The Malaysia DREEM: perceptions of medical students about the learning environment in a medical school in Malaysia

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of the medical students from the Management and Science University, who participated in this study (n=438)

Variable	Categorize	Number	Percentage (%)
Sex	Male	137	31.3
	Female	301	68.7
Race	Malay	286	65.3
	Chinese	35	8.0
	Indian	103	23.5
	Others	14	3.2
Year	Year 1	34	7.8
	Year 2	160	36.5
	Year 3	244	55.7

Table 2 Students’ perceptions of learning, among medical students (n=438)

Items	Mean	SD
1. I am encouraged to participate in class	2.6	0.83
7. The teaching is often stimulating	2.6	0.77
13. The teaching is student centered	2.5	0.80
16. The teaching helps to develop my competence	2.6	0.82
20. The teaching is well focused	2.6	0.79
22. The teaching helps to develop my confidence	2.6	0.79
24. The teaching time is put to good use	2.5	0.84
25. The teaching over-emphasizes factual learning	2.4	0.83
38. I am clear about the learning objectives of the course	2.6	0.76
44. The teaching encourages me to be an active learner	2.6	0.81
47. Long term learning is emphasized over short term learning	2.4	0.81
48. The teaching is too teacher-centered	2.1	0.86
Total mean score	30.6	5.48
Maximum score	48

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Table 3 Students’ perceptions of teachers, among medical students (n=438)

Items	Mean	SD
2. The teachers are knowledgeable	2.9	0.77
6. The teachers are patient with students	2.7	0.77
8. The teachers ridicule the students	2.1	0.89
9. The teachers are authoritarian	2.3	0.86
18. The teachers have good communication skills with students	2.7	0.83
29. The teachers are good at providing feedback to students	2.7	0.76
32. The teachers provide constructive criticism here	2.5	0.75
37. The teachers give clear examples	2.7	0.77
39. The teachers get angry in class	1.9	0.98
40. The teachers are well prepared for their classes	2.7	0.84
50. The students irritate the teachers	1.9	0.95
Total mean score	27.4	4.44
Maximum score	44

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Table 4 Students’ academic self-perception, among medical students (n=438)

Items	Mean	SD
5. Learning strategies which worked for me before continue to work for me now	2.5	0.84
10. I am confident about my passing this year	2.6	0.78
21. I feel I am being well prepared for my profession	2.5	0.79
26. Last year’s work has been a good preparation for this year’s work	2.4	0.84
27. I am able to memorize all I need	2.3	0.89
31. I have learned a lot about empathy in my profession	2.7	0.76
41. My problem solving skills are being well developed here	2.6	0.79
45. Much of what I have to learn seems relevant to a career in healthcare	2.7	0.75
Total mean score	20.65	3.86
Maximum score	32

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Table 5 Students’ perceptions of atmosphere, among medical students (n=438)

Items	Mean	SD
11. The environments are relaxing during the ward teaching	2.4	0.75
12. This school is well timetabled	2.1	1.07
17. Cheating is a problem in this school	2.3	0.97
23. The atmosphere is relaxing during lectures	2.5	0.77
30. There are opportunities for me to develop interpersonal skills	2.7	0.80
33. I feel comfortable in class socially	2.7	1.22
34. The atmosphere is relaxing during seminars/tutorials	2.5	0.79
35. I find the experience disappointing	2.0	0.96
36. I am able to concentrate well	2.5	0.78
42. The enjoyment outweighs the stress of the course	2.5	0.85
43. The atmosphere motivates me as a learner	2.6	0.79
49. I feel able to ask the questions I want	2.6	0.80
Total mean score	29.7	5.27
Maximum score	48

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Table 6 Students’ social self-perceptions, among medical students (n=438)

Items	Mean	SD
3. There is a good support system for students who get stressed	2.2	0.89
4. I am too tired to enjoy the course	1.9	1.04
14. I am rarely bored on this course	2.0	1.09
15. I have good friends in this school	2.9	0.79
19. My social life is good	2.7	0.82
28. I seldom feel lonely	2.3	0.94
46. My accommodation is pleasant	2.4	0.91
Total mean score	16.7	3.35
Maximum score	28

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Table 7 DREEM domains for medical students (n=438)

Domain	Number of questions	Maximum DREEM score	Mean	SD
Students’ Perceptions of Learning (SPoL)	12	48	30.6	5.4
Students’ Perceptions of Teachers (SPoT)	11	44	27.4	4.4
Students’ Academic Self-Perception (SASP)	8	32	20.6	3.8
Students’ Perceptions of Atmosphere (SPoA)	12	48	29.7	5.2
Students’ Social Self-Perceptions (SSSP)	7	28	16.7	3.3
Total DREEM score	50	200	125.3	19.5

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

Table 8 ANOVA between different years for the differing DREEM domains (n=438)

Domain	Year levels	Mean ± SD	P-value
Students’ Perceptions of Learning	Year 1	31.2±5.9
	Year 2	32.2±4.3	<0.001
	Year 3	29.5±5.8
Students’ Perceptions of Teachers	Year 1	27.9±5.3
	Year 2	28.6±3.5	<0.001
	Year 3	26.6±4.6
Students’ Academic Self-Perception	Year 1	21.2±3.1
	Year 2	21.6±3.4	<0.001
	Year 3	19.9±4.0
Students’ Perceptions of Atmospheres	Year 1	30.9±4.4
	Year 2	30.9±4.8	<0.001
	Year 3	28.8±5.4
Students’ Social Self-Perceptions	Year 1	17.3±3.0
	Year 2	17.0±3.2	0.043
	Year 3	16.3±3.4
Total scores	Year 1	128±19.0
	Year 2	130±16.6	<0.001
	Year 3	121±20.4

Abbreviations: ANOVA, analysis of variance; DREEM, Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure; SD, standard deviation.

Table 9 Statistically significant differences between years (n=438)

Statements	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	P-value
I am encouraged to participate	2.74±0.75	2.82±0.61	2.57±0.96	0.013
The teachers are knowledgeable	3.06±0.73	3.18±0.63	2.86±0.83	<0.001
The teachers are patient with the students	2.56±0.89	2.83±0.63	2.65±0.83	0.036
The teaching is often stimulating	2.53±0.96	2.78±0.72	2.59±0.80	0.044
The teachers are authoritarian	2.26±0.89	2.48±0.81	2.24±0.87	0.021
I am confident about my passing this year	2.94±0.81	2.89±0.60	2.53±0.84	<0.001
The environments are relaxing during the ward teaching	2.62±0.55	2.53±0.73	2.36±0.78	0.042
I have good friends in this school	3.00±0.49	3.19±0.63	2.73±0.86	<0.001
The teaching is sufficiently concerned to develop my competence	2.68±0.97	2.75±0.73	2.49±0.83	0.006
The teachers have good communication	2.71±0.76	2.91±0.72	2.67±0.89	0.017
The teaching is well focused	2.56±0.99	2.79±0.63	2.58±0.83	0.020
I feel I am being well prepared for my profession	2.76±0.81	2.65±0.64	2.48±0.86	0.037
The teaching is sufficiently concerned to develop my confidence	2.68±0.99	2.74±0.65	2.51±0.83	0.018
The environments are relaxing during lectures	2.62±0.73	2.71±0.68	2.46±0.82	0.008
The teaching time is put to good use	2.82±0.62	2.68±0.71	2.42±0.92	0.001
The teaching over-emphasized factual learning	2.83±0.81	2.63±0.64	2.31±0.92	0.001
Last year’s work has been a good preparation for this year’s work	2.15±0.74	2.63±0.82	2.39±0.85	0.001
The teachers are good at providing feedback to students	2.68±0.76	2.89±0.59	2.61±0.84	0.002
The teachers provide constructive criticism here	2.62±0.69	2.66±0.69	2.45±0.78	0.018
I feel comfortable in class socially	2.82±0.62	2.79±0.70	2.58±0.88	0.017
The atmosphere is relaxing during seminars/tutorials	2.68±0.72	2.76±0.61	2.47±0.89	0.002
The teachers give clear examples	2.62±0.88	2.86±0.67	2.63±0.80	0.011
I am clear about the learning objectives of the course	2.44±0.61	2.81±0.66	2.59±0.83	0.004
The teachers get angry in class	2.41±0.74	1.87±0.99	2.02±0.97	0.012
The teachers are well prepared for their classes	2.71±0.93	2.99±0.64	2.59±0.90	<0.001
My problem solving skills are being well developed here	2.62±0.69	2.77±0.66	2.52±0.87	0.011
The teaching encourages me to be an active learner	2.82±0.62	2.88±0.63	2.48±0.89	<0.001
Much of what I have to learn seems relevant to a career in medicine	2.74±0.75	2.96±0.56	2.57±0.82	<0.001
Long term learning is emphasized over short term learning	2.59±0.65	2.61±0.66	2.39±0.90	0.027
I feel able to ask the questions I want	2.50±0.61	2.82±0.69	2.53±0.87	0.001

Table 10 Statistically significant differences between male and female medical students (n=438)

Item	Statements	Male	Female	P-value
2	The teachers areknowledgeable	2.85±0.79	3.05±0.75	0.014
	The teaching helps to develop my confidence	2.48±0.89	2.65±0.78	0.036
	I am clear about the objective of the course	2.53±0.90	2.72±0.69	0.023
	The teaching encourages me to be an active learner	2.53±0.86	2.71±0.77	0.037
	Much of what I have to learn seems relevant to a career in medicine	2.60±0.79	2.78±0.72	0.024
	The students irritate the teachers	2.05±0.99	1.85±0.92	0.038