Assessment of Medical Students’ Perception of Educational Environment

Background: Educationists have established the importance of educational environment in learning. Educational environment is one of the most important factors determining the success of effectiveness of a curriculum. As there was no data available regarding educational environment at our institute; we undertook this study using Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) to assess students’ perception of educational environment at our institute.

Method: 60 students of 6^th semester were included in the study. Students were administered Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM).

Results: We found the mean global DREEM score of our study population to be 121.47±13.71 (out of 200). Problem areas identified were – teaching being too teacher centered & factual, teacher being authoritarian, students feeling lonely, bored & stressed out due to academic burden, issue of cheating, no support system for students.

Conclusion The present study revealed that students perceived the learning environment at our institute positively. Nevertheless, the study also revealed problematic areas of learning for which we need to put some remedial strategies in place.