Background: In a nursing programme, the main objective is to produce nursing graduates who can provide comprehensive care and treatment to the community. A good approach to the systematic design of a learning environment can lead to positive outcomes for graduates. The learning environment is more than student-teacher interaction, teaching and learning activities. Good physical structures and facilities provided by the university are important, too. Furthermore, the university must also be concerned about meeting students’ psychosocial and emotional needs. The aim of this study is to measure the learning environment by administering the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire to students across the four years of the Bachelor of Nursing programme at the Faculty of Nursing, IIUM, and to identify areas for change that may contribute to a more meaningful student learning experience. Methods: The DREEM questionnaire was administered to 105 Bachelor of Nursing students at IIUM. Results: The total mean score on the 50-item DREEM inventory was 120.12 out of a maximum of 200. Student perceptions of learning and their teachers, their academic self, social self and their perception of the atmosphere were all positive. Eight items with low mean scores (less than two) on the DREEM questionnaire were identified as requiring remediation. Conclusion: The implications include the need to create and maintain a supportive environment, in addition to designing and implementing interventions to remedy unsatisfactory elements of the learning environment if effective and successful teaching and learning are to be realised. Thus, specific remedial steps to improve the student learning environment of the Faculty of Nursing, IIUM are described.

INTRODUCTIONVarious curricular innovations were adopted by medical schools worldwide in an attempt to produce medical graduates that could meet future healthcare needs of society locally and globally. This paper presents findings on curricular approaches implemented in Malaysian medical schools, in trying to meet those needs.

METHODSInformation was obtained from published records, responses from various questionnaires, personal communication and involvement with curricular development.

RESULTSCurricular innovations tended to be implemented in new medical schools upon their establishment. Established medical schools seemed to implement these innovations much later. Curricular trends appear to move towards integration, student-centred and problem-based learning as well as community-oriented medical education, with the Student-centred learning, Problem-based learning, Integrated teaching, Community-based education, Electives and Systematic programme (SPICES) model used as a reference. The focus is based on the premise that although the short-term aim of undergraduate medical education in Malaysia is to prepare graduates for the pre-registration house officer year, they must be able to practise and make decisions independently and be sensitive to the needs of the country's multiracial, multi-religious, and often remote communities.

CONCLUSIONIn most cases, curricular planning starts with a prescriptive model where planners focus on several intended outcomes. However, as the plan is implemented and evaluated it becomes descriptive as the planners reassess the internal and external factors that affect outcomes. A common trend in community-oriented educational activities is evident, with the introduction of interesting variations, to ensure that the curriculum can be implemented, sustained and the intended outcomes achieved.

Curriculum ; trends ; Education, Medical ; methods ; Humans ; Malaysia ; Schools, Medical