Undergraduate Educational Environment in a Public Sector University of Pakistan
1. Undergraduate educational
environment at Public Sector
University
Dr. Masood Jawaid
MCPS, MRCS, FCPS
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Dow University of Health Sciences
7. Lizzio A, Wilson K, Simons R: University students’ perceptions of the learning
environment and academic outcomes: implications for theory and practice.
Stud Higher Educ 2002, 27:27-52.
Genn J: AMEE Medical Education Guide No. 23 (Part 1): Curriculum,
environment, climate, quality and change in medical education—a unifying
perspective. Medical Teacher 2001;23:337-44.
8.
9. Objective
• To evaluate the medical students’ perceptions
of their educational environment and to
identify any differences related to gender and
colleges.
10. Methodology
Study location:
Dow Medical College
Sindh Medical college
Dow International Medical
College
Self administered
Questionnaire
Sample size: 559 students
11. DREEM Inventory
• The DREEM (Dundee Ready Education
Environment Measure) questionnaire consists
of 50 items
• Each scored 0-4 on a 5-point scale
• Nine statements contain negative statements
• Maximum score of 200
12. DREEM Inventory
• Five subscales:
Students' Perceptions of Learning
Students' Perceptions of Teachers
Students' Academic Self-Perceptions
Students' Perceptions of Atmosphere
Students' Social Self-Perceptions
13. Total DREEM Score
0-50 Very Poor
51-100 Plenty of Problems
101-150 More Positive than Negative
151-200 Excellent
Mean ± SD 114.4 ± 20.0
57.2%
14. Perceptions of learning
0-12 Very Poor
13-24 Teaching is viewed negatively
25-36 A more positive perception
37-48 Teaching highly thought of
Mean ± SD 25.8 ± 5.7
53.7%
15. Perceptions of Teachers
0-11 Abysmal
12-22 In need of some retraining
23-33 Moving in the right direction
34-44 Model course organisers
Mean ± SD 25.4 ± 5.6
57.7%
16. Academic Perception
0-8 Feelings of total failure
9-16 Many negative aspects
17-24 Feeling more on the +ve side
25-32 Confident
Mean ± SD 18.8 ± 4.6
58.7%
17. Atmosphere Perception
0-12 A terrible environment
13-24 There are many issues need changing
25-36 A more positive attitude
37-48 A good feeling overall
Mean ± SD 28.0 ± 6.2
58.3%
18. Social Self Perception
0-7 Miserable
8-14 Not a nice place
15-21 Not too bad
22-28 Very good socially
Mean ± SD 16.3 ± 4.0
58.2%
19. Different institution comparison
122
120
119.9 ± 17.60
118
116
Mean
114
112
111.7 ±22.76 111.1 ± 20.10
110
108
106
DIMC DMC SMC
F = 13.35 p <0.001
21. Mean score of variable
≥ 3.5 Real positive points
3 – 3.5 Could be enhanced
• Good friends
• Confident about passing exams
≤2 Indicate problem areas
• Lack of support system
• Class participation
• Students irritate teachers
22. Conclusion
• Educational environment in DUHS is more
Positive than Negative but not Excellent
• SMC student perception of educational
environment is more positive than other
two colleges
• Female perceive it to be more positive
than males
27. Let’s work together to make
It HAPPEN
Thanks you for your time!
masood@masoodjawaid.com
Editor's Notes
The educational environment is everything that happens within the classroom, departments, faculty and institution both physically and psychologically.
Educational environment is vital in determining the success or failure of any institute.
A positive environment leads to achievements, fun and engagement in learning while a negative one would hinder their accomplishments.
From the day a student enter into the medical institute, they face a change in environment. Students’ perceptions of the educational environment influenced by the different cultural background of student, educational facilities available to them, quality of the faculty, curriculum, student’s expectations apart from other circumstances of the university.
There is documented association between educational environment and the students’ performance and their satisfaction.
The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) considers the educational environment as one of the areas that should be addressed while evaluating medical education programs by any institute.
This study also helps to identify problem areas that should be remediated. Furthermore, it allows institution to compare its performances and outputs with their peers, which can be pedagogically insightful.
DREEM is a reliable and validated instrument that identifies specific problem areas within an institution for different components of educational environmentand are therefore reverse-coded when incorporated into scales.
Students' Perceptions of Learning (12 questions, maximum score: 48)• Students' Perceptions of Teachers (11 questions, maximum score: 44)• Students' Academic Self-Perceptions (8 questions, maximum score: 32)• Students' Perceptions of Atmosphere (12 questions, maximum score: 48)• Students' Social Self-Perceptions (7 questions, maximum score: 28)
On comparison of the three colleges of DUHS, SMC students perceived their environment more positively than students of other two colleges. This indicates that SMC students are comparatively more satisfied with what they were experiencing, while students of DMC are more competitive (higher merit among all three colleges) and hence more stressed. Entry in medical colleges through merit produces stress among medical students, right from the beginning. The higher the merit, the more stress. Whenever there is stress, people tend to perceive their environment more negatively than when they are relaxed.14 So one reason why DMC students perceive their environment comparatively more negatively was due to higher rate of competition faced by them from the very start. However, students of Dow International Medical College are mostly from different places of the world and are living away from parents and homes, hence they are more stressed and perceive their environment comparatively more negatively compared to Sindh Medical College (SMC).
This gender based difference as discussed by Lokuhetty et al.,14 may be due to better interpersonal skills among females compared to males.