Survey of lecturer's opinions about the learning environment at Zanjan University of Medical Sciences

Learning environment is an important determinant to motivating for learning. In the education environment, lecturers play a vital role at effective learning. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the educational environment at Zanjan University of Medical Sciences by Lecturer ' point of view. A cross-sectional study was carried out at Zanjan University of Medical Sciences. A total of 120 lecturers were selected randomly and the modified Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) was used for data collection. Data analysis was performed by using SPSS 11.5 and descriptive and analytical statistics such as mean, independent samples t test and one way ANOVA. The overall DREEM score was (85.2± 12.24). It represents a favorable educational environment. The lowest DREEM score mean was 24.82 out of maximum 44 (56.42%) in lecturers’ perceptions of the teachers (representing moving in the right direction) and the highest DREEM score mean was 30.55 out of maximum 48 (63.64%) in lecturers’ perceptions of the learning (representing positive attitude to learning). The difference of mean scores in the learning domain were statistically significant on the basis of faculties (p <0.05) and educational group (p <0.01). There was no statistically significant difference between male and female lecturers for the DREEM subscale scores. the finding of this study showed that lecturers’ perceptions of the educational environment are fairly favorable and there is a room for improvement in the educational environment.