Dental students’ perceptions of Learning Environment

Objective: To identify dental students’ perceptions of the learning environment (LE) at the Faculty of Dentistry, Naresuan University in the academic year 2009.

 

Methods: Measure of pre-clinical dental students’ LE was systematically developed. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using the LE questionnaires. All pre-clinical dental students at Naresuan University, Thailand, in the academic year 2009 were invited to participate.

 

Result: The LE questionnaire consisting of 43 items (9 dimensions) was developed with good validity and reliability. Cronbach’s coefficient alpha ranged from 0.70-0.91. A total 215 pre-clinical dental students completed the questionnaire (96% response rate). The overall mean score was 57.4 (out of a maximum of 90) indicating relative satisfaction with the perceived environment. Of those 9 dimensions; “Health and stress” was ranked the lowest which was identified as an issue which needs changing.

 

Conclusion: Learning Environment for pre-clinical phase of dental education can be reliably measured. “Health and stress” was probably the dimension need to be improved by responsible dental educators.