The professional school learning environment (or climate) can have a potent and long-lasting effect on students’ attitudes, behaviors, performance and well-being. Perceptions of faculty concern or respect for students, the degree to which students perceive congruence between stated curricular goals and implementation, the constructiveness and timeliness of feedback to students, and the nature of peer relations are all factors that can influence students’ progress toward becoming physicians and shape their long term attitudes toward different medical specialties. Additionally, students’ perception of mistreatment in the educational environment has been linked to physical and psychological impairments, the ability to interact with and learn from teachers, and ultimately the ability to offer compassionate care. Items or instruments assessing the learning environment should be included in the design of any program evaluation -- whether implemented in anticipation of curricular reform or as part of ongoing quality improvement efforts. Data about the learning environment often provides specifics about where remedial action needs to be targeted and can be used to engage students, faculty, and administrators in the process of actively managing institutional change.

In this one-hour Audio Seminar, Dr. Robins will review scholarly work on the assessment of learning environments and discuss qualitative and quantitative methods and instrument for collecting the kinds of information needed to characterize and address the institutional learning environment.