Mean Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure Score Research Articles

Students' perception of the educational environment of medical schools in Korea: findings from a nationwide survey

The purpose of this study was to examine students' perception of the educational environment of medical schools in Korea. A total of 9,096 of 12,035 students (75.6%) responded to our questionnaire. This study was conducted at the end of the 2013 academic year using the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) at 40 medical schools in Korea. DREEM comprises five domains: students' perceptions of learning (SPL); students' perceptions of teachers (SPT); students' academic self-perceptions; students' perceptions of atmosphere; and students' social self-perception. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and one-way analysis of variance. The overall mean DREEM score was 113.97 (of 200), and the scores for the 40 medical schools ranged from 100.24 to 134.32. The overall mean and domains scores of the DREEM differed significantly between educational systems, grades, genders, and academic achievement levels. Graduate-level medical students had higher scores for the DREEM and its five domains than undergraduate medical students. The scores were lowest in second-year students (mean, 111.80). Male students' perceptions were significantly higher than those of female students except for SPL and SPT. High academic achievers' perceptions were also greater versus low academic achievers. Students' perceptions of their educational environment are positive in Korea. The learning environment should be evaluated by curriculum planners and administrators of medical schools to improve its quality.

Medical Students’ Perception of Their Educational Environment

Students' perception of the environment within which they study has shown to have a significant impact on their behavior, academic progress and sense of well-being. This study was undertaken to evaluate the students' perception of their learning environment in an Indian medical school following traditional curricula and to study differences, if any, between the students according to the stages of medical education, i.e., the pre-clinical and clinical stages. In the present study, the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) inventory was administered to undergraduate medical students of first (n = 227), third (n = 175), fifth (n = 171) and seventh (n = 123) semesters. Scores obtained were expressed as mean ± Standard Deviation (SD) and analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Dunnett's test. P-value < 0.05 was considered as significant. The mean DREEM score for our medical school was 123/200.The first-year students were found to be more satisfied with learning environment (indicated by their higher DREEM score) compared to other semester students. Progressive decline in scores with each successive semester was observed. Evaluating the sub-domains of perception, the registrars in all semesters had a more positive perception of learning (Average mean score: 29.44), their perception of course organizers moved in the right direction (Average mean score: 26.86), their academic self-perception was more on the positive side (Average mean score: 20.14), they had a more positive perception of atmosphere (Average mean score: 29.07) and their social self-perception could be graded as not too bad (Average mean score: 17.02). The present study revealed that all the groups of students perceived their learning environment positively. However, a few problematic areas of learning environment were perceived such as: students were stressed more often; they felt that the course organizers were authoritarian and emphasized factual learning. Implementing more problem-based learning, student counseling and workshops on teaching-learning for educators might enable us to remedy and enrich our learning environment.

Academic environment in a newly established dental school with an enquiry‐based curriculum: perceptions of students from the inaugural cohorts

Established in 2007, Peninsula Dental School offers a highly innovative, enquiry-based, student-led, patient-centred curriculum. It is one of the first dental schools in UK to be based exclusively in a primary care setting. This study was carried out to evaluate the academic environment at Peninsula Dental School and to identify differences between expectations of new entrants and perceptions of senior cohorts. This was a cross-sectional survey utilising an online questionnaire based on Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM). The subjects were 234 dental students from all years in this enquiry-based Bachelor of Dental Surgery programme. The response rate to the questionnaire was 56.42% with an equal gender distribution of the participants. The overall mean DREEM score of the four cohorts was 143.58 (SD ± 20.84), and the mean score for individual items was 2.87 (SD ± 0.41). The reliability of the DREEM data as a whole was strong (α = 0.93). The difference in questionnaire means for the new entrants and the senior cohorts was not significant (P > 0.05). The ANOVA results showed that there were no significant effects of age, gender or ethnicity on the mean DREEM scores. The MANOVA results showed a significant effect of ethnicity with regard to perceptions of teachers and atmosphere. An enquiry-based, student-centred curriculum at the Peninsula Dental School provides a positive academic environment for the students.

Perception of the Educational Environment by Medical Students Undergoing a Curricular Transition in Kuwait

Objective: The aim of this study was to measure the students’ perceptions of the educational environment in a medical school undergoing curricular transition from a traditional to a problem-based learning (PBL) program in the academic year 2006–2007. Materials and Methods: The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) was used to evaluate perception of the educational environment. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify the factors related to educational environment perception that differ between students following a traditional curriculum to those following a PBL program at Kuwait University Medical School. Results: Mean DREEM score was 53%. When students moved from the traditional curriculum to the PBL system, Academic Self-Perception deteriorated, while Perception of Atmosphere improved. Academic Self-Perception deteriorated because conventional strategies of learning were perceived as no longer useful, while Perception of Atmosphere improved because of increased relevance of the studies. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that curricular changes require careful planning and thinking, with particular attention upon how they influence the educational climate. When new teaching strategies are introduced, new factors that may lead students to develop an adverse perception of their educational environment may be introduced as well. Identification of such factors can lead to an improved educational outcome.

Students' Perceptions of Educational Environment: A Comparison of Academic Achievers and Under-Achievers at Kasturba Medical College, India

No country, least of all poorly resourced countries such as India, can afford to lose too many medical students in their undergraduate years. It would be useful to have an instrument to identify those students who are vulnerable to academic failure at this level of training and to identify the features of the educational environment that they perceive differently from students who are succeeding academically in order to design intervention strategies. Gender differences in perceptions of the educational environment might well emerge in particular academic or cultural contexts, with particular curricula. The present study was motivated by this concern and focused on comparisons between academic achievers and under-achievers and male and female students of Kasturba Medical College, India. (1) To compare the perceptions of the educational environment of academic achievers and under-achievers and to identify problem areas that should be remediated. (2) To identify whether there is any gender difference in the perceptions. The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) was administered to 508 medical students studying in the clinical years at the Kasturba Medical College in India. Item as well as scale scores were compared between academic achievers and under-achievers. Overall sample of the present study rated educational environment in this institution as average. The overall mean DREEM score was significantly higher for academic achievers. Compared to under-achievers, academic achievers scored significantly higher on perceptions regarding teachers, academic atmosphere and social self-perceptions. In addition to this, the overall rating (total DREEM score) of female students was significantly less compared to males in the academically vulnerable group. Perceptions of poor performers are significantly different from those of better performers in the same institution. More importance should be given to the perceptions of students to improve the educational environment, as perceptions are associated positively with learning outcome, learning approach and attitude toward studying. Use of the DREEM as a monitoring tool might permit timely interventions to remediate problematic educational environments.