Teaching embryology seems to be a valuable part of the medical education and remains significant for facilitating undergraduates to appreciate the birth defects. In health care professional studies, self-directed learning (SDL) is considered an indispensable learning parameter. Numerous attempts have been made to compare lecture with alternative forms of self-directed learning. Objectives of the present study are – 1.To compares the effectiveness of self-directed learning with didactic lectures in learning embryology among first year medical students, 2.To assess the perception of students towards self-directed learning. This was a comparative study conducted on 80 Phase I MBBS students of Mamata Medical College. They were divided into 2 batches (Batch A and B) of 40 each. On the first day, Batch A was given a didactic lecture, while Batch B underwent a self-directed learning session with all the study materials provided. A pre and post-test questionnaire was administered. On the second day, the batches were reversed and another similar topic was dealt with. Perception towards Self-directed learning was collected using a pre-validated questionnaire. A paired t-test comparing both methods showed that the scores following self-directed learning were more compared to didactic lectures. Students choose self-directed learning as it improves the understanding of the subject and helps to clear up doubts. Embryology should be taught by different methods at the right level & context.