Undergraduate Students’ Perception of the Educational Environment of a Medical School Provided a Framework for Strategic Planning

Aim: To propose a strategy for improvement of undergraduate students’ learning environment based
on analysis of their perceptions.
Methods: Medical, Pharmacy and Physiotherapy undergraduate students participated in the study.
The study used a quantitative descriptive design, based on the Dundee Ready Educational
Environment Measure (DREEM) inventory. The University of South Africa and University of Zambia
Ethics Committees provided ethical approval. Using stratified random sampling, participants were
drawn from the Ridgeway Campus of the University. They responded to a demographic section and
the 50 DREEM items. Data analysis included descriptive statistics on demographics, total and
subscales DEEM scores and mean scores on individual items. Cronbach’s alpha and confirmatory
factor analysis provided reliability and validity indices of the dataset. Specific issues derived from
individual items’ scores were used to propose a strategy.
Results: Total participants were 488 including 239 from Medicine, 135 from Pharmacy and 74 from
Physiotherapy. Response rate was 95.5%. Mean total score was 119.3/200. Scores within subscales
of perception of learning, perception of teachers, academic self-perception, perception of atmosphere,
and social self-perception were 29.87/48, 26.29/44, 20.96/32, 27.26/48 and 14.86/14, respectively.
Four strategic issues emerged from six items with mean scores below 2.0/4.0: lack of adequate social
support for stressed students, substandard teaching and mentoring, unpleasant accommodation and
inadequate facilities. Strategic objectives were raised and strategic options recommended from
literature.
Conclusion: Strategic planning in medical and health professions education should consider
learners’ concerns by analysing their learning environments.