Abstract
Aim: This study aimed at evaluating the learning environment among undergraduate medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, and recommending remedial measures for further enhancement of students’ learning experiences. Methodology: The study was a descriptive, cross sectional study. The target population included the undergraduate students from year 1 to year 6 during the academic year (2009-2010). The sample size was 316 students (sample size was originally estimated 326; students’ response rate was 96.9%). The instrument used in this study was The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire which is a validated and reliable tool. The 50 items of the questionnaire encompasses five subscales: perceptions of learning, perceptions of teachers (course organizers), academic self-perceptions, perceptions of atmosphere and social self-perceptions. Results: After evaluation of all DREEM questionnaires, the total score of all six years was 113.8 which was interpreted according to the practical guide of McAleer and Roff that students’ perceptions of their learning environment were more positive than negative. The score for all the five subscales of DREEM indicated a more positive perception except for subscale 5 (social self perception). Conclusion: The study concluded that students throughout the different years of study perceived the learning environment positively. Nevertheless, the study also revealed problematic areas in some items which enabled us to adopt some remedial measures.
Highlights
Curriculum is considered to be the most holistic, inclusive and comprehensive entity in education
The study concluded that students throughout the different years of study perceived the learning environment positively
The results of our study are the first indicators of how students perceive their learning environment, the present study offers no comparison with the expectation of students of their medical school learning environment and the correlation with academic achievements
Summary
Curriculum is considered to be the most holistic, inclusive and comprehensive entity in education. This aspect of holism and comprehensiveness leads one to define curriculum as everything that is happening in the classroom, department, faculty, medical school or the university as a whole [1]. Curriculum’s most significant manifestation and conceptualization is the educational and organizational environment, which embraces everything that is happening in the medical school. The General Medical Council (GMC) in U.K. has initiated major innovations in the undergraduate medical curriculum and improvement of the learning environment is one of the major goals of these innovations [3]. The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) considers the learning environment as one of the areas that should be targeted when evaluating medical education programs [4]
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