Health science students’ perception about research training programs offered in Saudi universities
| Published date | 07 April 2015 |
| Date | 07 April 2015 |
| Pages | 196-210 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-04-2014-0015 |
| Author | Ahmed Al Kuwaiti,Arun Vijay Subbarayalu |
| Subject Matter | Education,Curriculum, instruction & assessment,Educational evaluation/assessment |
Health science students’
perception about research
training programs offered in
Saudi universities
Ahmed Al Kuwaiti and Arun Vijay Subbarayalu
Deanship of Quality and Academic Accreditation, University of Dammam,
Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to examine the perceptions of students of health sciences on
research training programs offered at Saudi universities.
Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional survey design was adopted to capture the
perceptions of health science students about research training programs offered at selected Saudi
universities. A criterion-based sampling technique was adopted, and accordingly, 630 students were
selected to participate in the study. A pre-tested questionnaire tool titled, “Students Attitude towards
Research (SAR) questionnaire ”, was used to capture student responses on a ve-point Likert scale with
respect to three dimensions, namely, extent of research activities offered in their college, involvement of
faculty in research and the infrastructural facilities offered by the college for research. The students’
attitudes with respect to various components of research training programs were analyzed using mean
and cumulative percentage of students satised with the training. Multivariate analysis of variance
(MANOVA) was used to study whether there is any signicant difference in attitudes among the
students belonging to four health science programs of the seven selected universities.
Findings – The results of this study demonstrate that only less than 50 per cent of the students from
the selected health science colleges are satised with the existing research training programs. There are
signicant differences in the students’ attitude toward research training programs offered in seven
selected Saudi universities.
Originality/value – This is the rst Saudi Arabia-based study that provides an alarming signal to
educational-policy planners on students’ perceptions and attitudes toward research training programs
offered in Saudi higher education institutions.
Keywords Saudi Arabia, Health science colleges, Research training programs, Students’ perception
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The past decade has witnessed the transformation of undergraduate research experiences
from a traditional “Cottage Industry” into a strong “movement” (Blanton, 2008). Medical
training all over the world is becoming more student-centered, with an emphasis on active
learning rather than on passive attainment of knowledge (Jones et al., 2001). Encouraging
The authors express their gratitude to the Deanship of Scientic Research, University of
Dammam, for providing the opportunity to carry out this research work. The authors express
special thanks to Mr Sachin Jose and Dr Thenarasu, Statisticians, DQAA, UD, for their help with
the statistical analysis. Finally, they also thank all the students for their mature, balanced and
objective response.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0968-4883.htm
QAE
23,2
196
Received 16 April 2014
Revised 6 October 2014
Accepted 11 November 2014
QualityAssurance in Education
Vol.23 No. 2, 2015
pp.196-210
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0968-4883
DOI 10.1108/QAE-04-2014-0015
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