The National Student Survey: Is it just a bad DREEM?

Figures & data

Table

Practice points

The need for medical schools to improve students’ overall experience has been hampered by limitations in acquiring appropriate feedback via the UK National Student Survey. Methodological difficulties with the NSS questionnaire compounded by the importance of identifying real, as opposed to postulated, problems mean that medical schools have to approach NSS data with care. The DREEM offers a more reliable and precise feedback tool for evaluating study programmes in medical schools than the NSS. The DREEM questionnaire has a more diverse question base than the NSS and is designed for assessing healthcare environments.

Table 1.  A table showing the mean score for each NSS sub-section for Liverpool Medical School in 2011 compared with the mean score of the DREEM questionnaire data applicable to that sub-section

NSS			DREEM
Item	Average score	Standard deviation	Item	Average score	Standard deviation
The teaching on my course	3.9	0.9	DREEM Q – 1,2,7,14,20,35,37,39,40,48	3.6	0.8
Assessment and feedback	2.8	1.2	DREEM Q – 29,32,38	2.9	1.1
Academic support	3.5	1.1	DREEM Q – 3, 49	3.4	0.3
Organisation and management	3.6	1.0	DREEM Q – 12,24	3.2	0.9
Learning resources	4.3	1.1	No equivalent
Personal development	4.3	0.7	DREEM Q – 10, 16,22,30,31,36,41,44	3.4	0.7
Overall satisfaction	3.7	1.0	DREEM Q – 21,42,45	3.9	0.7

The NSS standard deviation was calculated from the frequency tables, and the raw DREEM data was rescaled from 0–4 to 1–5.

Figure 1. A graph showing the distribution of scores from fifth Year Students at Liverpool Medical School from the DREEM questionnaire data collected.

Table 2.  The results of the DREEM questionnaire, also showing (in italics) the elements not included in the NSS

DREEM domain scores (Items in italics not included in NSS)	Average score	Standard deviation
Students’ perception of learning
DREEM Q – 1,7,13,16,20,21,24,25,38,44,47,48	3.6	0.9
13,25,47	3.6	0.9
Students’ perceptions of course organisers
DREEM Q – 2,6,8,9,18,29,32,37,39,40,49	3.6	0.9
6,8,9,18	3.7	0.9
Students’ academic self perceptions
DREEM Q - 5, 10,22,26,27,31,41,45	3.8	0.9
5,26,27	3.4	1.0
Students’ perceptions of atmosphere
DREEM Q – 11,12,17,23,30,33,34,35,  36,42,43,50	3.6	0.9
11,17,23,33,34,43,50	3.7	0.9
Students’ social self perceptions
DREEM Q – 3,4,14,15,19,28,46	3.8	0.9
4,15,19,28,42	4.0	0.8

The raw DREEM data was rescaled from 0–4 to 1–5.

Figure 2. A graph showing the similarities between the NSS and DREEM questionnaire scores (both on a scale of 1–5 (strongly disagree to strongly agree)).

Table

Question	Strongly Agree	Agree	Uncertain	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
1. I am encouraged to participate during teaching sessions
2. The course organisers are knowledgeable
3. There is a good support system for students who get stressed
4. I am too tired to enjoy the course
5. Learning strategies which worked for me before continue to work for me now
6. The course organisers espouse a patient centred approach to consulting
7. The teaching is often stimulating
8. The course organisers ridicule the students
9. The course organisers are authoritarian
10. I am confident about my passing this year
11. The atmosphere is relaxed during consultation teaching
12. This course is well timetabled
13. The teaching is student centred
14. I am rarely bored on this course
15. I have good friends on this course
16. The teaching helps to develop my competence
17. Cheating is a problem on this course
18. The course organisers have good communication skills with patients
19. My social life is good
20. The teaching is well focused
21. I feel I am being well prepared for my profession
22. The teaching helps to develop my confidence
23. The atmosphere is relaxed during teaching
24. The teaching time is put to good use
25. The teaching over emphasises factual learning
26. Last years work has been a good preparation for this years work
27. I am able to memorise all I need
28. I seldom feel lonely
29. The course organisers are good at providing feedback to students
30. There are opportunities for me to develop interpersonal skills
31. I have learnt a lot about empathy in my profession
32. The course organisers provide constructive criticism here
33. I feel comfortable in teaching sessions socially
34. The atmosphere is relaxed during seminars/tutorials/PBL
35. I find the teaching experience disappointing
36. I am able to concentrate well
37. The course organisers give clear examples
38. I am clear about the learning objectives of the course
39. The course organisers get angry in teaching sessions
40. The course organisers are well prepared for their teaching sessions
41. My problem solving skills are being well developed here
42. The enjoyment outweighs the stress of the course
43. The atmosphere motivates me as a learner
44. The teaching encourages me to be an active learner
45. Much of what I have to learn seems relevant to a career in healthcare
46. My accommodation is pleasant
47. Long term learning is emphasised over short term learning
48. The teaching is too teacher centred
49. I feel able to ask the questions I want
50. The students irritate the course organisers