The Satisfaction of Online Learning among Dental Students in Three Dental Public Institutions in Malaysia during COVID-19 Pandemic

Online learning is the use of electronic media for various learning purposes ranging from addon functions in conventional classrooms to full substitution for face-to-face meetings by online encounters. It is widely employed in the COVID-19 pandemic era. This study was conducted to determine the students’ satisfaction towards online learning and its associated factors in three public dental institutions in Malaysia. It was a cross-sectional study among undergraduate dental students. An online, validated, self-administrated questionnaire was distributed via Google Forms by a key person from each university. It consists of three sections, namely Section 1 (sociodemographic information); Section 2 (three domains): (a) Learner’s dimension (9 items); (b) Instructors’ characteristics (9 items); and (c) Technological characteristics (7 items); and Section 3 (Self-rated satisfaction). The duration of data collection was within three weeks with reminders given between the weeks. The Chi-squared test for differences and the Chi-squared test for association were used for statistical analysis at p ≤ 0.05. About 179 students responded; the response rate was (74.6%), and the majority of the respondents were female (74%). All students used their internet data to access online learning, and there was a significant difference in satisfaction towards online learning between the three dental institutions. The academic year was associated with satisfaction towards online learning. The students from each institution revealed different degrees of online learning satisfaction, and learning experiences differed in each institution. This study offers insights into how educational institutions may better support students at different academic levels so they can succeed in online learning environments and feel more satisfied with their education.