IDENTIFICATION OF FACULTY PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THEIR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND COMPARISON BASED ON CURRICULA AND GENDER

Abstract

Objective: To identify faculty perceptions about their learning environment and compare these based on curricula and gender.

Study Design: A non interventional, cross sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Islamabad Medical and Dental College and Islamic International Medical College, from Mar to Jun 2016.

Material and Methods: A non interventional, cross sectional study was done in Islamabad Medical and Dental College and Islamic International Medical College, from March to June 2016. Convenient sampling was done. Data was collected from faculty of two medical colleges with different curricula using AMEET inventory. Independent sample t-test was applied to find the difference between two groups based on gender and curricula.

Results: Statistically significant difference was observed regarding their teaching and learning activitieswhereas their perceptions about students, learning atmosphere, collaborative atmosphere, self-perceptions were found to be statistically insignificant. There was a statistically significant difference between male and female faculty perceptions.

Conclusion: Although, curricular type does not affect teachers’ notion about their students, institutional ethnography and their academic self-concept, but faculty of traditional curriculum, believed their teaching to be mainly didactic, whereas those of integrated curriculum, deduced that teaching activities revolve around students. This research results can be generalized by increasing sample size and recording faculty sentiments of
different gender and working in different curricular type.