Associations between baccalaureate nursing students' perceptions of educational environment and HESI scores and GPA

Public Health Graduates' Perceptions of the Educational Environment Measured by the DREEM

Objective

Students' perceptions of the educational environment have a significant impact on their behavior and academic progress. This study aims to measure medical graduates' perception of the educational environment within the School of Public Health at Wuhan University in China.

Methods

The survey was conducted by emails sent to 119 graduates, and 93 valid questionnaires were returned. The DREEM was used to assess the medical graduates' satisfaction with the educational environment.

Results

The average score on the scale was 126.02 (±18.27). The scoring rate of the areas ranged between 61.06 and 67.11%. The area with the highest score was “perception of teachers.” The area with the lowest score was “academic self-perception.” No difference was found between genders. Except for “perception of atmosphere,” the total scores and other areas showed differences in graduation time.

Conclusion

The educational environment at the School of Public Health at Wuhan University was satisfactory. The program contributed to the graduates' later careers. The information obtained in this study identified some areas for improvement.

Evaluation of learning environment among Nursing undergraduates in state universities, Sri Lanka

BACKGROUND

The learning environment is a vital part of the undergraduate curriculum which enable to delivery of quality education in the stipulated time. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the learning environment among BSc. Nursing undergraduates in Sri Lankan state universities.

METHODS

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 161 final year BSc. Nursing undergraduates in six state universities. Socio-demographic characteristics were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire was used to evaluate the learning environment in Perception of learning (SPL), Perceptions of teaching (SPT), Academic self-perceptions (SASP), Perceptions of the atmosphere (SPA), and Social self-perceptions (SSP). Based on the SPL, SPT, SASP, SPA, and SSP domains, the overall score of learning environment was ranged from 0 to 200 and then the overall score was classified into four categories such as poor (0-50), many problems (51-100), more positive than negative (101-150) and excellent (151-200). One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and t-test were used to determine the difference in the subscales and the overall scale.

RESULTS

The mean age of the students was 24.9 ± 0.9 years. The overall score of the learning environment was 127.1 ± 14.3. Student's Perception of learning showed the highest mean score of 31.1 ± 3.9 while the social self-perception showed the lowest score (mean 16.4 ± 3.1). A significant group effect was observed in SPL and SPT subdomains among state universities while no significant group effect was observed in other subdomains. Furthermore, participating in extracurricular activities, travelling time to the faculty, and gender were observed as associated factors for the learning environment among BSc. Nursing undergraduates in state universities.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the overall learning environment of BSc. Nursing undergraduates in state universities in Sri Lanka was within more positive than negative category, none of the university reaches to the excellent category. Therefore, each university should have improved their subdomains of learning environment to reach excellent category through addressing the gaps of curricular and extracurricular activities in the future.

Development of an interprofessional clinical learning environment report card

Multiple factors in the learning environment can encourage or impede student learning. Unanswered questions regarding the shared learning environment for graduate nursing and medical education and the desire for an ongoing improvement process drove creation of an interprofessional collaborative and development of an Interprofessional Clinical Learning Environment Report Card (I-CLERC) at one U.S. academic medical center. The I-CLERC offers a process and a product for institutionalizing a shared assessment tool to inform improvement efforts, track progress and promote accountability. In addition, it enhances interprofessional collaboration, with students and faculty from both nursing and medicine working together to define excellence, monitor performance, and identify areas for improvement in the shared clinical learning environment. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe development and implementation of an interdisciplinary, institutional collaborative for ongoing evaluation of the shared clinical learning environment.

Developing and validating a tool for measuring the educational environment in clinical anesthesia

PURPOSE

We aimed to develop a contemporary measure for anesthesia teaching and learning in the operating theatre that was applicable to a variety of training jurisdictions, the Measure for the Anaesthesia Theatre Educational Environment (MATE).

METHODS

A systematic review of the literature and modified Delphi approach was used to identify items for content validity. Reliability and exploratory factor analyses were conducted after a pilot survey of trainees to show construct validity, with removal of redundant items. Item domains were identified through a global assessment of factor structure accuracy and relation to real-world constructs.

RESULTS

Literature review generated an initial 73-item list. A modified Delphi approach with 24 experts identified 44 relevant items. The pilot survey generated 390 responses. Reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and global assessment refined the measure to 33 items. Four domains were identified according to factor structure: teaching preparation and practice, assessment and feedback, procedures and responsibility, and overall atmosphere. The educational environment was rated by trainees at 74.6 ± 15.6% with excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.975).

CONCLUSION

The MATE survey tool generated valid and reliable scores when measuring the educational environment in the operating theatre. Further research is required to investigate possible differences between the training countries and age of junior doctors and the associated underlying factors. Other researchers are invited to administer the survey and share results within a central database.

Nursing and midwifery students' perceptions of educational environment and grade point average: a comparison between nursing and midwifery students

BACKGROUND

The educational environment is an essential component of student learning. Study of the educational environment is crucial to provision of a learning quality, student-centered program for nursing and midwifery fields.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine the associations between baccalaureate nursing and midwifery students' perceptions of educational environment (SPEE) and grade point average (GPA), and comparison between students of nursing and midwifery field.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hamadan Nursing and Midwifery Faculty. In this study, 249 nursing and 59 midwifery students participated. The study period lasted 12 months. We used an Iranian -language version of the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire to measure nursing and midwifery students' perceptions of the educational environment. The data analysis was performed using descriptive statistic, Pearson's coefficient, Spearman's coefficient, and independent t-test through the SPSS version 16. P-value less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

There was significant difference in nursing and midwifery students in perceptions of learning (SPL) (p=0.0001), perceptions of Teaching (SPT) (p=0.009), Academic self-perceptions (SASP) (p=0.005) and perceptions of educational environment. There was correlation between categories' perceptions of teaching and GPA (p=0.016), academic self-perceptions and GPA (p=0.001). Moreover, there was correlation between perceptions of educational environment and GPA (p=0.028).

CONCLUSION

Although there was significant difference in nursing and midwifery students in perceptions of the educational environment, there was straight correlation between the educational environment and GPA, and there is opportunity for development of the educational environment. As the discipline of nursing education advances, there is need to develop the learning environment in areas of perceptions of teaching and academic self-perceptions, to build an effective learning environment for attaining better GPA, which addresses nursing educational managers and considers items beyond college, like social topics. Furthermore, it requires studying the effect of the learning environment on educational outcome in Iranian nursing and midwifery faculties.

Fostering Ethical Integrity in Nursing Education

Nursing students bring an array of morals, values, and ethics that may be inconsistent with ethical integrity. This study explored nurse educator perceptions of student ethical integrity and how educators can foster an ethical foundation in students and novice educators. Four major themes influencing ethical integrity emerged: the learning environment, behaviors, ethical principles, and a toolbox of strategies. Strategies for fostering ethical integrity included: modeling ethical integrity, effective communication, grading accuracy, faculty perceptions, and faculty peer mentoring.

Evaluating the educational environment of an international animal model-based wet lab course for undergraduate students

Background

Essential Skills in the management of Surgical Cases – ESMSC is an International Combined Applied Surgical Science and Wet Lab course aimed at the undergraduate level. ESMSC combines interactive basic science workshops and case-based learning, with basic surgical training modules (BST) on Ex Vivo and In Vivo swine model. In Vivo Dissections include more advanced modules i.e. Abdominal Anatomy Dissections and Cardiac Transplant.

Aim

To evaluate the educational environment of a novel course, as well as to compare Medical students' perceptions across various groups.

Materials and Methods

83 Delegates from King's College London (KCL) and several Hellenic Medical Schools attended the ESMSC course. The DREEM inventory was distributed upon completion of the modules.

Results

The mean overall score for DREEM inventory was 148.05/200(99–196, SD = 17.90). Cronbach's Alpha value was 0.818, indicating good internal consistency of the data. Year 3/4 Students have a significantly positive “Perception of Learning”, when compared to Year 5/6 (36.43 vs. 33.75, p = 0.017). KCL Students have a more positive view of the course compared to their Greek counterparts (155.19 vs. 145.62/200, p = 0.034). No statistical significant difference was noted when comparing male vs. female students (p > 0.05).

Conclusions

Students seem to positively rate the ESMSC educational environment. Junior as well as KCL students appear to be more enthusiastic. Further research should focus on the optimal strategy for early involvement and motivation of various students' groups in BST.

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ESMSC is an International Surgical Science and Wet Lab course aimed at undergraduates.

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Students seem to positively rate the ESMSC educational environment.

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Year 3/4 Students have a significantly positive “Perception of Learning”, when compared to Year 5/6.

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KCL Students gave a more feedback on the course compared to their Greek counterparts.

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Further research should focus on involving and motivating students early in BST.