title: DREEM on, dentists! Students' perceptions of the educational environment in a German dental school as measured by the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The educational climate in which future doctors are trained is an important aspect of medical education. In contrast to human medicine, it has been rather neglected in dental educational research. The aim of the study was to supplement this lack by applying and validating the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) for the first time in a German-speaking sample of dental students.
  
  
  METHODS
  All dental students at the Medical Faculty of Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf were asked to complete a German adaptation of the DREEM and the Düsseldorf Mission Statement Questionnaire (DMSQ) in a paper-pencil survey. Data from 205 participants were analysed. Psychometric validation included analysis of item homogeneity and discrimination, test reliability, criterion and construct validity (convergent, factorial).
  
  
  RESULTS
  DREEM item parameters were satisfactory, reliability (α = 0.87) and convergent validity (r = 0.66 with DMSQ) were also high. Factor analyses, however, yielded dimensions which did not fully correspond to the original DREEM subscales. Overall perception of the educational environment was positive (DREEM total score = 122.95 ± 15.52). Students in the clinical part of course rated the atmosphere more negatively, but their academic self-perception more positively than preclinical students.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Showing satisfactory psychometric properties, DREEM proved suitable for assessing educational environments among dental students. Given the right circumstances, e.g., small and early clinically oriented classes, traditional curricula can generate positive environments.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Ostapczuk
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hugger
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Bruin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ritz-Timme
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rotthoff
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004497:Education, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D011594:Psychometrics; D012931:Social Environment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013335:Students, Dental / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult