Academic Environment In An Enquiry- Based Dental Curriculum: Expectations And Reality

Aims: To evaluate the academic environment at the Peninsula Dental School and to identify differences between expectations of new entrants and perceptions of senior cohorts. Materials and Methods: It was a non-interventional study based on an online questionnaire administered to the four cohorts of the BDS programme. The first part of the questionnaire employed the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM). A combination of 5-point Likert-type scale (ranging from 0 to 4) was utilized to evaluate the responses to this questionnaire. Items identified as negative statements were scored in the reverse order. The second part of the questionnaire consisted of two open-ended questions. Results: The response rate to the questionnaire was 56.42% with an equal gender distribution of the participants. The overall mean DREEM score of the four cohorts was 143.58 (SD ± 20.84) and the mean score for individual items was 2.87 (SD ± 0.41). The reliability of the DREEM data as a whole was strong (a = 0.93) with only one item identified as showing low score. The difference in questionnaire means for the new entrants and the senior cohorts were not significant (p > 0.05). Open ended questions provided further insights into the academic environment with both general as well as specific areas of possible improvements highlighted by the participants. Conclusions: An enquiry-based, student-centred curriculum at the Peninsula Dental School provides a positive academic environment which is fundamental to effective student learning and critical in the context of personal and social wellbeing.