This PhD explores how undergraduate dental students experience and enact learner and professional agency as they transition from preclinical, problem-based learning environments into clinical practice. While student-centered approaches such as problem-based learning are often assumed to foster agency, less is known about how these capacities evolve across different phases of education. Adopting a multi-phase research design, the study integrates a scoping review, qualitative focus group discussions, and Q methodology to examine both conceptual representations and lived student experiences. The findings demonstrate that agency is not a fixed individual trait, but a dynamic and context-dependent process shaped through the interaction of students’ personal resources, their engagement in learning and clinical activities, and the affordances of educational environments. Importantly, the study shows that learner agency developed in preclinical settings does not transfer directly into clinical practice but is recontextualized in relation to responsibility, supervision, and patient care. These findings highlight the need for stronger alignment between preclinical learning, clinical expectations, and institutional support. Overall, the thesis positions agency as a dynamic and context-sensitive process and highlights the importance of aligning learning environments and clinical training to better support students’ transition into practice.

Please email Nidhi Gupta to get a copy of the thesis.