Association of Learning Approaches With Academic Performance of Sri Lankan First-Year Dental Students

BACKGROUND: Primarily deep approach (DA) and surface approach (SA) to learning have been distinguished among students. PURPOSE: We aimed to determine the learning approaches and their association with the academic performance of a batch of 1st-year Sri Lankan dental students. METHODS: Learning scores of students were calculated using the revised two-factor study process (R-SPQ-2F) questionnaire and they were correlated with the academic performance of students. RESULTS: The 80.65% of students showed a greater DA score than SA score. Mean values of students' DA and SA scores were 31.79 ± 6.1 and 22.74 ± 5.5, respectively. A positive statistically significant correlation (r = .3, p < .05) was observed only between DA score and marks of Short Answer Questions in anatomy. CONCLUSIONS: This sample of students uses both deep and surface learning approaches with more preference to DA than SA. The correlation between learning approaches and academic performance was inconsistent.