Island Medical Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Med Educ Online. 2010 Sep 24;15. doi: 10.3402/meo.v15i0.5168.
The learning environment of a medical school has a significant impact on students' achievements and learning outcomes. The importance of equitable learning environments across programme sites is implicit in distributed undergraduate medical programmes being developed and implemented.
To study the learning environment and its equity across two classes and three geographically separate sites of a distributed medical programme at the University of British Columbia Medical School that commenced in 2004.
The validated Dundee Ready Educational Environment Survey was sent to all students in their 2nd and 3rd year (classes graduating in 2009 and 2008) of the programme. The domains of the learning environment surveyed were: students' perceptions of learning, students' perceptions of teachers, students' academic self-perceptions, students' perceptions of the atmosphere, and students' social self-perceptions. Mean scores, frequency distribution of responses, and inter- and intrasite differences were calculated.
The perception of the global learning environment at all sites was more positive than negative. It was characterised by a strongly positive perception of teachers. The work load and emphasis on factual learning were perceived negatively. Intersite differences within domains of the learning environment were more evident in the pioneer class (2008) of the programme. Intersite differences consistent across classes were largely related to on-site support for students.
Shared strengths and weaknesses in the learning environment at UBC sites were evident in areas that were managed by the parent institution, such as the attributes of shared faculty and curriculum. A greater divergence in the perception of the learning environment was found in domains dependent on local arrangements and social factors that are less amenable to central regulation. This study underlines the need for ongoing comparative evaluation of the learning environment at the distributed sites and interaction between leaders of these sites.
医学院的学习环境对学生的成绩和学习成果有重大影响。在开发和实施分布式本科医学课程的过程中，隐含着在各个课程地点建立公平的学习环境的重要性。
研究 2004 年开始在不列颠哥伦比亚大学医学院开展的分布式医学课程的两个班级和三个地理位置不同的课程地点的学习环境及其公平性。
向该课程 2 年级和 3 年级（分别于 2009 年和 2008 年毕业的班级）的所有学生发送了经过验证的邓迪准备教育环境调查（Dundee Ready Educational Environment Survey）。所调查的学习环境领域包括：学生对学习的看法、学生对教师的看法、学生的学术自我认知、学生对氛围的看法和学生的社会自我认知。计算了平均分数、反应的频数分布以及站点间和站点内的差异。
所有站点的整体学习环境感知都比负面感知更为积极。其特点是对教师的强烈积极看法。工作负荷和对事实学习的重视被认为是负面的。学习环境领域的站点内差异在该课程的先驱班级（2008 年）中更为明显。在班级间一致的站点间差异主要与学生的现场支持有关。
UBC 站点学习环境的共享优势和劣势在由主办机构管理的领域中显而易见，例如共享教师和课程的属性。在依赖于当地安排和社会因素的领域中，学习环境的感知差异更大，这些因素不太容易受到中央监管。本研究强调了需要对分布式站点的学习环境进行持续的比较评估以及这些站点的领导者之间的互动。
