Students’ Viewpoint about Class Culture in Semnan University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Recognizing students' conceptions and feelings towards class culture and revealing class members' relationship are important for planning and making positive changes. This study was done to determine students’ views toward the class culture in Semnan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In this descriptive study, 269 university senior students were investigated. The questionnaire of class culture (Stephen Robins) was used to gather the data. It included demographic information questions and also 8 questions about different aspects of class culture using 5 point Likert scale. Data was analyzed by SPSS software. For data analysis, frequency distribution, mean and standard deviation were used. Chi-square test was applied for determining the relationship between the variables. Results: Most of the students (63.6%) gave a score between 20 to 29 to the current class culture. Fifty one percent of medical students recognized class culture open with the score of 30 and higher. Most associate and bachelor students gave a score of 20-29 (border line) to the current class culture. The students believed that their classmates and teachers were not friendly and supportive. They mentioned that the teachers did not state their expectations clearly and did not foster a challenging learning atmosphere to encourage students for making questions. No significant relationship was observed between class culture, school and level of study. Conclusion: Most MS and medical students believed university class culture was open, warm and supportive. Concerning other majors, a border line culture was identified. More interactions between faculty members and students and using student-centered methods are recommended which can lead to more relationship between faculty members and students as well as between students themselves, and also can establish a friendly open culture in the class.