EVALUATING THE DENTAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: A STUDENT-CENTRIC PRESPECTIVE ACROSS PRECLINICAL AND CLINICAL YEARS USING DUNDEE READY EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT MEASURE (DREEM) TOOL

Objectives: The learning environment has a profound role in students learning and success. It also has an integral role in the development of the curriculum. The aim of this study to evaluate the learning environment and compare dental students' perception of the learning environment of pre-clinical and clinical years. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2023 to April 2024. A total of 170 both male and female BDS students from all four years at the Bacha Khan College of Denistry were included in the study. A stratified random Sampling Method was used. Students migrated from other colleges in the middle of the sessions and students currently working as interns or house officers were excluded from the study. Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM), a 50-item questionnaire that uses a 5-point Likert scale (4 = strongly agree to 0 = strongly disagree) was used to measure strength of agreement with statements on five domains of learning. Learning (L), Teaching (T), Academic self-perception (ASP), Atmosphere (A) and Social self-perception (SSP). Frequency distributions and descriptive statistics were tabulated in IBM SPSS (version 21). Mean scores for each dimension of learning were used for analysis. Comparative analysis was done using independent sample t test. Results: The DREEM questionnaire was completed by 147 students, 78 1st and 2nd year students (preclinical training phase) while 69 3rd and 4th year students. 34.6% of the participants were male and 66.6% were female. The mean age of the participants was 21.4 years (SD=1.72). Tukey's post hoc analysis within the participants revealed a significantly lower DREEM score of the Final year compared with the 1st year (p < .003), and 3rd year (p< 0.031). The items within each domain with the biggest signifi cant differences (p ≤ 0.05) was between Pre-Clinical Training Phase and Clinical training. Conclusion: This study examined the educational setting in our institution. The students of Bacha Khan College of Dentistry showed a predominantly satisfaction with their educational environment. The primary results indicated that students in the early stages of their studies, namely those in their pre-clinical years had positive opinions across all aspects of their learning environment. Overall, the findings from the study highlight the importance of understanding how students perceive their educational environment throughout diff erent stages of their dental training. By delving deeper into these differences and correlations, educators and administrators can make informed decisions to enhance the curriculum and ultimately improve the learning experience for students. This implies that a more tailored and effective approach to dental education could lead to better outcomes and preparedness for future dental professionals.