Perception of dental students about the educational environment of the Faculty and Evaluation of the academic performance of the doctorate in dental surgery

Abstract

Introduction. The main purpose of the study was to evaluate the perception of the dental student in clinical practices about the educational environment offered by the Faculty of Dentistry of the Evangelical University of El Salvador UEES, as well as to evaluate the results of the academic performance achieved during their training in the career. doctorate in dental surgery. Methodology. The research was descriptive, with a cross-sectional design and was carried out from January to December 2012. It was considered to evaluate the educational environment as it is one of the factors that determine the extent of the student's academic success throughout their training; At the same time, the measurement of this factor contributes to establishing continuous improvement processes that allow the student to reach their maximum academic performance. For its measurement, the Dundee Ready Environment Evaluation Measurement DREEM questionnaire was used as it is the most appropriate tool to evaluate learning environments in the medical area at the undergraduate level. This questionnaire and the review of the academic history of each student for the evaluation of the performance
academic studies were applied to 71 active dentistry students in clinical practices. Results. The measurement of the educational environment showed that dental students perceive the environment of the Faculty as more positive than negative, in the areas of: perception of learning, perception of teachers, perception of the environment, as well as social and academic self-perception. of the measurement of academic performance indicated that there are significant differences between students when they were evaluated for each cycle, as well as when each academic area was evaluated; A higher academic performance is demonstrated in all subjects for the group of students who were enrolled in cycle XII, year 2012.
Conclusion. The students perceive the educational environment of the School of Dentistry as more positive than negative and there are significant differences in the academic performance of the students, by groups and by academic area. The correlation obtained between the grades by academic areas was slightly positive, showing that as the student progresses their academic performance also increases.