon, in which students with lower performance levels tend to oversee their learning progress infrequently. As a result, they are less likely to recognize their subpar performance when compared to students with average performance.^[5,9] Students are aware of the deficiencies in their performance but lack execution while monitoring their performance, affecting their ability to plan.^[10]

In a qualitative study by Jouhari (2015), it was mentioned that the factors affecting self-regulation encompass family, peers, educators, the learning environment, and the physiological attributes of the students.^[4] Emotional support from the family, peers who provide motivation and educational support, effective teaching methods and instructors’ high self-regulation, a learning environment that encourages student participation, and highly motivated characteristics of students can facilitate self-regulation.

This study has a few limitations that should be considered. The small sample size could have resulted in a response bias. Students who struggle with self-regulation might have opted not to respond to the survey due to their deficiency in effective planning. This cross-sectional study provided only a picture of the self-regulation perceptions of the students at a specific point in time. Longitudinal studies can be considered in the future.

Conclusion

Dental students at the university have good self-regulation perceptions. Future studies can look into increasing the sample size and having respondents from other dental universities. Semi-structured interviews can also be done to better understand the students’ responses. Likewise, promoting self-regulation among students should be emphasized.