Tehran University of Medical Sciences

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Students’ Perception of Educational Environment Based on Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure and the Role of Peer Mentoring: A Cross-Sectional Study Publisher Pubmed



Behkam S1 ; Tavallaei A1 ; Maghbouli N2 ; Mafinejad MK3 ; Ali JH4
Authors
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Authors Affiliations
  1. 1. Mentoring Office, Educational Deputy, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  2. 2. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  3. 3. Department of Medical Education, Education Development Center (EDC), Health Professions Education Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  4. 4. Addis Ababa University, College of Health Sciences, School of Public Health Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Source: BMC Medical Education Published:2022


Abstract

Objective: The curricular reform at Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Iran, has been implemented since 2011 when peer mentoring program started. The program is believed to have a crucial role in students’ perception of the educational environment (EE). We aimed to determine how students perceive the educational environment and compared the mentees and non-mentees’ perception of EE. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 190 first-year medical students enrolling at Tehran University of Medical Sciences from March to September 2019. A questionnaire was used to collect information on students’ age, gender, marital status, dormitory status, and their mentoring status including satisfaction of mentor-mentee relationship. The study also employed Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM). The collected data were then entered and analysed using SPSS version 20. To compare the perception of EE between mentees and non-mentees, we used independent t-test. Results: The mean (SD) for total DREEM score for EE was 144.1 (19.3), which signifies a more positive than negative educational environment perception. Nonetheless, the mean scores of total DREEM was not significantly different between students with or without mentors (P =0.390). The overall mean score for student perceptions of learning for mentees was 32.47 (4.5) while for those without a mentor, the score was 31.70 (4.9) (P =0.491). The items concerned with “emphasizing factual learning” and “teacher-based teaching” were rated the least. The item “having an appropriate support system” was scored significantly different between students with or without mentors (P =0.009). Conclusions: Since having an appropriate support system was significantly different between groups, we suggest curriculum designers focus on the above-mentioned issue under caption for improvement during the reform programs. © 2022, The Author(s).