Big Sib Students’ Perceptions of the Educational Environment at the School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, using Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) Inventory
- Author:
Hafiza Arzuman
;
Muhamad Saiful Bahri Yusoff
;
Som Phong Chit
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
curriculum, environment, perception, questionnaires, medical student, medical sciences
- From:Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences
2010;17(3):40-47
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Background: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among Big Sib students to
explore their perceptions of the educational environment at the School of Medical Sciences, Universiti
Sains Malaysia (USM) and its weak areas using the Dundee Ready Educational Environment
Measure (DREEM) inventory. The DREEM inventory is a validated global instrument for measuring
educational environments in undergraduate medical and health professional education.
Method: The English version of the DREEM inventory was administered to all Year 2 Big Sib
students (n = 67) at a regular Big Sib session. The purpose of the study as well as confidentiality and
ethical issues were explained to the students before the questionnaire was administered.
Results: The response rate was 62.7% (42 out of 67 students). The overall DREEM score
was 117.9/200 (SD 14.6). The DREEM indicated that the Big Sib students’ perception of educational
environment of the medical school was more positive than negative. Nevertheless, the study also
revealed some problem areas within the educational environment.
Conclusion: This pilot study revealed that Big Sib students perceived a positive learning
environment at the School of Medical Sciences, USM. It also identified some low-scored areas that
require further exploration to pinpoint the exact problems. The relatively small study population
selected from a particular group of students was the major limitation of the study. This small sample
size also means that the study findings cannot be generalised.
- Full text:W020151022496012842857.pdf
