Dental students' perceptions of learning environment in the Faculty of Dentistry, Naresuan University

Abstract

Objective: To identify the dental students’ perceptions of learning environment in the Faculty of Dentistry, Naresuan University in the academic year 2009. Research Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study Participants: All dental students enrolled in the academic year 2009. Methods: Modified questionnaires, 43-items measure for pre-clinical phase (9 dimensions) and 39-items measure for clinical phase (7 dimensions), were developed for identifying the dental students’ perceptions of learning environment. A response was scored on a 1-5 Likert scale. The measures were ensured for its content and construct validity, and also reliability. Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s coefficient alpha) ranged from 0.70-0.91 in pre-clinical phase and 0.72-0.93 in clinical phase. The data were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The response rate was 88 percent. The overall mean score were 57.4 (out of a maximum of 90) for pre-clinical phase and 42.9 (out of a maximum of 70) for clinical phase indicating relative satisfaction with the perceived environment on both phases. “Health and stress” dimension as the lowest rank which was identified that there are many issues which need changing from both phases. The second lowest domain mean score, pre-clinical students identified “Physical environment” dimension, while clinical students indicated “Clinical environment” dimension. Conclusion: “Health and stress” dimension might be primarily concerned from this dental school for improvement or enhancement