Students’ perceptions of educational climate in a new dental college using the DREEM tool

Figures & data

Table 1 Number and percentage of students who participated in the study (n=257) in different years of study, with their age and sex

Year of study	Number of students	Number (%) participated	Sex		Age years Mean (SD)
			Male (%)	Female (%)
First	100	80 (80)	11 (13.75)	69 (86.25)	18.46 (0.64)
Second	85	72 (84.7)	15 (20.83)	57 (79.16)	19.86 (1.04)
Third	85	74 (87)	17 (22.97)	57 (77.02)	20.93 (1,47)
Final	37	31 (83.78)	8 (25.8)	23 (74.19)	22.87 (0.96)
Total	307	257 (83.71)	51 (19.84)	206 (80.16)	20.53 (1.77)

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Table 2 Mean values (percentage) of the educational climate and the domains of the DREEM questionnaire, as well as the number of students (percentage) included in each category, associated with the interpretation (n=257)

DREEM	Mean (%)	Number of students (%) in each category	Interpretation
Educational climate	2.48 (62)	0–50 = 0 (0) 51–100 = 28 (10.89) 101–150 = 208 (80.93) 151–200 = 21 (8.17)	More positive than negative; educational aspects could be improved
Learning	31.03 (64.65)	0–12 = 1 (0.39) 13–24 = 15 (5.84) 25–36 = 212 (82.5) 37–48 = 29 (11.28)	A more positive perception
Teachers	26.69 (60.66)	0–11 = 0 (0) 12–22 = 50 (19.46) 23–33 = 186 (72.37) 34–44 = 21 (8.17)	Moving in the right direction
Academics	21.48 (67.13)	0–8 = 2 (0.778) 9–16 = 31 (12.06) 17–24 = 160 (62.26) 25–32 = 64 (24.9)	Feeling more on the positive side
Atmosphere	28.23 (58.81)	0–12 = 3 (1.17) 13–24 = 52 (20.23) 25–36 = 183 (71.2) 37–48 = 19 (7.35)	A more positive atmosphere
Social life	16.52 (59)	0–7 = 0 (0) 8–14 = 62 (24.12) 15–21=179(69.65) 22–28 = 16 (6.23)	More positive than negative

Abbreviations: DREEM, Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure; SD, standard deviation.

Table 3 Mean (SD) domain scores for the respective years of dental study

Domain	Mean (SD)
	First year	Second year	Third year	Final year
Students’ perception of learning	2.56 (0.94)	2.79 (0.70)	2.58 (0.98)	2.51 (0.99)
Students’ perception of teachers	2.28 (0.98)	2.73 (0.84)	2.36 (1.09)	2.29 (1.05)
Students’ academic self-perception	2.59 (0.97)	3.00 (0.76)	2.60 (1.09)	2.55 (0.96)
Students’ perceptions of atmosphere	2.37 (1)	2.50 (0.9)	2.83 (1.13)	2.12 (1.14)
Students’ social self-perceptions	2.44 (1.02)	2.48 (1.05)	2.34 (1.27)	2.18 (1.24)
Mean DREEM domain score	12.34 (0.10)	13.50 (0.22)	12.21 (0.2)	11.55 (0.18)
Total item score for the group	123.13 (0.45)	136.04 (0.58)	122.18 (0.44)	114.48 (0.44)

Abbreviations: DREEM, Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure; SD, standard deviation.

Table 4 Mean values of the educational climate and the domains of the DREEM questionnaire with regard to sex (n=257)

DREEM	Female Mean (SD)	Male Mean (SD)	P-value
Educational climate	2.54 (0.52)	2.37 (0.49)	0.048
Learning	2.64 (0.53)	2.48 (0.49)	0.059
Teachers	2.48 (0.56)	2.37 (0.49)	0.010
Academics	2.75 (0.27)	2.54 (0.25)	0.039
Atmosphere	2.44 (0.44)	2.20 (0.37)	0.038
Social life	2.42 (0.46)	2.28 (0.50)	0.052

Abbreviations: DREEM, Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure; SD, standard deviation.

Table 5 Average score (SD) of 50 items and eight domains of DREEM from 257 students of Tagore Dental College and Hospitals (2013)

Question number	Item	Mean (SD)
		First year	Second year	Third year	Final year
	D1: Students’ perception of learning
1	I am encouraged to participate in class	3.05 (0.91)	3.15 (0.46)	3.27 (0.85)	3.19 (0.83)
7	The teaching is often stimulating	2.44 (0.9)	3.22 (0.63)	2.80 (0.78)	2.26 (0.89)
13	The teaching is student centered	2.40 (0.98)	3.01 (0.78)	2.35 (1.16)	2.19 (1.01)
16	The teaching helps develop my competence	2.91 (0.89)	3.01 (0.74)	2.88 (0.84)	2.58 (1.06)
20	The teaching here is well focused	2.91 (0.97)	3.21 (0.63)	2.55 (1.01)	2.74 (0.82)
22	I feel I am being prepared well for my profession	2.71 (0.98)	3.08 (0.70)	2.49 (1.15)	2.38 (1.23)
24	The teaching time is put to good use	3.19 (0.78)	3.05 (0.58)	3.23 (0.77)	3.23 (0.62)
25	The teaching overemphasizes factual learning	1.52 (0.94)	1.36 (0.74)	1.55 (0.97)	1.39 (0.88)
38	I am clear about the learning objectives of this course	2.70 (1.01)	2.98 (0.78)	2.77 (1.1)	2.30 (1.32)
44	The teaching encourages me to be an active learner	2.70 (1.01)	2.97 (0.62)	2.77 (1.16)	2.29 (1.5)
47	Lifelong learning is emphasized over short-term learning	2.45 (0.84)	2.69 (0.78)	2.56 (1.03)	2.54 (1.09)
48	The teaching is too teacher oriented	1.73 (1.04)	1.72 (0.89)	1.78 (0.95)	1.80 (1.01)
	D2: Students’ perception of teachers
2	The teachers are knowledgeable	3.40 (0.54)	3.58 (0.52)	3.06 (0.71)	3.32 (0.6)
6	The lectures emphasize patient-centered care during the clinical teaching sessions	2.33 (1.07)	3.17 (0.69)	2.53 (1.02)	2.77 (0.88)
8	The lecturers make fun of students	2.06 (1.22)	2.07 (1.30)	1.84 (1.28)	1.10 (1.33)
9	The lecturers are authoritarian	1.50 (0.99)	1.29 (1.05)	1.54 (1.17)	1.74 (1.12)
18	The lecturers have good communication skills with the patients	2.70 (1.02)	3.43 (0.62)	2.70 (1.17)	2.32 (1.25)
29	The lecturers are good at providing feedback to students	2.50 (0.94)	3.15 (0.69)	2.31 (1.17)	2.55 (0.99)
32	The teachers provide constructive critisism here	2.18 (0.95)	2.14 (0.94)	2.36 (1.12)	2.12 (0.99)
37	The lecturers give clear examples	2.79 (1)	3.21 (0.69)	2.72 (0.96)	2.32 (1.08)
39	The lecturers get angry during the teaching sessions	2.05 (1.03)	2.13 (1.14)	1.84 (1.14)	1.81 (1.17)
40	The lecturers are well prepared for their teaching sessions	3.00 (0.97)	3.22 (0.7)	2.97 (0.94)	2.39 (1.15)
50	I feel able to ask the questions I want	1.70 (1.04)	2.64 (0.87)	2.11 (1.33)	2.06 (1.06)
	D3: Students’ academic self-perception
5	Learning strategies that worked for me before continue to work for me now	2.14 (1.08)	2.86 (0.79)	2.22 (1.10)	2.55 (0.93)
10	I am confident of passing the examination this year	2.90 (0.89)	3.14 (0.92)	3.18 (1)	2.51 (1.1)
21	The teaching helps to develop my confidence	2.73 (1.03)	3.10 (0.86)	2.91 (1.02)	2.77 (0.99)
26	Last year’s learning has been good preparation for this year’s work	2.95 (0.86)	3.28 (0.59)	2.78 (1.12)	2.74 (1.06)
27	I am able to memorize all I need	2.41 (0.99)	2.54 (0.79)	2.11 (1.12)	2.06 (0.81)
31	I have learned a lot about empathy in my profession	2.45 (0.93)	2.94 (0.67)	2.57 (1.15)	2.71 (0.86)
41	My problem-solving skills are being developed well here	2.52 (0.95)	2.79 (0.84)	2.45 (1.26)	2.19 (1.17)
45	Much of what I learnt seems relevant to a career in dentistry	2.56 (1.06)	3.32 (0.64)	2.66 (0.97)	2.87 (0.72)
	D4: Students’ perceptions of atmosphere
11	The atmosphere is relaxed during clinical teaching	2.38 (1.05)	2.60 (0.97)	2.26 (1.27)	2.32 (1.14)
12	The course timetable is well charted	2.84 (0.99)	3.32 (0.82)	2.73 (1.16)	2.61 (1.15)
17	Cheating is rampant in this course	1.66 (1.08)	1.71 (1.09)	1.82 (1.13)	1.87 (1.09)
23	The atmosphere is relaxed during lectures	2.44 (0.95)	2.93 (0.78)	2.74 (0.95)	1.97 (1.04)
30	There are good opportunities to develop interpersonal skills	2.60 (1.09)	2.89 (0.86)	2.34 (1.10)	2.38 (1.09)
33	I feel comfortable in class socially	2.71 (0.92)	3.03 (0.71)	2.72 (0.99)	2.29 (1.18)
34	The atmosphere is relaxed during seminars/tutorials	2.55 (0.94)	2.94 (0.84)	2.77 (1.03)	2.35 (1.20)
35	I find the experience here disappointing	2.08 (1.09)	2.28 (1.01)	1.99 (1.99)	1.55 (1.26)
36	I am able to concentrate well	2.63 (0.89)	2.85 (0.78)	2.54 (1.02)	2.42 (1.17)
42	The enjoyment outweighs the stress of studying here	2.23 (1.05)	2.29 (1.11)	1.91 (1.29)	2.00 (1.24)
43	The atmosphere here motivates me as a learner	2.61 (0.91)	2.96 (0.81)	2.42 (1.19)	2.06 (0.93)
49	The students irritate the lecturers/facilitators	1.70 (1.1)	1.38 (1)	1.70 (1.25)	1.56 (1.06)
	D5: Students’ social self-perception
3	There is good support system for students who get stressed	2.31 (0.96)	2.44 (1.12)	1.89 (1.56)	2.06 (1.21)
4	I am too tired to enjoy the course	1.90 (1.13)	1.65 (1.21)	1.65 (1.5)	1.94 (1.06)
14	I am rarely bored with this course	2.30 (1.14)	1.99 (1.07)	2.38 (1.29)	1.84 (1.21)
15	I have good friends in this course	3.18 (0.85)	3.44 (0.75)	3.07 (1.24)	2.35 (1.54)
19	My social life is good	3.03 (0.84)	2.99 (0.86)	2.59 (1.26)	2.48 (1.29)
28	I seldom feel lonely	1.93 (1.11)	2.42 (1.14)	2.34 (1.1)	2.10 (1.32)
46	My accommodation is pleasant	2.41 (1.1)	2.44 (1.18)	2.49 (1.25)	2.48 (1.09)

Abbreviations: DREEM, Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure; SD, standard deviation.

Table 6 Mean DREEM scores in which significant differences were observed between the first-year and final-year students

Domain	Question number	Item	Mean (SD)		P-value
			First year	Final year
SPT	8	Lecturers make fun of students	2.06 (1.22)	1.10 (1.33)	0.001
SPT	18	Lecturers have good communication skills with the patients	2.70 (1.02)	2.32 (1.25)	0.105
SPT	37	The lecturers give clear examples	2.79 (1)	2.32 (1.08)	0.043
SPT	40	Teachers are well prepared for their teaching sessions	3.00 (0.97)	2.39 (1.15)	0.018
SASP	5	Learning strategies that worked for me before continue to work for me now	2.14 (1.1)	2.55 (0.93)	0.049
SASP	10	I am confident of passing this year	2.90 (0.89)	2.51 (1.1)	0.062
SASP	41	My problem-solving skills are being developed well here	2.52 (0.95)	2.19 (1.17)	0.126
SPA	23	The atmosphere is relaxed during lectures/tutorials	2.44 (0.95)	1.97 (1.04)	0.035
SPA	35	I find the experience here disappointing	2.08 (1.09)	1.55 (1.26)	0.031
SPA	43	The atmosphere here motivates me as a learner	2.61 (0.91)	2.06 (0.93)	0.074
SSSP	14	I am rarely bored in this course	2.30 (1.14)	1.84 (1.21)	0.036
SSSP	15	I have good friends in this course	3.18 (0.85)	2.35 (1.54)	0.007
SSSP	19	My social life is good	2.41 (1.1)	2.48 (1.09)	0.011

Abbreviations: DREEM, Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure; SD, standard deviation.