Open AccessAssociations between learning environment factors and student satisfaction among occupational therapy students
Author(s) -
Hilde Thygesen,
Astrid Gramstad,
Lene Angel Åsli,
Linda Stigen,
Trine A Magne,
Tove Carstensen,
Tore Bonsaksen
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the irish journal of occupational therapy/irish journal of occupational therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.211
H-Index - 2
eISSN - 2398-8819
pISSN - 0791-8437
DOI - 10.1108/ijot-10-2019-0015
Subject(s) - autonomy , psychology , learning environment , variance (accounting) , higher education , medical education , originality , regression analysis , applied psychology , scale (ratio) , occupational therapy , independence (probability theory) , quality (philosophy) , mathematics education , social psychology , medicine , statistics , mathematics , philosophy , physics , accounting , epistemology , quantum mechanics , creativity , political science , law , business , psychiatry
Purpose Student satisfaction is an important indicator of educational quality in higher education institutions. Learning environment factors are assumed to play a role in determining student satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to examine the intrinsic relationships between five learning environment scales embedded within one measure; and examine the associations between each of these scales and an overall measure of education program satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach In this cross-sectional study, 175 first-year occupational therapy students in Norway completed sociodemographic information and the Course Experience Questionnaire. The data were analyzed with Pearson’s correlation coefficient r and with linear regression. Findings All intrinsic associations between the learning environment scales were positive. In the adjusted analysis, higher education program satisfaction was significantly associated with higher scores on “clear goals and standards,” “emphasis on independence” and “good teaching.” The final model accounted for 45.0% of the outcome variance, of which the scores on the learning environment scales contributed 41.8%. Originality/value The learning environment is vital for student satisfaction. More specifically, efforts to improve student satisfaction may include strengthening student-focused teaching, strengthening the autonomy of the students, and ensuring that the goals and standards of courses are clear and easy to understand.