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VOLUME 4 , ISSUE 1 ( January-June, 2021 ) > List of Articles

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Medical Students’ Perception of Educational Environment and Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Learning

Tehmina Parveen Syed, Samar Faheem, Shabnum Hassan

Keywords : Coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic, Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure survey, Educational environment, Learning, Medical students

Citation Information : Syed TP, Faheem S, Hassan S. Medical Students’ Perception of Educational Environment and Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Learning. Journal of Medical Academics 2021; 4 (1):11-15.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10070-0068

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 01-12-2021

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2021; The Author(s).


Abstract

Aim and background: The educational environment of students plays a vital role in their well-being and academic performance. Evaluating it is of crucial concern while looking for areas of improvement. The Dundee Ready Educational Environmental Measure (DREEM) is one of the most suitable tools to evaluate the educational environment for health training settings. The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has made online teaching commonplace and changed how traditional medical education is imparted, making the assessment of students’ perception of the environment especially necessary. Materials and methods: Final year medical students in Hamdard University were given a questionnaire to fill after an exam, which included the DREEM survey and open-ended feedback and suggestion questions about their experience learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the DREEM survey, the positive Likert scale items were scored from 0 to 4, and the negative items were scored in reverse. The data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 software. For the analysis of open-ended responses, common themes were identified and grouped. Results: A total of 93 completed questionnaires were received. The mean total DREEM score was calculated as 119.85 ± 37.86. It was more positive than negative but had a high standard deviation. Student's perception of teachers scored the lowest, with a mean percentage of 55.25%. Student's academic self-perceptions scored the highest with 65.06%. The open-ended responses were grouped into five themes, with only nine students saying their online learning experience was positive. Conclusion: This study revealed that most students of Hamdard University scored their educational environment positively but do not enjoy online classes. For the future, medical schools need to improve the teacher–student interaction and have a more empathetic approach toward students. Medical schools also need to work on a more engaging teaching style, which includes adapting new methods for online teaching.


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