Abstract
Aims of the study were to assess dental students' perceptions of educational environment and identify differences in terms of gender, age, type of high school, level of education, total monthly family income, and type of housing. A cross-sectional, descriptive questionnaire was administered in a dental school in Turkey. A total of 185 undergraduate dental students from the third-, fourth-, and fifth-year were personally approached by the investigator to complete the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS-22 Turkiye program. Comparisons were performed via ANOVA and t-test to detect the significance between and within the groups. This study gotten a response rate of 96.67%, and the total Dundee ready education environment measure score was more positive than negative (60% and 48%). No significant difference existed between the gender scores at 100.97 +/- 22.18 and 100.19 +/- 16.77. Other parameters showed no influences the findings. A significant difference was observed in SASP, with a p 0.042 in the graduated school type. The students in the third-, fourth-, and fifth-year levels obtained DREEM scores of 95, 36 +/- 18, 67 103, 02 +/- 20, 75, and 103, 31 +/- 19.31, respectively. Significant differences were observed in SPT and SPA, with p values of 0.029 and 0.035. We concluded that the EE perceptions of students were at the margin of the positive side, with no significant difference in terms of gender, age, monthly family income, and housing type. However, certain weaknesses were identified, particularly in students' perception of learning and atmosphere.