Students' perception of educational environment at army medical college, rawalpindi: assessment by dreem [dundee-ready education environment measure]

ABSTRACT

To assess the students' perception of educational environment of Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan and to determine gender difference in this perception. A survey-based study. Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan from Jan 2012-June 2012. Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure [DREEM] questionnaire was administered to 805 1[st] year to 5[th] year MBBS students of AM College, after written and informed consent. DREEM total and subscores were calculated according to Likert scale. Comparison was made for responses of male and female students as well as among students of each class by student's t test and ANOVA. Valid responses were 647 out of 805 [response rate = 80.17%]. The education climate was rated as more positive than negative determined by overall DREEM scores [mean 116.57 +/- 24.96]. Students perceptions of learning, teachers, academic self-perception, atmosphere and social self-perception were determined by sub scales and responses were found to be more on the positive side though sub scores of academic perception were highest [19.32 +/- 5.25] and those of social self-perception were lowest [15.42 +/- 3.85]. There was no statistical difference in perception of male and female students [p = 0.12]. The sub scores were significantly higher in 1[st] year students but all other classes had almost similar scores [p = 0.06] on ANOVA and post hoc tukey's test. Army Medical College as an institution has a positive education environment where most of the students feel positive about education climate, learning environment, teachers, their own academic achievements, institutional atmosphere and their social well-being