The Australian DREEM: evaluating student perceptions of academic learning environments within eight health science courses

Ted Brown,Brett Williams,Marty Lynch

doi:10.5116/ijme.4e66.1b37

Abstract

The purpose of this cross sectional study is to investigate student perceptions of learning environments at a major Australian University. Various aspects of environment are compared between courses, year levels, educational backgrounds and gender.

Highlights

Each year thousands of health science professionals graduate from Australian tertiary institutions, many of whom are employed as nurses, paramedics, midwives or one of a number of other health care disciplines
In addition to these figures it was noted that almost all participants (96.9%) had completed their high school/college certificate and the majority enrolled in their course directly from high school (58.17%)
Post hoc analyses indicted that Emergency Health students and Dietetics and Nutrition students yielded significantly higher total Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) scores than Pharmacy students

Summary

Introduction

Each year thousands of health science professionals graduate from Australian tertiary institutions, many of whom are employed as nurses, paramedics, midwives or one of a number of other health care disciplines. As these students enter their respective professions, their level of competence is a reflection of the educational institution they attended; it is of the utmost importance to all their future patients and the broader community generally. As is the case with medicine[3], the context of health science education has moved in recent decades to embrace a more student-centred curriculum.[4,5] Fieldwork is viewed as a vital part of the education of Australian health science students and is a professional requirement for course accreditation by most professional bodies.[6,7] Students are exposed to a combination of traditional classroom-based teaching, practical skills workshops and clinical fieldwork or practice education placements

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion